Don't Give a Cow

I've always been perplexed by the claim that animal advocates are anti-human. It seems really odd to me because though we're reminded every day that humans steal, lie, cheat, kill, rape, and hurt each other, I’ve never heard any of these people called "anti-human." It seems to me that the accusation would better suit someone who actually acts against humans. It also doesn't say much about our capacity to care about more than one thing at a time. Why would my compassion for one group diminish my capacity for another? Nonetheless, animal advocates are often reluctant to publicly object to such groups as Heifer Project International, a "hunger relief" organization, lest they be accused of caring more about animals than humans. I, however, see it differently. Perpetuating a speciesist paradigm - that views animals as mere commodities with no inherent value of their own - Heifer and other organizations like it participates in what is essential a slave trade - an animal slave trade. Exporting our own preventable diseases, fostering an environmentally destructive animal ag system, imposing harmful substances on lactose-intolerant populations, desensitizing people to animal suffering, and manipulating our own compassionate sensibilities are just a few of the problems I see with this model.