The Case for Animal Rights

As a vice president for policy and government affairs at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, I have debated animal protection issues around the world, frequently engaging with representatives from the meat, fur, animal-experimentation and circus industries.

But a strange thing started happening about seven or eight years ago: the other side stopped showing up. Although PETA is always happy to discuss and debate animal rights issues, the animal exploiters are no longer willing to. I believe this newfound timidity may have something to do with the fact that their positions are so transparently indefensible and that the public can see right through them.

For example, prior to a recent speech I gave at Michigan State University, representatives from MSU’s student animal rights organization attempted to arrange a forum that would include Jeff Armstrong, dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and myself. I was prepared to argue that animal use is not necessary and that modern slaughter methods and factory farm confinement practices are cruel. As chair of the United Egg Producers Animal Welfare Advisory Committee and as an adviser to McDonald’s on animal welfare issues, Armstrong would have undoubtedly taken the opposing view. Considering that he lends his name and prestige (and his MSU affiliation) to these methods and practices, he seemed to be the ideal advocate for those who support animal use. Sadly, Armstrong flatly refused to participate.

More and more students are discovering that animals—cows, turkeys, pigs and chickens—living on factory farms and dying in slaughterhouses face abuses so severe that they could warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges were dogs or cats the victims. McDonald’s suppliers cram mother pigs into crates that are too small for them to turn around in, cram hens into tiny cages that cause their muscles and bones to waste away from lack of use, and kill chickens using a method that guarantees that every year millions of birds will still be conscious when they are immersed in the scalding-hot water of defeathering tanks. Every year, billions of chickens have their throats cut while they are still conscious, and PETA investigations have proved repeatedly that sadistic abuse on the part of workers is the norm, not the exception.

Taking this into consideration, it’s understandable that representatives of the meat and egg industries would refuse to hold an open forum, but if researchers such as Armstrong believe they are doing honorable work, it is less clear to me why they would refuse to participate.

Thankfully, there is still a thirst among students for active discussion on these important issues. When the Harvard College Vegetarian Society reached out to the campus Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society about organizing a debate between the society and me on the ethical issues surrounding meat consumption, to their credit, the students jumped at the opportunity. They recognize that there is no harm in allowing students and faculty to see both sides of the issue so that they can develop a more informed stance.


Bruce G. Friedrich is PETA’s vice president for policy and government affairs.