As someone who considers “wild animal suffering” to be by far the most pressing issue on earth (as it has been since the emergence of conscious animal life), I think this news is a step of advancement in terms of battling extreme suffering.
It is my view that those who wage war against wild animal suffering should not tackle the problem head-on. It seems much more politically prudent to champion veganism of some sort (or perhaps more specifically, the humane slaughter of farm animals, as Brian Tomasik suggests here), in order to first increase the general public’s concern for animal welfare.
It is to this median-goal that the Belgian Constitution contributes, by:
Imposing a general duty upon the various levels of government to protect the “welfare” of animals, and
To recognize “animals” as “sentient beings” (whose extent of coverage, I assume, will be subject to numerous legal debates).
I think it is important to note that other constitutions (that refer to animals) are written in ways that actually (one could argue) have a net negative impact on wild animal welfare. For example, Article 19 of Italy’s Constitution states that the Republic must “safeguard the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems.”[1] My concern here is that, if in the future, an extinction of certain species (done as humanely as possible) becomes necessary to reduce wildlife suffering, then this curious human obsession with “biodiversity” (enshrined in the Constitution!) would be a hindrance.
Similarly, Article 78, Paragraph 4 of the Swiss Constitution states that the government “shall legislate on the protection of animal and plant life and on the preservation of their natural habitats and their diversity. It shall protect endangered species from extinction.” And Paragraph 5 says: “Moors and wetlands of special beauty and national importance shall be preserved.”
So much for the human eye! Our “intellectual delight”—this parasite in our brains existing as some kind of self-propagating creature feeding on the visual input of “wonderful-colorful diversity”—has convinced our other neurons that they’ve no reason to investigate deeper into nature; that what appears to us less colorful must be less wonderful for the animals, too! My friends, I declare that humanity has thus far been a slave to this parasite!
The idea is just that championing biodiversity logically entails a strong resistance to habitat destruction and even extinction of certain species (if it be necessary to reduce suffering). For example, if we could (in the future if technology advances sufficiently):
Gradually eliminate a certain predator species in an ecological area (ex. wolves) (as peacefully as possible, perhaps by birth control), and
Also control the prey population from getting out of hand (again, perhaps by some advanced birth control technology)
Then this may (all else equal) reduce the total amount of suffering in the wild, since the prey population in that area are no longer being torn apart by predators and living in constant fear of them. Yet, the supporter of biodiversity would resist this intervention, since it entails the immediate reduction of biodiversity via the elimination of the predator species.
Brian Tomasik has some interesting discussions touching on this topic. I also found this paper which is quite technical but it directly address this issue.
As someone who considers “wild animal suffering” to be by far the most pressing issue on earth (as it has been since the emergence of conscious animal life), I think this news is a step of advancement in terms of battling extreme suffering.
It is my view that those who wage war against wild animal suffering should not tackle the problem head-on. It seems much more politically prudent to champion veganism of some sort (or perhaps more specifically, the humane slaughter of farm animals, as Brian Tomasik suggests here), in order to first increase the general public’s concern for animal welfare.
It is to this median-goal that the Belgian Constitution contributes, by:
Imposing a general duty upon the various levels of government to protect the “welfare” of animals, and
To recognize “animals” as “sentient beings” (whose extent of coverage, I assume, will be subject to numerous legal debates).
I think it is important to note that other constitutions (that refer to animals) are written in ways that actually (one could argue) have a net negative impact on wild animal welfare. For example, Article 19 of Italy’s Constitution states that the Republic must “safeguard the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems.”[1] My concern here is that, if in the future, an extinction of certain species (done as humanely as possible) becomes necessary to reduce wildlife suffering, then this curious human obsession with “biodiversity” (enshrined in the Constitution!) would be a hindrance.
Similarly, Article 78, Paragraph 4 of the Swiss Constitution states that the government “shall legislate on the protection of animal and plant life and on the preservation of their natural habitats and their diversity. It shall protect endangered species from extinction.” And Paragraph 5 says: “Moors and wetlands of special beauty and national importance shall be preserved.”
So much for the human eye! Our “intellectual delight”—this parasite in our brains existing as some kind of self-propagating creature feeding on the visual input of “wonderful-colorful diversity”—has convinced our other neurons that they’ve no reason to investigate deeper into nature; that what appears to us less colorful must be less wonderful for the animals, too! My friends, I declare that humanity has thus far been a slave to this parasite!
Are there any resources that inform your views on biodiversity that you’d recommend others read? I’d be curious to learn more!
I remember someone giving a talk on the topic at EAGxCambridge but I couldn’t quickly find who this was unfortunately
Hello,
The idea is just that championing biodiversity logically entails a strong resistance to habitat destruction and even extinction of certain species (if it be necessary to reduce suffering). For example, if we could (in the future if technology advances sufficiently):
Gradually eliminate a certain predator species in an ecological area (ex. wolves) (as peacefully as possible, perhaps by birth control), and
Also control the prey population from getting out of hand (again, perhaps by some advanced birth control technology)
Then this may (all else equal) reduce the total amount of suffering in the wild, since the prey population in that area are no longer being torn apart by predators and living in constant fear of them. Yet, the supporter of biodiversity would resist this intervention, since it entails the immediate reduction of biodiversity via the elimination of the predator species.
Brian Tomasik has some interesting discussions touching on this topic. I also found this paper which is quite technical but it directly address this issue.