The issue of what constitutes compassionate treatment of
animals is complex. Ricard’s general principle that “Every living being has the right to live and not be the victim of
suffering imposed on it by others” is a useful foundation.
However, it requires expansion and further interpretation to
be a practical guide for day-to-day action.
A clear example of the need for such a guide is provided Dr
Peter Jensen[1].
He discusses the need for strong objective standards to avoid self-serving
behaviour in complex moral and personal decisions. In discussing voluntary
human euthanasia and using his mother as an example, Jensen notes:
And do you not feel
that even when it is someone we love dearly, we cannot help thinking about what
a difference there will be for us - even financially - when that person is no
longer there? Perhaps you are too noble for such thoughts to arise. I tell you
that I am not; and therefore I am not noble enough to be involved in such
decisions. Money is not the root of all evils; it is the love of money; and I
know the stirrings of greed; perhaps you do, too.
Jensen’s cautionary admonition intentionally uses his
beloved mother and the coarse greed for individual financial gain. If a deeply
moral and spiritual person can admit this base conflict, how much easier might
it be to subvert our good intentions in the heat of a difficult moment when
matters of apparently less significance are at stake?
It is for this reason that clear standards for action are
required. They remove the need for case-by-case decision making, remind a
farmer of their responsibilities and commitments, and avoid self-serving or
misguided decisions with respect to animals.
There are a number or existing frameworks that attempt to
balance the relative rights of humans and other sentient animals and more
clearly articulate the bounds of moral human-animal interaction. One example is
the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights adopted by UNESCO in 1978[2].
A more recent example is the Universal Declaration of Animal
Welfare[3]
proposed by the Global Animal Law Project. This is aimed at national
legislative action to recognise the fundamental rights of animals. This
declaration states:
For the purposes of this Declaration, animal
welfare includes animal health and encompasses both the physical and psychological
state of the animal. The welfare of an animal can be described as good or high
if the individual is fit, healthy, free from suffering and in a positive state
of wellbeing.
And that:
… the “five freedoms (freedom from hunger,
thirst and malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical
and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to
express normal patterns of behaviour)” provide valuable general guidance for
animal welfare.
A third example is the Declaration of Animal Rights[4]
drafted by Orian and Penzel (2011). This declaration is focused on individual
action and includes the provisions that:
- All animals have the right to be free, to live their lives on their own terms, as intended by nature.
- All animals have the right to eat, sleep, be physically and psychologically comfortable, be mobile, healthy, safe, and fulfill all their natural and essential needs. As such, all animals are to be free from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition; physical discomfort and exhaustion; confinement against their will, bad treatment, abusive or cruel actions; pain, injury and disease; fear and distress; and free to express their normal patterns of behavior.
- All animals have the right to reproduce, live with their offspring, families, tribes or communities, and maintain a natural social life. They have the right to live in their natural environment, grow to a rhythm natural to their species, and maintain a life that corresponds to their natural longevity.
- Animals are not the property or commodity of humans, and are not theirs to use for their benefit or sustenance. Therefore, they are to be free from slavery, exploitation, oppression, victimization, brutality, abuse, and any other treatment that disregards their safety, own free will and dignity. They should not be slaughtered for food, killed for their skins, experimented on, killed for religious purposes, used for forced labor, abused and killed for sport and entertainment, abused for commercial profit, hunted, persecuted or exterminated for human pleasure, need, or other ends.
- Humans shall do whatever is within their means to protect all animals. Any animal who is dependent on a human, has the right to proper sustenance and care, and shall not be neglected, abandoned, or killed.
Both declarations recognise the fundamental
right of animals to lead relatively natural lives free from suffering or the
fear of suffering at the hands of humans.
They offer useful guidelines for the treatment of any animal
by humans that accord with Ricard’s primary principle while at the same time providing
more detailed guidance on the types of behaviour that would breach this
principle.
They can clearly be applied an agro-ecological setting and provide a
useful starting framework for an aspiring Buddhist farmer.
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