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Tom Regan: The Animal Kingdom Bill of Rights

Written by PETA

Posted 08-06-2007

24 Comments

In case you haven't heard of him, Tom Regan is a philosophy professor at NC State who has been one of the most important and compelling advocates for animal rights in the academic world since early on in the movement. His clarity of expression and his passion for the subject make his thinking accessible to anyone—whether they've studied philosophy or not—and this video, which I discovered recently on YouTube, is a great example of Professor Regan's prodigious abilities, both as a thinker and as an advocate for animals.

The excerpt is from a debate that took place in 1989 for the BBC—it's well worth watching and passing around to friends who may be new to the philosophy behind animal rights.

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pigs, cats, chickens, animal rights, philosophy, heigl, john, lennon, maher, tom regan

Recent Comments

rojo commented:

8-13-2007 8:03 AM

maya couldn't agree more i'm no fan of factory farms that don't allow contact between animals though this has it's own drawbacks at times. Cattle the main protagonists of methane emissions are really the freest of all. They primarily graze most of their lives on pasture and some will be finished in feedlots. Feedlots do not seperate the animals and have enough room in the pens to allow interaction and socialisation. Of course landfill in the US emits more methane than cattle and so does the burning of natural gas.
Maya commented:

8-9-2007 3:59 PM

Hi Rojo!! I commend you for speaking your mind and questioning certain things. I admire that. Here's my two cents understand evolution. Animals' brains evolved to keep them alive. This means roaming and hunting for food. Even domestic animals have an INTENSE desire to move around. Nature "designed" their brains this way. The animals that would not roam and travel all died out only the ones whose brain cells gave them an intense desire to travel long distances survived. As humans this is very hard for us to understand as we are the only animal that could sit for hours in front of a tv screen while at the peak of our day. But even we would go nuts in the kind of confinement we impose on animals. In the shelters we would sometimes sit inside the cages to see what it's like. It's horrible much more nervewracking and claustrophobic than one would imagine. Noises are loud and confusing. There's much less visibility than you'd think. The fact is any human subject to these conditions would develop mental illness. Please trust me doing this to an animal IS extremely cruel. Animals need at least sunshine and fresh air. Even then unfortunately it's really bad for the environment. Contaminated groundwater deforestation global warming from methane. You know I'm not judging you right? Just discussing debating in a friendly way. Peace!!
Scarlett commented:

8-9-2007 3:24 PM

Animals have more intelligence and realization than humans give them credit for. To eat an animal because of heshe's lesser intelligence is wrong. To kill an animal for food should be for reason to not know any better. As various animals do they eat meat because their digestive systems only digest meat to sustain them. As humans we can eat both meat and vegetation but since we are in "better knowledge" we should understand the complex feelings all feel whether or not able to express it. There have been many instances in human sociology that show that humans born and raised alone in equal captivity as factory farm animals have shown yerning for freedom even though by their social isolation were not able to speak any recognized human language. And also shown that they had not grown the intelligence of no more than a three year old after many years of life. All animals crave freedom whether they have grown accustomed to captivity or not. It is basic and real. They do infact create real bonds with one another and create families. Their lives matter to them and it is not our right to decide that for them.
Mike Quinoa commented:

8-9-2007 12:17 PM

Rojo I agree it's got nothing to do with perceived intelligence. But experiencing pain fear or discomfort have nothing to do with intelligence. When factoryfarmed chickens are debeaked it's to stop pecking of course. Obviously the chickens have exceeded their comfortable carrying capacity to engage in that kind of behavior in the first place much as humans get uncomfortable in a crowded subway car. I do understand your points about more humanely raised meat but it just ain't going to happen on a large scale. Only a small percentage will pay more for a more humanely raised animal if there can be such a thing. Will the average person pay 200300 more for "freerun" eggs over the normal variety? Greed drives producers to up "production units" regardless of animal suffering though as per Jack's blogs some progress is being made in this area. People sensitive to animal suffering simply go veg and have done with it. I think all animals intuitively understand freedom. It's like the story of the chained dog who would never stop barking. When he was released he didn't go anywhere but he stopped his barking. The dog understood the difference. You probably cherish your freedom but are you aware of how much "freedom" you really have? It's not unlimited.
Ariel commented:

8-9-2007 11:00 AM

to IMP First of all I don't classify a bird or any animal as an "it." They are living feeling beings. To me "it" refers to an object. To answer your question I would not kill him or her because every living being has a right to live...not killed just because he or she has become incapacitated. Captivity but not caged. No matter what conditions animals instinctively strive to live and I would not deny them that right.
rojo commented:

8-9-2007 1:54 AM

Mike No I don't care when I'm going to die but I do know I won't be happy about it. In fact if I don't see it coming I won't be unhappy about it either. Factory farming is one thing eating meat is another. By and large the animals i used to raise were free. They just had boundaries much as wild animals have territories. Profit came from production which meant keeping adequate food supplies and water available. This means handfeeding during drought when animals in the wild perish. I understand you wanting to end factory farming but don't share your views on animal sufferage. It's got nothing do do with the perceived intelligence of either party. It's about what animals know vs what humans know and can figure out. When you liken factory farming to prison you are "giving" animals the knowledge of freedom that prisoners had before their incarceration. It's just not so. How on earth are animals aware of lack of freedom if they never had any?
imp commented:

8-9-2007 1:34 AM

I have a question. Imagine you are an wildlife rehabber. A bird comes in with an injury that you can repair but it would be unable to fly. Should you kill the bird or save its life and keep it in captivity? This has the structure of a hypothetical but it most certainly is not.
Mike Quinoa commented:

8-8-2007 2:58 PM

Rojo the harp seal was a freebie. Mind you I did forget male "layer" chicks which are killed on day one and they could live 1012 years. "Freedom" is not solely a human experience. Animals share a lot of emotions that humans do. That's not anthropomorphizing. After all homo sapiens is an animal too. Why do you think a chained dog pulls on his chain? Why do think an animal in a leghold trap will chew her leg off to escape? Dogs display altruistic behavior toward humans all the time. If you study animals at all you will find that they all jealously cherish their life and fear death. Whether a mouse or a cockroach they all try to evade predators and cling to life. Would you like ample food and water but have to subsist in factoryfarm conditions? A human prison could be likened to a factory farm with food and water provided but I don't think too many enjoy being incarcerated. That's stress my friend whether the "necessities" of life are provided or not. Why do you think antibiotics are used so liberally in FF's? If not a lot of the animals would die stress and distress being components. About 850000000 million animals of the 10 billion raised each year already die preslaughter from disease etc. due to factoryfarmed conditions. Death is inevitable. So what? You don't care personally when you're going to die? As I pointed out in my previous post most factoryfarmed animals barely get a life. Humans are certainly not bestowing any largesse by giving them life just to take it away. "It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions." Mark Twain vegetarian
rojo commented:

8-8-2007 1:01 PM

susannah yes their death matters to them as it will at any stage through their life. My point is will they be any happier about it at age 10 than day 98? would they choose to die a lingering death or a speedy one? Life is precious. The opportunity equally so. humans live with the knowledge that they have an ultimate end date and naturally some feel that animals would have a similar perspective on life.
rojo commented:

8-8-2007 12:43 PM

Frances Depends on your opinion of the purpose of life. If it happens to be along the lines of "go forth and multiply" then animals that have been domesticated have been highly sucessful. I don't think I missed tom's point at all. If we are going to respect animal life as we would the vulnerable in our own societies then we must therefore protect one and all. Lion ethics or lack thereof. A species purpose is to live and pass on their genetic material. In nature only a percentage of organisms reach maturity so it is with domesticated animals. Human compassion should focus on humane treatment during animals lives not merely lengthen them.

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