ARE ANIMALS MORE IMPORTANT TO US THAN PEOPLE?

I write this, not with an agenda, or even a point of view….but as a serious question that I think is worth pondering…

Do we, as humans, care more for animals than we do for our fellow humans?

It sounds silly at first but on further review you might find it, as I do, to be a valid inquiry.

Of course, our most intimate fellow humans-- our spouses, children, etc., are almost certainly going to be more important than a family pet but how does a stranger (a person we don’t know) stack up against an animal we don’t know..a lion in the jungle, for example, or a dolphin, etc.…do we feel more pain and do we have more sensitivity towards the suffering of dogs, cats, baby seals, whales, etc., than we do for the average person on the street?

I have no research or study to know the answer to this question one way or another... but I think it is quite possible that many of us (perhaps a very high percentage) have more compassion for animals (collectively ) than we do for other humans….we do more to protect the lives of innocent animals than we do to protect the lives of innocent humans. Many of us go to great lengths to buy chickens that are “free range”, etc., but are we sensitive to all of our brothers and sisters who are living a hopeless and helpless life?

I do think a strong argument could be made that, as a society, we care more about the suffering of animals than we do about the subordination of, rape of, and violence against girls and women…..between 20 and 25% of girls will be raped in their lifetime according to many reputable studies…..yet, I can’t think of any organized effort, any organization (like PETA) that exists to keep women and girls safe from rape, violence, etc…It is chronic and incredibly ubiquitous...but there is no effort to lift a pinky finger on behalf of this cause that affects over 50% of our population.

There are documentaries made to protect the “killer” whale…Shamu, etc., to close Sea World....there is a celebrity who appears in ads that I see everyday to elicit donations to protect baby seals who are being killed. There was an incredible national outrage over the death of a lion ”Cecil” who was killed by a hunter in Africa. I don’t see the same collective outrage over the loss of human life...at least those are my leanings.

If this is the case…if there is some truth to the notion that animals (collectively) receive a bigger slice of our compassion than do people whom we don’t know…and maybe even many people whom we do know…then what does that say about us? Why would that be the case? Should we be disturbed by this?

Food for thought…