AR-News: Great letter /NY Times

[KLinJoy at aol.com]

Bravo to NYC activist Jackie Raven for this awesome letter she got published 
in today's (TUES) NY Times. Its fantastic! (and wonderful they published it) 


NY Times June 15, 2004

To the Editor:

The ability of Rico, a border collie, to learn by inference is seemingly 
impressive, but I suspect that it's so only because of the assumptions we make 
about the members of other species.

My cat talks from time to time, yet I have no idea what he's saying, so he 
compensates for my poor learning skills by using body language that he somehow 
deduces I'll understand.

There are thousands of stories showing an innate ability of animals to 
reason. Perhaps we ought to rethink our own reasoning ability when we use it to 
denigrate the integrity and dignity of members of other species by confining them, 
exploiting them and knowingly causing them pain and stress in order to dine 
on their flesh, wear their fur, probe their bodies and force them to perform.   


JACQUELINE RAVEN
New York, June 11, 2004

    
    
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