The notion that we should promote happy or humane exploitation as baby steps ignores that welfare reforms do not result in providing significantly greater protection for animal interests; in fact, most of the time, animal welfare reforms do nothing more than make animal exploitation more economically productive by focusing on practices, such as gestation crates, the electrical stunning of chickens, or veal crates, that are economically inefficient in any event. Welfare reforms make animal exploitation more profitable by eliminating practices that are economically vulnerable. For the most part, those changes would happen anyway and in the absence of animal welfare campaigns precisely because they do rectify inefficiencies in the production process. And welfare reforms make the public more comfortable about animal exploitation. The happy meat/animal products movement is clear proof of that. We would never advocate for humane or "happy human slavery, rape, genocide, etc. So, if we believe that animals matter morally and that they have an interest not only in not suffering but in continuing to exist, we should not be putting our time and energy into advocating for humane or happy animal exploitation.
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About Gary L. Francione

Gary L. Francione was a contemporary American legal scholar. Gary Lawrence Francione is an American academic in the fields of law and philosophy. He is Board of Governors Professor of Law and Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Read more on Wikipedia →

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  • Education — The importance of teaching, learning, and intellectual curiosity
  • Health — Well-being of mind and body, and the pursuit of vitality
  • Life — Reflections on the meaning, challenges, and beauty of life
  • Wisdom — Timeless insights drawn from experience and reflection

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