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2 Animal L. i (1996)
Animals as Property

handle is hein.journals/anim2 and id is 7 raw text is: INTRODUCTION ANIMALS AS PROPERTY By GARY L. FeAcio'm Social attitudes about animals are hopelessly confused. On one hand, many people regard at least some nonhumans-their pets-as members of their families. On the other hand, these very same people think nothing about eating animals other than pets, wearing their skins, using them in experiments, or exploiting them for entertainment in films, circuses, zoos, and rodeos. On one hand, we all agree with the notion that it is morally wrong to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering on nonhumans; on the other hand, we routinely use animals in all sorts of contexts that could never be considered as involving any coherent notion of necessity.' The reasons for our moral schizophrenia about nonhumans are, of course, as complicated as the concrete manifestations of our conflicting attitudes. Some of the reasons are historical alone; we have been exploit- ing animals for so long that we simply continue doing so by force of habit alone. Some reasons are rooted in culture and religion; we uncritically subscribe to various belief systems that proclaim humans (or some subset thereof, such as white males) as superior and that devalue nonhumans. Some reasons are economic; animal exploitation is a billion-dollar indus- try-and human beings appear to be able to justify most actions that re- sult in monetary gain. * Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy, Rutgers University School of Law, Newark Professor Franclone is also Faculty Director of the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Center. The author appreciates helpful comments and sug- gestions from Anna Charlton, Priscilla Cohn, Drucilla Cornell, and Cheryl Byer. Special thanks go to Stratton, Emma, Ben, and C. Tedwyn. This essay is dedicated to Sanm, who is not really gone and certainly will never be forgotten. 1 For example, not even the very conservative federal health authorities maintain that eating meat and dairy products is necessary for a healthy diet, and many health care profes- sionals now maintain that eating meat and dairy can have an adverse impact on human health. Despite this lack of necessity to eat animals, we nevertheless kdll over eight billion animals in this country every year for no better reason other than that we erdoy the taste of flesh or ice cream.