You are not handling a lump of plastic. You are handling animals with central nervous systems that feel pain and suffering.
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'I don't see us as saints and them as sinners; one sees a universe of pain and suffering and asks what can one do.'
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'What is 'Animal Rights'? It is the philosophy of allowing nonhuman animals to have the most basic rights that all sentient beings desire: the freedom to live a natural life free from human exploitation, pain and suffering, and premature death. This is what the animal rights movement is about, it is not about working for equality between human and nonhuman animals.'
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Although other animals cannot reason or speak the way humans do, this does not give us the right to do with them as we like. Even though our supposed possession of a soul and superior intelligence are used to create an arbitrary dividing line over rights, the fact remains that all animals have the capacity to experience pain and suffering, and in suffering they are our equals.
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Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth.
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