Overdue recognition of animal rights

Today's The Times editorial, entitled "Overdue promotion of animal welfare", deals with the government's allocation of funds for "animal welfare" and the stray animal problem.

The Times editorial says: "It is a disheartening fact that the Maltese are, generally speaking, not an animal-loving nation. Cruelty to animals is widespread and the deliberate dumping of animals leads to an uncontrollable number of strays being left to fend for themselves.

Malta has to take a stand against the brutal treatment of animals and put a stop to the blatant contempt for animal welfare laws. The country's reputation has been besmirched again and again by shocking episodes, the latest being the killing of animals at the Razzett tal-Hbiberija, the case now being before the courts.

Despite this negative scenario, there are a number of NGOs manned by very dedicated people who do their utmost to promote the welfare of animals.

At long last, the government is living up to its commitment to recognise their worthy cause and has allocated Lm150,000 to support NGOs carrying out this largely thankless and demanding task. In addition, it is also devoting Lm60,000 to setting up an animal welfare centre in Ta' Qali that will provide shelter for stray dogs. Besides serving as an aftercare centre offering animals an inpatient service, it will also boast an educational centre which includes a library and an audiovisual facility.

This is most welcome news for animal lovers. Environment and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino had a fruitful informal meeting with six animal welfare organisations, during which it was agreed that Lm75,000, half the money allocated, would be devoted to a national neutering programme.

Such a programme is long overdue as there is no other way to cope with the relentless increase of stray animals that have placed an unbearable strain on the NGOs working in this sphere. The minister has asked them to come forward with a feasible plan that can be implemented as early as possible. He also asked them to pool their resources and co-ordinate their activities.

Mr Pullicino's announcement that the new Voluntary Organisations Act will soon come into force must have boosted the NGOs' optimism even more. Such developments are a definite step in the right direction as all NGOs will have to formalise their position and be more accountable.

The proposal that a three-man body will scrutinise the spending of the government grant goes a long way to ensure that things will be carried out as professionally and effectively as possible.

There is no doubt that the committed volunteers will rise to the occasion and strive even harder to cope with the sad situation of unwanted and abandoned animals.

However, animal welfare demands much more than funds and a neutering programme. An example of this is explained so clearly by a representative of one of the animal NGOs: 'The only way to discourage people from abandoning dogs is to enforce the law. It is against the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act to abandon an animal. However, unless registration and identification, preferably by microchip, of every last dog is introduced in Malta there is no possibility that the law can be enforced'.

Despite laws and regulations, law enforcement leaves much to be desired and, too often, frightful cases of animal neglect and brutality go unpunished.

Trained law enforcement personnel, ideally including people with animal welfare at heart, would go a long way to stamp out this barbaric trait that scars Malta's image so badly. One hopes the government's allocation of much-needed funds for NGOs, along with its words of praise and support for them, will mark a definite and clear step towards promoting animal welfare in Malta".

The above reminds me of a "drowning baby" analogy mentioned in an animal rights forum I regularly participate in.

Basically, the analogy goes like this: Suppose a human is throwing babies in a river and drowning them. Now suppose you happen be near the river and see the babies drowning. You have three options. One is to simply walk away. The other is to try to pick up as many drowning babies as you can. The third option, which I believe would be the most effective, is to stop the human throwing the babies in the river.

The analogy is comparable to both the stray problem and the overall non-human animal exploitation issue. In the case of the stray problem, the solution, similar to stopping the human from continuing to throw babies in the river, is to educate and legislate for a complete ban on human imposed breeding, selling and buying of any non-human animal. No matter how stringent "animal welfare" laws are, and no matter how well you enforce them, there will always be non-human animal abuse, torture and murder, just as there will always be human abuse, torture and murder despite laws that make such actions criminal. As long as non-human animals are considered as human property, giving humans the "right" to breed and use them for their own purposes, non-human animals can never be sufficiently protected. Remove the property status of non-human animals, and most abuse will cease having a legal status.

The most effective solution, which should go along with legislation, is true and correct animal rights education that explains and convinces that all sentient non-human animals are deserving of respect and the right not to be treated as human property.

Property cannot have rights. Property can only have certain "privileges" that depend on the value the property owner arbitrarily places on his or her property. While non-human animals continue to be considered human property, they will be treated as human property, and this, in turn, makes sure that at best, some non-human animals will have only limited protection, while most other animals will have no protection at all. This is exactly the reason why torturing a pet cat, for instance, is illegal, while torturing the same cat in a laboratory under the pretence of the "advancement of science", is perfectly legal. It is also the reason why most animals bred to be killed for food are not accorded equal protection (or in many cases, no protection at all) as animals bred to be used as pets.

It should also be mentioned that it does not make any sense to speak of dogs or cats as deserving of protection, while ignoring or denying the right to protection to other equally sentient non-human animals. Non-human animals either deserve protection (in which case, this would mean they have the right to protection) or they don't. And one cannot reasonably claim that some animals have rights while others don't, and not give valid morally significant reasons for making such a claim. And the only non-arbitrary measure of whether one deserves rights or not (including the right to life), is sentience. Any other measure would exclude many humans as well as most non-human animals.

It is my hope that, from my limited time and resources, I am doing as much as I can to spread the animal rights message, which is the only message that, if properly understood and adhered to, would give meaningful protection to all animals (including humans). There will always be human and non-human abuse, but a good understanding of, and an adherence to the animal rights philosophy, would ensure that cases of human or non-human abuse become the exception and not the norm.

While we live in a country where non-human animals are systematically, institutionally and legally used as if they are property, tortured if that is required for the purpose arbitrarily assigned to them, and ultimately murdered simply for the pleasures of a majority, our country can never be called a "nation of animal lovers", even if it were to raise dogs and cats on a pedestal and treat them as kings and queens. After all, a cow is as much an animal as a dog and a human. And the end of speciesism, which would stop the treatment of non-human animals as lesser beings and human property, starts with you, and how you conduct your own life and spread the message. And this, though it would certainly help, does not need government intervention. Like I said in "Miracles don't happen", all that is required is sufficient will to do the right thing.