Defenders in action
Section
#DefendersInAction
Date
December 28th, 2022
#DefendersInAction are activists who, from their different professional fields, promote collective action through social networks, binding with authorities to propose laws in favor of animals and supervise their compliance.
Throughout history animal rights have been debated and defended by animalists, scientists, and philosophers. Although the positions of each side have been extreme, we now have agreements and laws enacted to protect animals all around the world.
The perception we have of animals is mixed and varies depending on culture, geography and ideology. Still debating the essential concept pro or against life, there is still a long way to go.
Since ancient Babylon, rules governing the responsibility of those who owned animals were included in the Code of Hammurabi. We have thought of animals as beings “with a soul” (Pythagoras, 530 BC); “machines without feelings” (Rene Descartes, in the 17th century); beings “capable of feeling pleasure and pain” (Jeremy Bentham, 1780).
The enlightened German scientist Immanuel Kant asserted that animals had no moral rights and yet rejected any act of cruelty towards them believing the acceptance of this cruelty would justify the harm people could infringe on each other. In his 1859 work The Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin wrote about the evolutionary processes shared between dogs and humans.
There is not enough space here to recount all the events that have promoted or inhibited the movement to achieve empathy and respect for animals.
There are no reasons, scientific or philosophical, to deny that animals feel pain.
Peter Singer, “Animal Liberation”, 1975.
If we turn our gaze to the second half of the twentieth century, it was in 1975 that the Australian activist and pacifist Peter Singer published his book Animal Liberation where he addressed the rights of animals from a bioethical perspective, opposing animal experimentation, and their exploitation on farms. His position has been clear against "speciesism" as "a way of discriminating against a living being just because it belongs to another species.”
The core theme of his book, revised and updated in 2008, is "a serious denunciation to end prejudice and discrimination based on arbitrary characteristics such as race or gender."
With his book, Singer initiated a worldwide movement that has influenced the decision-making of governments and organizations to promote changes in human mentality, questioning the anthropomorphic idea of humans being superior to animals and believing that animals can be subjected to mistreatment without assuming the consequences of our actions.
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Cat’s stories
#Mutts’Stories
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#AllAboutDogsAndCats
What is it like to be a dog?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
How to understand cats?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
What do we know about the origin of dogs?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
What do we know about the domestication of cats?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
Defenders in action
#DefendersInAction
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Our laws in favor of animals
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Defenders In Mexico
#DefendersInAction
Section
#DefendersInAction
Date
December 28th, 2022
#DefendersInAction are activists who, from their different professional fields, promote collective action through social networks, binding with authorities to propose laws in favor of animals and supervise their compliance.
Throughout history animal rights have been debated and defended by animalists, scientists, and philosophers. Although the positions of each side have been extreme, we now have agreements and laws enacted to protect animals all around the world.
The perception we have of animals is mixed and varies depending on culture, geography and ideology. Still debating the essential concept pro or against life, there is still a long way to go.
Since ancient Babylon, rules governing the responsibility of those who owned animals were included in the Code of Hammurabi. We have thought of animals as beings “with a soul” (Pythagoras, 530 BC); “machines without feelings” (Rene Descartes, in the 17th century); beings “capable of feeling pleasure and pain” (Jeremy Bentham, 1780).
The enlightened German scientist Immanuel Kant asserted that animals had no moral rights and yet rejected any act of cruelty towards them believing the acceptance of this cruelty would justify the harm people could infringe on each other. In his 1859 work The Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin wrote about the evolutionary processes shared between dogs and humans.
There is not enough space here to recount all the events that have promoted or inhibited the movement to achieve empathy and respect for animals.
There are no reasons, scientific or philosophical, to deny that animals feel pain.
Peter Singer, “Animal Liberation”, 1975.
If we turn our gaze to the second half of the twentieth century, it was in 1975 that the Australian activist and pacifist Peter Singer published his book Animal Liberation where he addressed the rights of animals from a bioethical perspective, opposing animal experimentation, and their exploitation on farms. His position has been clear against "speciesism" as "a way of discriminating against a living being just because it belongs to another species.”
The core theme of his book, revised and updated in 2008, is "a serious denunciation to end prejudice and discrimination based on arbitrary characteristics such as race or gender."
With his book, Singer initiated a worldwide movement that has influenced the decision-making of governments and organizations to promote changes in human mentality, questioning the anthropomorphic idea of humans being superior to animals and believing that animals can be subjected to mistreatment without assuming the consequences of our actions.
What do you think about this article?
Leave us a comment
Cat’s stories
#Mutts’Stories
How can we learn about the language of dogs?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
What is it like to be a dog?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
How to understand cats?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
What do we know about the origin of dogs?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
What do we know about the domestication of cats?
#AllAboutDogsAndCats
Defenders in action
#DefendersInAction
What is animal welfare?
#DefendersInAction
Our laws in favor of animals
#DefendersInAction
Defenders In Mexico
#DefendersInAction
