Post by Talia on Sept 29, 2011 14:14:51 GMT -5
Temple Grandin is an autistic woman who, according to the book Eating Animals, has designed half of the slaughter houses in the US. I'm bringing her up because she's a big name and a great real life example of the difference between animal welfare and animal rights.
She is celebrated by groups and people (like PETA for example) because she has made slaughter houses more humane by using her autism to relate with animals and make the slaughter process less traumatizing. For example, she recommended changes slaughter houses so that cows wouldn't see others being killed further along the line because when they saw others being killed they'd be unnecessarily scared.
She is also seriously disliked by proponents of animal rights because she makes humans more comfortable with killing other species in ways that can never acknowledge their integrity as living beings. She is comfortable with using animals and killing them as long as they are treated generally well, which is something we'd never do to fellow humans so when we do this to other animals we're saying they are lesser than us.
Here is a great article about her and the problems and questions she brings up:
www.care2.com/causes/temple-grandin-savant-or-professional-killer.html
In the end it takes an animal rights position, which I agree with.
She is celebrated by groups and people (like PETA for example) because she has made slaughter houses more humane by using her autism to relate with animals and make the slaughter process less traumatizing. For example, she recommended changes slaughter houses so that cows wouldn't see others being killed further along the line because when they saw others being killed they'd be unnecessarily scared.
She is also seriously disliked by proponents of animal rights because she makes humans more comfortable with killing other species in ways that can never acknowledge their integrity as living beings. She is comfortable with using animals and killing them as long as they are treated generally well, which is something we'd never do to fellow humans so when we do this to other animals we're saying they are lesser than us.
Here is a great article about her and the problems and questions she brings up:
www.care2.com/causes/temple-grandin-savant-or-professional-killer.html
In the end it takes an animal rights position, which I agree with.