BEIWEEN THE SPECIES 148
t r r .. • ~-== - ... of them. Like most people, I disapproved of those who do not. cruelty to animals, but I was not greatly concerned about it. I assumed that the During these two months, Renata and I R.S.P.C.A. and the government could be relied read Ruth Harrison's pioneering attack on upon to see that cruelty to animals was an factory farming, Animal Machines. I also isolated occurrence. I thought of vegetari read an article which Ros Godlovitch had ans as, at best, other-worldly idealists and, recently published in the academic journal at worst, cranks. Animal welfare I regarded Philosophy. She was in the process of re as a cause for kindly old ladies rather than vlslngvising it for re-p.Jblicationre-p..1blication in a book which for serious political reformers. she, Stan, and John Harris, another vegetar ian philosophy student at Oxford, were edit The crack in my complacency about our ing. Ros was a little unsure about the revi relations with animals began in 1970 when I sions she was making, and I spent a lot of met RiC'l1ard Keshen. Our meeting was entirely time trying to help her clarify and streng accidental. Richard, a Canadian, was also a then her arguments. In the end, she went her
graduate student in milosomY.philosophy. He and I own way, and I don'tdon I t think any of my sugges were attending lectures given by Jonathan tions were incorporated into the revised Glover on free will, determinism, and moral version of the article as it appeared in responsibility. They were stimulating lec Animals, Men and Morals--but in the process tures, and when they finished a few students of putting her arguments in their strongest often remained behind to ask questions or to possible form, I had convinced myself that discuss points with the lecturer. After one the logic of the vegetarian position was particular lecture, Richard and I were amongalTlong irrefutable. Renata and I decided that if we this srrallsmall group; when Glover had answered were to retain our self-respect and to con our queries, we walked out together, discuss tinue to take moral issues seriously, we ing the issue further. It was lunchtime, and should cease to eat animals. Richard suggested that we go to his college, Balliol, and continue our conversation over Through the Kershens and the Godlovit lunch. When it came to selecting our meal, I ches, we got to know other members of a loose noticed that Richard asked if the spaghetti group of vegetarians. Several of them lived sauce had meat in it and, when told that it together in a rambling old house with a huge had, took a meatless salad. So, when we had vegetable garden. Among the residents of talked enough about free will and determin this semi-communal establishment were John ism, I asked Richard why he had avoided meat. Harris and two otJlerot...'1er contributors to Animals, That began a discussion that was to change my Men and Morals, David Wood and Michael Pe life. ters. Philosophically, we agreed on little but the i.rmnralityi.rrm::>rality of our present treatment The change did not take place immediate of animals. David Wood was interested in ly. What Richard Keshen told me about the Continental philosophy, Michael Peters in treatment of farm animals, combined with his Marxism and structuralism, Richard' Keshen 's arguments against our neglect of the inter favorite philosopher was Spinoza, Ros Godlo ests of animals, gave me a lot to think vitch was still developing her basic position about, but I was not about to change my diet --she had not studied philosophy as an under overnight. Over the next two months, toge graduate and only became involved in it as a ther with my wife, .Renata, I met Richard's result of her interest in the ethics of our wife, Mary, and the two other Canadian philo relations with animals--and Stan Godlovitch sophy students, Roslind and Stanley Godlo refused to work on moral philosophy, re vitch, who had been responsible for Richard stricting himself to the philosophy of bio and Mary becoming vegetarians. Ros and Stan logy. I was nure in the mainstream of Anglo had become vegetarians a year or two earlier, American philosophy than any of the others, before reaching Oxford. They had come to see and in moral philosophy I took a much l1urenure our treabnenttreaonent of non-human animals as anala utilitarian line than they did. gous to the brutal exploitation of other races by whites in earlier centuries. This Also around Oxford at this time were analogy they now urged on us, challenging us Richard Ryder, Andrew Linzey, and Stephen to find a morally relevant distinction be Clark. Richard Ryder was working at the tween humans and non-humans which could jus Narneford Hospital in Oxford.OXford. He had written tify the differences we make in our treatment a leaflet on "Speciesism"--the first use of of those who belong to our own species and the term, as far as I know--and now was
~'''.' ~,': ,'- ··t.-cJ",~,~:·';':'ot:;·::t;·c,.-<:;",t':·::7.~,,~_t:~:;:o,:-;;;:.:_';~.;:,~;.:", ._.'.;. "c' _;."')~:::_Y'k.'_"'~'",i'J:,;'·_"·,)",:,,,".""»;·:)P%·ii"'::'i_n1,,.,.""",,,;~.;, ";;;,." .."'.,;,''''c,~,, <".,•.>••_"~, '~--.,''C~_' writing an essay on animal experimentation some better news: Taplinger had agreed to for Animals, Men and Morals. Later, he de publish an American edition. But would the veloped this work into his splendid attack on book get more attention in America than in animal experimentation, Victims of Science. Britain? I determined to do my best to see He was also organizing a "ginger group" with that it did. I had, in any case, been want in the R.S.P.C.A., with the aim of getting ing to write something to make people more that then extremely conservative body to aware of the injustice of our treabnent of eject its fox-hunters and take a stronger animals but had been deterred from doing so stance on other issues. That seemed a very by the feeling that since so many of my ideas long shot, then. I was introduced to Richard had comecame from others, and especially from Ryder through Ros Godlovitch, and from him I Ros, I should allow her to 'publish them. learnt a lot about animal experimentation. Now, I thought of a way to satisfy my own At the time, our positions were the mirror desire to do something to make people aware image of each other--I was a vegetarian but of the issue while at the same time helping not a strong opponent of animal experimenta to get my friends' ideas the attention they tion, because I naively thought most experi deserved but had not received. I would write ments were necessary to save lives and were, a long review-article, based on Animals, Men therefore, justified on utilitarian groLU1ds. and Morals but drawing the views of the se Richard Ryder, on the other hand, was not veral contributors together into a single then a vegetarian but was opposed to animal coherent philosophy of Animal Liberation. experimentation, because of the extreme suf There was only one place I knew of in Ameri fering it often involved. ca where such a review-article might appear: The New York Review of Books. Andrew Linzey was interested in the I wrote to the editors of the New York animal issue framfrom the point of view of -- --- Christian theology, which was not the concern Review, describing the book and the review I of most of the group, for we were a non would write. I did not know what answer to religious lot. His book, Animal Rights, was expect, since I had had no previous contact published by the SCM Press in 1976. Stephen with them, and they would never have heard of Clark was a Fellow of All Souls College, me. I knew that they were open to novel and Oxford, during this period, but I did not get radical ideas, but did they, perhaps, accept to know him until much later, after he had contributions only from people they knew? written The Moral Status of Animals, which Would the idea of animal liberation seem appeared in 1977. ridiculous to them?
Animals, Men and Morals, the first of Robert Silvers' reply was guardedly all these books, appeared in 1971. We had encouraging. The idea was intriguing, and he great hopes for it, for it demanded revolu would like to see the article, though he tionary change in our attitudes to and treat could not premise to publish it. That was ment of non-hum:m animals. I think Ros God all the enoouragement I needed, however, and lovitch, especially, thought that the book the article was soon written and accepted. might trigger a widespread protest movement. Entitled "Animal Liberation," it appeared in In the light of these expectations, the April, 1973. I was soon receiving enthusi book's reception was profoundly disappoint astic letters framfrom people who seemed to have ing. The major newspapers and weeklies ig been waiting for their feelings about the nored it. In the Sunday Times, for example, mistreatment of animals to be given a coher it was mentioned only in the "In Brief" col ent philosophical backing. umn--just one short paragraph of exposition, without a corrment. Our ideas seemed to be Among the letters was one from a leading too radical to be taken seriously by the New York publisher, who suggested that I staid British press. develop the ideas sketched in the article into a full-length book. Although my review At the time, the virtual silence which had helped Animals, Men and'Morals become met the British publication of Animals, Men better known in America--it eventually went and Morals seemed a severe setback. Yet, it into a paperback edition there, sanethingsomething turned out to be the first of a chain of that never happened in Britain--there was events that led me to write Animal Libera obviously room for a different kind of book, tion. SomeSame time after Animals, Men and Mor more systematic in its approach than a compi als appeared in England, the Godlovitches got lation of articles by different authors can
BE'lWEEN THE SPECIES 150
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rid of the cages by 1992. A West German toxicity test designed to find the Lethal court pronounced the cage system contrary to Dose for 50% of a sample of animals. Toge t~e country's anti-cruelty legislation, and eler, these tests inflict suffering and dis although the government found a way of ren tress on more than five million animals year dering the court's verdict ineffective, the ly in the United States alone. West German state of Hesse recently announced that it would follow Switzerland's exan\ple Already the coalitions have begun to and and begin to phas,~ the cages out. Perhaps reduce both the number of animals used the most positive step forward for British the severity of their suffering. U.S. go farm animals has been in t~e worst of all vernment agencies have responded to the cam forms of factory fanning, the so-called paign against the Draize test by rnoving to "white veal trade." Veal calves were stan curb some of the rnost blatant cruelties. dardly kept in darkness for 22 hours a day, They declared that substances known to be in indiviual stalls too small for tJ1elll to caustic irritants, such as lye, ammonia, and turn around. They had no straw to lie on- oven cleaners, need not be re-tested on the for fear that by chewing it, they would cause eyes of conscious rabbits. If this seems too their flesh to lose its pale softness---and obvious to need saying by a government agen were fed on a diet deliberately made defi cy, that merely indicates how bad things were cient in iron, so that the flesh would remain until the c..ampaign began. The agencies have pale and fetch the highest possible price in also ra'luced by one-half to one-third the the gourmet restaurant trade. A campaign suggested mnnber of rabbits needed per - test agains-t the trade led to a widespread con for other products. Two major companies, sumer boycott. As a result, Brit-ain's larg Procter and Gamble and Smith, Kline, and est veal producer conceded the need for French, have released programs for improving change and moved its calves out of their their toxicology tests which should involve bare, wooden, five feet by two feel stalls substantially less suffering for anL~ls. into group pens with room to move and straw Another company, Avon, reported a decline of for bedding. 33% in the number of animals it uses.
There have also been important gains in In the most recent, and potentially most the area of animal experimentation. In con significant, breakthrough, the United State trast to the situation with factory farming, Food and Drug 1Idmi.nistration has announced these have occurred mostly in the United that it does not require the LD50. At a States. The first success came in 1976, in a stroke, corporations developing new products campaign against the American Museum of Na have been deprived of their standard excuse tural History. The museum was selected as a for using the LD50--the claim that the FDA target because it was conducting a particu forces them to do the test if the products larly pointless series of experiments which are to be released onto the i\rnerican market. involved mutilating cats to investigate the effect this had on their sex lives. In June, The same five years which have seen the 1976, animal liberation activists began pic gains I have mentioned have also seen a stea keting the museum, writing letters, advertis dy rise in militancy in the movement. In ing and gathering support. They kept it up Britain, canada, France, West Germany, Italy, until, in December, 1977, it was announced and Australia, animals have been released and that the experiments would no longer be fund laboratories have been damaged. The U.S. ed. Animal Liberation Front gained national pub licity in May, 1984, when its members entered This victory may have saved no rnore than the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Gennarelli at sixty cats from painful experimentation, but the University of Pennsylvania, dmnaged it had shown that a well-planned, well-run equipnent and took a number of videotapes. campaign can prevent scientists doing as they The videotapes, sections of which were subse please with laboratory animals. Henry Spira, quently shown on television, show severe head the New York ex-merchant seam:LTl, ex-civil injuries being inflicted on lTonkeys. Injured rights activist who had led the campaign rnonkeys, their limbs flapping uncontrollably, against the museum, used the victory as a are tied to chairs while experimenters try to stepping-stone to bigger campaigns. He now get them to respond. On the videotapes, the runs two coalitions of animal groups, focus research team jokes about the rnonkeys' in ing on the rabbit-blinding Draize eye test juries, and Dr. Genarelli refers to the ani and on the LD50, a crude, fifty year old mals as "suckers." In July, 1985, the U.S. BE.'I'WEEN THE SPECIES 152
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SPECIES SPECIES THE THE BEI'\','EEN 153 153
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» "; ; t · _,r_~~,.rr " ~"" the law as such; it is with the prospect of The Ed itors thank the confrontation becoming violent and lead THE HUMANE SOCIETY�SOCIETY ing to a climate of polarization in which reasoning becanes impossible and the animals OF THE�THE themselves end up being the victims. Polari UNITED STATES�STATES zation between animal liberation activists, for its generous contribution�contribution on the one hand, and the factory farmers and providing partial support during 1986�1986 at least sane of the animal experimenters, on the other hand, may be unavoidable. But actions which involve 'the general public or violent actions which lead to people getting hurt would antagonize the COIIIllunity as a whole.
It is vital that the animal liberation movement avoid the vicious spiral of vio lence. Animal liberation activists must set themselves irrevocably against the use of violence, even when their opponents use vio lence against them. It is easy to believe that because some experimenters make dl1imals suffer, it is all right to make the experi menters suffer. This attitude is mistaken. We may be convinced that people who abuse animals are totally callous and insensitive, but we lower ourselves to their level and put ourselves in the wrong if we harm or threaten to harm that person. The entire, animal li beration movement is based on the strength of its ethical concern. It must not abandon the high moral ground.
Instead of going down the same blind alley of violence and counter-violence, the animal liberation movement should follow the examples of the two greatest--and, not coin cidentally, most successful--leaders of li beration movements in modern times: Gandhi and Martin Luther King. with immense courage and resolution, they stuck to the principle of non-violence despite the provocations and often violent attacks of their opponents. In the end, they succeeded because the justice of their cause could not be denied and be cause their behavior touched the C€>nsciences even of those who had opposed them. The struggle to extend the sP'iere of moral con cern to non-human animals may be even harder and longer, but if it is pursued with the same determination and moral resolve, it will surely also succeed.
BETWEEN THE SPECIES 154