Animal rights always important

Cathy Kropp -- Staff Column

Someone asked me the other day if, in these times of war, if animal rights should really be a priority.

We should always be concerned with animal rights because the oppression of all groups, human or non-human, is interconnected.

Gary Francione, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, relates all oppressions effectively. "We currently use the category of 'species' as the relevant criterion for determining membership in our moral community," he said, "just as we once used race and sex to determine that membership."

Author Marjorie Spiegel said, "To think that we can end prejudice and violence to one group without ending prejudice and violence [in general] is utter folly."

In order to win the fight against oppression we need to learn from our past mistakes and be able to make the connection between all forms of oppression.

The persecution of animals takes on many different forms, each of which not only share similarities with oppression experienced by other groups but also affect humans as well.

One of the main injustices animal rights groups fight against is the condition of animals on factory farms. Factory farms keep animals in horrible conditions and pump them full of antibiotics to keep them alive, which is cheaper than improving their living conditions.

This overuse of antibiotics has resulted in the creation of strains of viruses that are resistant to normal treatment in those animals. When people who eat meat ingest the antibiotics, they can also fall victim to the same problem of antibiotic resistance that is beginning to occur within the farms.

Environmental concerns also stem from the animal rights movement. Our technique for raising farm animals has led to the destruction of land due to overgrazing.

Because of our faulty methods we are now desperately seeking viable land to raise livestock. Our "solution" has been massive deforestation, which has resulted in the permanent destruction of the Earth and has left many species without a home.

My main point circles back to the issue of how all oppression is connected. A popular quote that sums up my feelings on the subject states, "No one is free when others are oppressed." Although certain circumstances, such as war, bring the problems of certain groups to light, we cannot neglect one group in favor of another. It is when we choose that we lose.

No issue can really be more important than the other because of how closely bound they are. If we could only see that by working on one issue we are effectively working on them all, we would be able to make change happen faster.

Cathy Kropp can be reached at [email protected]