"The ways in which creatures in nature die are typically violent: predation, starvation, disease, parasitism, cold. The dying animal in the wild does not understand the vast ocean of misery into which it and billions of other animals are born only to drown. If the wild animal understood the conditions into which it is born, what would it think? It might reasonably prefer to be raised on a farm, where the chances of survival for a year or more would be good, and to escape from the wild, where they are negligible. Either way, the animal will be eaten: few die of old age. The path from birth to slaughter, however, is often longer and less painful in the barnyard than in the woods. Comparisons, sad as they are, must be made to recognize where a great opportunity lies to prevent or mitigate suffering. The misery of animals in nature—which humans can do much to relieve—makes every other form of suffering pale in comparison. Mother Nature is so cruel to her children she makes Frank Perdue look like a saint."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Mark Sagoff, "Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics: Bad Marriage, Quick Divorce", Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Vol. 22, Iss. 2 (1984), p. 303
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wild_animal_suffering
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Mark Sagoff
11 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Mark Sagoff →
Related Quotes
"The principle of natural selection is not obviously a humanitarian principle; the predator-prey relation does not dep…"
"We act as consumers to get what we want for ourselves. We act as citizens to achieve what we think is right or best f…"
"The distinction between consumer and citizen preferences has long vexed the theory of public finance. Should the publ…"
"The cost-benefit analyst does not ask economists how much they are willing to pay for what they believe, that is, tha…"
"The cost-benefit approach treats people as of equal worth because it treats them as of no worth, but only as places o…"
"This essay concerns the economic decisions we make about the environment. It also concerns our political decisions ab…"
"Economists likewise argue that their role as policy-makers is legitimate because they are neutral among competing val…"
"Kant recognized that values, like beliefs, are subjective states of mind which have an objective content as well. The…"
"No matter how much people are willing to pay, three will never be the square root of six. Similarly, segregation is a…"
"The person, in other words, is not to be treated merely as a bundle of preferences to be juggled in cost-benefit anal…"