I refer to Franco Farrugia’s letter (Taking care of animals TMID, 9 November). I shall only comment on one paragraph, which I see as particularly disturbing, despite Mr Farrugia’s good intentions.

Mr Farrugia writes: “You see, there are two kinds of people and so, two schools of thought, insofar as animals are concerned. The first kind includes those who consider the presence of animals as a nuisance: as far as these are concerned, the money should be used in order to have less and less animals around for the human being to be cruel with. The second kind, and this includes the undersigned, includes those who are real animal lovers and who would rather be in the company of animals than in that of fellow human beings: for these people, money should be used in order to improve the situation of animal well being in our country, and so, eradicate animal cruelty.”

First of all, Mr Farrugia fails to note another kind of people in the non-human animal issue – the animal rights advocate who holds that animals are not property, and that they should not be used for any human purpose. This has nothing to do with “animals” being a nuisance, and all to do with their fundamental right not to be treated as property. There is no love without respect.

It is not a question of having less animals to be cruel with. It’s just about the fact that human imposed breeding, selling and buying of any non-human animal is in itself abuse, since that single act treats non-human animals as human property. And property cannot have rights – if anything, property can only have privileges which we may or may not arbitrarily assign to them if it is convenient for us to do so. I also find the claim made by many “animal lovers” that they prefer the company of “animals” to that of humans particularly worrying. No wonder the general public thinks of us as weirdos who turn to non-human animals because we lack the ability to maintain good human relationships. Animal rights is not an “animal enthusiast” club. Animal rights is a matter of strict justice, and the “love of animals” does not even play a part in the question. For the animal rights advocate, the only way to eliminate most “animal cruelty” is by eliminating speciesism, and this includes the negation of the false assumption that there is any distinction between “human” and “animal”. It’s like making a distinction between “cows” or “humans” and “mammals”. Both cows and humans are mammals, and humans, after all, are animals too.

More on the topic can be found at: www.animalrights malta.blogspot.com

Kenneth Cassar

Animal Rights Malta

Marsascala