Why Animal Protection is Important

There is a wonderful quote from Ghandi that I have hanging over my desk: "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." It is especially appropriate in light of the remarks Wayne Pacelle, President of the Humane Society of the United States, made On April 30 at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington D.C. think tank.

His speech, which I urge you to read in its entirety, brings to light Ghandi's point. "Animal welfare is now much more than a challenge of personal ethics," Pacelle said. "It is a matter of deep social concern, and increasingly a matter of corporate responsibility and an essential component of sound public policy."

In other words, ethical behavior toward all living things is more than a personal moral code. It is a code of conduct for society. Ideally, if we were all ethically moral beings, we would not need to worry about the way we treat other living things. But one look no further than Michael Vick to know we are not all on the same page when it comes to how we view animals. It is sadly necessary to establish and enforce laws that remind us of what it is to be human.

Pacelle's speech is powerful because it brings the concept of animal cruelty out of the personal, emotional, realm and into the hands of society. "Today, more than ever, there is a close connection between cruelty and other pressing social concerns, and that reinforces the case for animal protection in the modern era," he elaborates.

Dogfighting is almost always part of a network of criminal activity: gambling, drugs and human violence. It is a well known fact that people who abuse other people also abuse animals. And factory farming, as the HSUS investigation and subsequent shutdown of the Hallmark Meat Processing Plant revealed, is equally as amoral and corrupt.

What does it say about people who can sleep at night after torturing, sick "downed" cows to get back up into the slaughter line? More importantly, what does it say about a nation in which this is permitted to happen? What are we teaching our children about the value of life?

Heady questions but ones that Pacelle tackles head on and convincingly. There may in fact be many other "causes" worth fighting for, but animal welfare has a rightful place near the top of any one's list. We're all in this together....