About Sentience

Animal Rights people are law abiding, tax paying, working family men and women who do not feel the need to kill, and do not accept the arguments that 'animals are below us.'

They are not extreme in their wish and work to prevent pain, suffering and terror from all who share the planet. That animals, birds and fish have families, communities, communication and are capable of feeling joy as well as terror, and do mourn the death of their offspring, or mate for life, has been scientifically proven – they feel all that we feel.

Animal Rights organisations and believers oppose the slaughter of animals, regardless, because Rightists believe that all animals have a right to exist for their own reasons and supposed "humane" slaughter methods are irrelevant . Rightists do not believe that man needs to use animals for food, clothing, jewellery, medicine (muti) or to prove the safety of household cleaners, cosmetics and medicine - as far as the latter goes there are many many examples of why 'scientific' animal experiments not only do not work, but are downright dangerous for humans.

Animal Rights people do not approve of killing full stop. Animal Rights people do not believe we have dominion, and therefore we do not have the right to abuse, torture and inflict pain, suffering, terror and fear just because we can. We believe in the sanctity of ALL life.

As long as animal welfare groups say "it's okay to kill an animal, as long as its done humanely" their stand will be used by people to justify slaughter / rituals and to make the killing "acceptable". For the record, there can be no such thing as "humane" slaughter.

That animals are incapable of understanding is an oft used and false argument, yet even if this were true, an unacceptable reason for our behaviour toward them. That this is absolutely nonsense has been proven over and over again and the latest example is that Chimpanzees, used for muti and food, have better memories than humans. Pigs have the mental capacities of 3 year old humans – Chickens understand the concept of existence and a future – which young humans cannot - does this mean it is acceptable to eat small children as they are supposedly stupid by comparison? Or to use the mentally challenged in experiments?

The terror and suffering inflicted by slaughter, whether by the approved meat eating establishment in the form of abbatoirs, or the ritual of slaughter for celebration etc will never be acceptable to a large number of South Africans.

To quote a great Humanitarian and South African, Dr Albert Schweitzer

"The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo."

When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another, even the lowliest creature; not to do so is to renounce our manhood and shoulder a guilt which nothing justifies"