I think I pretty much agree with that.
IMO animals are neither simple property, nor quasi humans. Many abstract philosophical evaluations of the issue, might be binary, with humans having rights, inanimate objects, plants and microorganisms not having rights, and animals having to fit in to one category or the other. I don't think it has to be, or is that simple.
I do have a technical problem with the way he was prosecuted, based in part on laws that shouldn't be laws, or shouldn't be up to the federal government. I'm slightly dubious about an implied contract with animals (and many asserted implied contracts with humans or human organizations for that matter), and I recognize the potential inconsistency of eating animals (including "factory farmed" animals, while at the same time not opposing a prison sentence for animal abuse because of concern for the rights of animals. You might say I don't have an organized, consistent, and completely logical framework about all the issues with animals. But I have a "moral intuition" that what he did was wrong, and that such actions should be prevented. Do I support sending him to prison (potentially for quite awhile if he didn't come to a plee agreement)? I'm not 100% sure, but him going to prison doesn't shock my conscious or feel like an outrage.
I usually try to address issues of rights and justice based more on basic principles combined with logical extension of them, but a less precise and more emotion based response will probably have to do for now because that's all I have. |
