Animal Rights Zone

Fighting for animal liberation and an end to speciesism

Scientists lobby for dolphin, whale 'bill of rights.'

Dolphins and whales have such a high level of intelligence that they should be recognized as "non-human persons" and be given their own universal bill of rights.

That was the conclusion of scientists, animal rights activists and philosophers who met over at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Vancouver.

"Dolphins are non-human persons. A person needs to be an individual. If individuals count, then the deliberate killing of individuals of this sort is ethically the equivalent of deliberately killing a human being," Dr. Thomas White, ethics expert at Loyola Marymount University in California, said.

The scientists are hopeful that international authorities will give cetaceans a legally-binding declaration of rights which would make it illegal to keep the animals in marine parks. Killing cetaceans would be regarded as murder, under such a bill.

Recent studies have shown increasing similarities between dolphins and humans. Like humans, dolphins think of the future, follow instructions from watching TV without being trained to do so, and display altruistic behavior.

The Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans -- established two years ago -- has been active in getting support from scientists and is currently working to attract policymakers to its cause.

Views: 1211

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Gee, I'm not sure if this is a positive step or a terrible way to further entrench speciesism. 

I don't like the assumption that because dolphins and whales are considered to be more intelligent than other animals, they deserve more consideration and that we should exploit them less, based on their perceived intelligence, and similarities to humans. That seems awfully like human arrogance and supremacy in the extreme to me. 
The article states:

"The marine experts said that, like humans, cetaceans have their own personalities, exist in highly sophisticated societies and are "far more intellectually and emotionally sophisticated than previously thought.""

I don't disagree with that, but, so many other animals could be described in exactly the same way. A quick look at Jordan Wyatt's videos of his Chicken Friends would be evidence to that. I'm not sure why cetaceans are being singled out here.

 I think it's seriously dangerous to single out cetaceans, when there are so many other animals who are equally deserving of the same respect and dignity that it is being suggested cetaceans should be receiving. 

Reply to Discussion

RSS

About

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

ARZone Podcasts!

Please visit this webpage to subscribe to ARZone podcasts using iTunes

or

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Follow ARZone!

Please follow ARZone on:

Twitter

Google+

Pinterest

A place for animal advocates to gather and discuss issues, exchange ideas, and share information.

Creative Commons License
Animal Rights Zone (ARZone) by ARZone is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.arzone.ning.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.arzone.ning.com.

Animal Rights Zone (ARZone) Disclaimer

Animal Rights Zone (ARZone) is an animal rights site. As such, it is the position of ARZone that it is only by ending completely the use of other animal as things can we fulfill our moral obligations to them.

Please read the full site disclosure here.

Animal Rights Zone (ARZone) Mission Statement

Animal Rights Zone (ARZone) exists to help educate vegans and non-vegans alike about the obligations human beings have toward all other animals.

Please read the full mission statement here.

Members

Events

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by Animal Rights Zone.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Google+