Should We Keep Pets?

Slavery, Torture, Sexism & Racism Used to be Societal Norms

G'day Lagerhead. You have such trust in your society ! So wherever the sheep are going must be right? Society as you know never agree on everything, and there are as many opinions out there as there are people. There are indeed majority thinking about one issue and another, but each person is an individual with variations however small they may be. Surely you must be aware that there are countless examples throughout our human history of the majority (society), including the law , being wrong. Slavery, monarchy, dictatorships, child labour, torture , forbidden religions, unfair imprisonment, forced marriages, sexism, racism , etc, etc. Many times we got it wrong and people suffered. Sometimes we learned from it and changed. Then we look back and think, "I can't believe we used to do that to people and call it normal." In the case of animals , we are asking the same questions we used to about our unfair treatment of people, and seeing if the same discrimination is applied to animals. Is it really necessary for us to make animals suffer and deny their most vital needs (life and freedom), in order to satify our trivial needs (for fashion and food pleasure), when all the non-animal alternatives exist offering a completely non-violent option for living.

Abortion I hear is a big issue in the US, but not in Australia. So I assume that's why u brought it up. Yes, it is common for animal rights activists (many but not all) to support pro-choice and this may seem contradictory at first, but here's the reason: it's about sentience.

Sentience (self-awareness and the ability to suffer) is all that is required for a being to be a part of the moral community of which we may respect basic rights to life and liberty and happiness. This is why vegans choose to eat plants (that are alive but possess no sentience or feelings), but avoid animal products like dairy, eggs and meat because they involve great suffering in animals. Vegans choose to stop participating in violence on animals because it is unnecessary to sustain a healthy life using any animal products, we can get every nutrient we need from plants. According to what extensive science has proven, (so far) foetuses are not sentient. A small group of cells and a tiny foetus do not have enough brain cells to be capable of sentience. They may move and react to stimuli in the womb, but cannot experience pain or self awareness. That is until about 20 weeks of pregnancy when science has observed that foetuses may develop sentience around this time. Hence terminations are recommended before 20 weeks. The other reason is that, unlike most people who are adults or children , a foetus is sharing a situation with another body who is a right holder. The two are connected and affect the other in a very unique situation. So considerations must be given to both beings in this instance, hence the option for choice.

If someone is pro-life and in disagreeance with mainstream science about the sentience status of a foetus (and perhaps believe that they are sentient from conception even without a brain, or they believe that simply being alive is all that is important), then to be consistent with their values for "life" then they should absolutely go vegan. If they don't, it doesn't make any moral sense. Fighting for the rights of an unborn "life" whilst sticking forks into non-human animal "life" causing death and torture to that animal is utterly inconsistent. An animal is a "life" too.