As animal advocates, we at Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania are often approached by others who do not understand why we direct our energies fighting for the rights of ducks, cats, pigs, fish, and other non-human animals when they believe we should be focusing our efforts on helping the homeless or people exploited in sweatshops.  "It's not that I don't care about animals," they say, "I think its terrible the way some people treat animals.  It's just that there are so many human problems to deal with and they should come first."  Billions of animals are exploited, tortured, and killed in this country alone every year-the vast majority of that suffering taking place in institutionalized industries such as animal agriculture (well over 10 billion individuals killed for meat, milk, eggs, and seafood production in the US alone), animal research, the fashion industry, the pet industry, and the entertainment industry.  Yet people feel it is a waste of time to work to help animals because they think there are much worthier causes.  In the end, they believe, human life matters more. 

There is a term that is often quoted to sum up this entire mentality and allows for the continued exploitation of nonhuman animals: speciesism.  Speciesism is a form of prejudice that is likened to racism or sexism--it is the mindset that humans are superior to animals simply because we're human and they are animals.  Like other forms of discrimination, it focuses on the differences between two groups rather than the similarities, and creates an us-and-them dichotomy.  Speciesism permits us to treat other animals as unfeeling things rather than as living, thinking, sentient beings who are entitled to freedom in their own lives.  It allows animals to be so far removed from us that their interests do not matter when they can be used to serve our own purposes, regardless of how frivolous or unnecessary those purposes may be.  The roots of speciesism can be found in the many rationalizations that are given to justify the view that humans are more important than animals.  Let's explore some of these common justifications:

Animals don't have feelings

Animals are not intelligent enough to matter

There are many things humans can do that animals can't.  For instance, animals cannot perform complex mathematics, write books, or build skyscrapers.  This proves that humans are a superior species.

Animals do not have souls

Caring About Both Humans and Animals: Compassion Is Not Mutually Exclusive

Ten Things You Can Do To Support Justice for Animals:

1. Go vegan - Animals raised on factory farms live miserable lives filled with pain and suffering and die a terrifying death.  Well over 10 billion are killed in this country every year.  The best thing you can do to prevent animal suffering is not give your financial support to these cruel industries by becoming vegan.  Go to www.tryveg.com for more information.
2. Don't buy products tested on animals from companies such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Alberto Culver, and Colgate-Palmolive Co.  Animals used in cosmetic and product testing are poisoned with chemicals forced down their throats, are burned with chemicals applied to their bare skin, and have products like shampoos directly poured into their eyes.  Only buy products from companies who don't test on animals such as Toms of Maine, Kiss My Face, and Clinique.
3. Don't ever purchase an animal from a pet store or breeder.  Animals are not toys or pieces of merchandise to be bought and sold.  Pet stores contribute to the high mortality rate of birds, reptiles and small rodents, and these animals have complex needs which are difficult to meet in captivity.  Pet stores and breeders hugely contribute to the cat and dog overpopulation crisis.  Remember there is no such thing as a responsible breeder when nearly 6 million animals die in shelters each year in this country for lack of good homes.  If you are considering sharing your life with an animal, always adopt from a shelter or rescue group.
4. Oppose animal research.  Don't donate to charities that fund animal research such as March of Dimes, The American Heart Association, and The American Cancer Society.  Choose to support charities instead that only fund clinically based, non-animal tests such as Easter Seals, National Children's Cancer Society, Birth Defect Research for Children, Inc., and American Kidney Fund.
5. Never go to the circus, rodeos, marine parks, the zoo, or any other animal act.  Wild animals kept in captivity suffer from near constant stress and boredom and are deprived of everything natural to them for the sake of entertainment.  Animals in circuses live miserable lives of exploitation, intense confinement, and violent training.  Rodeos are events of barely veiled animal abuse where horses are made to buck using tightly pinched straps over their genitals and calves are violently thrown to the ground at speeds of 25 miles per hour.  Choose to only attend events where animal exploitation is not part of the show.
6. Never buy fur.  Animals killed for their fur suffer immensely.  Animals caught in steel jaw leghold or body-gripping traps can linger for hours or even days in agony, the pain being so great that they will often chew off their own limbs to escape.  Animals on fur farms die a painful death through poisoning, neck breaking, gassing, and anal or genital electrocution.  Sometimes animals are even skinned alive.  Don't support this cruel, violent industry.
7. Don't wear leather, wool, down, silk, or other animal skin.  Buying leather directly supports the beef industry as it makes up 50% of the byproduct value of cattle.  Don't subsidize the cruelty of factory farms and slaughterhouses by purchasing leather.  Sheep used for wool production are kept in flocks of thousands where millions die each year from untreated illness and exposure to the elements.  Lambs are subjected to painful mutilations such as mulesing where their tails and large sections of skin on their backsides is cut off to prevent files from landing in their wool, and elderly sheep have their teeth cut out-all without anesthesia.  Down is produced by plucking ducks and geese of their feathers live and this painful process is repeated four or five more times before the birds are sent to slaughter.  Silk is produced by boiling or steaming thousands of silkworms live in their cocoons.  Alligators, crocodiles, snakes, and other reptiles are usually conscious when they are skinned to make purses, wallets, and belts.  Cold-blooded reptiles can take hours or even sometimes days to die.
8. Liberate your language.  Speciesist ideas are so ingrained in our culture that the English language is filled with words that denote animals as being things and pieces of property rather than as sentient individuals.  Words are very powerful and shape our attitudes and behavior towards others.  Just as we try to rid our language of racist, sexist, and homophobic terms, so we should do the same with speciesist terms.  Don't call an animal "it", use "he" or "she".  Use "living beings" instead of "living things"; "who" instead of "that" or "which"; "someone/no one" for "something/nothing"; "animal companion" for "pet"; "guardian" or "caretaker" instead of "owner" or "master".  Don't use euphemistic language that hides the harsh reality of animals' suffering and death: use "kill" or "murder" instead of "put to sleep", "sacrifice", or "harvest".
9. Don't ever go hunting or fishing.  Killing animals for fun and sport is nothing short of cruelty.  Angling not only hurts fishes, but also millions of birds, turtles, otters, seals, bats, and other animals who are maimed or killed by discarded fishing tackle.
10. Be a caring and responsible animal guardian.  Don't ever have a cat declawed or have dogs' tails or ears "cropped" or "docked"- these are painful and unnecessary mutilations not done in the animal's interest.  Only adopt an animal if you are able to make a lifetime commitment to him or her-animals should never be adopted on impulse or as gifts as this often leads to abandonment.  Always make sure to have your animal companion spayed and neutered so you don't contribute to the overpopulation crisis.