One of the most interesting things I've discovered since going vegan is the extent to which animals are considered to be not living beings but property. It sounds weird at first because obviously your dog is a dog and not a chair, or a 1965 Ford Mustang, but in the eyes of the law and of most people animals are property. Think about it. We buy, sell and trade them, dispose of them at will. Not the kind of things you do with people. I hope.
As much as I hate the idea, it's revolutionary and quite helpful in understanding why people think it's okay to exploit animals as resources. Resources are there to be used, after all. Property can't have rights or interests either. When you drive your car you don't think about whether or not the car wants to be driven. The car is there to be driven, unless it's a really cool car in which case it's there to enhance my awesomeness status to BEYOND AMAZING.
Think I'm crazy? If you're like me, you don't want to think of animals as property. My horse is my friend, not a handbag, not even a really nice handbag. But the majority of people in this world? They think of animals as property, or as semi-property, occupying a category in between a living being and a piece of furniture. Even people who 'love' animals do. Still don't believe me? Let's play a little game with pop culture, shall we?
Turn your TV on to Animal Planet. Watch one of those shows designed to make you simultaneously sob at how cruel humans can be to animals and revel in how wonderful we are for saving them. Detroit/Houston/Miami Animal Cops will work. Now count the number of times the animals are referred to as he, she or it. You only get to count the times where the officer or whoever is in charge of being benevolent knows the gender of the animal.
And the 'its' have it. I rest my case.
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