It's a moral question about whether we have the right to exterminate species.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
What we are doing to the future of our children, and the other species on the planet, is a clear moral issue.
We do not think clearly about our moral obligations to animals.
I urge you to ask yourself just how honorable it is to preside over the abuse and suffering of animals.
I'm an animal rights activist because I believe we won't have a planet if we continue to behave toward other species the way we do.
I almost think it is the ultimate destiny of science to exterminate the human race.
I would, therefore, say that for no reason whatsoever, except in self-defence, should one think of killing any animal.
Science, already oppressive with its shocking revelations, will perhaps be the ultimate exterminator of our human species - if separate species we be - for its reserve of unguessed horrors could never be borne by mortal brains if loosed upon the world.
Certainly it is wrong to be cruel to animals and the destruction of a whole species can be a great evil. The capacity for feelings of pleasure and pain and for the form of life of which animals are capable clearly impose duties of compassion and humanity in their case.
For at the same time many people seem eager to extend the circle of our moral consideration to animals, in our factory farms and laboratories we are inflicting more suffering on more animals than at any time in history.
I feel that we have a responsibility to try to do everything we can to protect species, and the best way to do that is to uphold international conservation law.