METROWEST DAILY NEWS
Activist: Animal rights are entering the mainstream

By Norman Miller
Monday, June 17, 2002

Yikes!!! Babe the Pig gave birth to a litter of 7 on March 21 during the Friday afternoon peace vigil. Apparently, she was pregnant when she was shipped to slaughter. Now what do we do?

SHERBORN - There are obstacles that keep animals from sharing basic rights with humans, but animal activist and law professor Steven Wise said yesterday that animal rights are becoming a mainstream subject.

There are case books on animal rights, an annual journal on animal law and 25 law schools in the country have animal rights courses, said Wise, a professor at Harvard Law School.

“It's really hitting the mainstream,” said Wise, the author of "Drawing the Line: Science and the Case for Animal Rights," and several other books. “It's really, really something that is taking off around the world.”

Wise’s wife, Debra Slater-Wise, has also built a reputation for her work defending animal rights. Slater-Wise is an attorney who often represents people whose dogs have been sentenced to death, including an Uxbridge man whose two Rottweilers attacked a 4-year-old boy in November.

Steven Wise spoke to about 100 people at the Peace Abbey, a retreat that promotes peace and social justice on the grounds of the Life Experience School. The Abbey is also the home of Emily, the cow that escaped from a Hopkinton slaughterhouse and roamed free until Peace Abbey founder Lewis Randa took her in.

Wise discussed his book, obstacles in the way of animal rights, and why animals should qualify for rights.

“What is it about the way humans are put together that make them eligible for the rights of liberty and equality?” asked the Needham resident. “We can't agree on what's a necessary condition of rights. I argue that it is autonomy.”

Many animals care about what happens to them, can make decisions in their lives and can determine right and wrong, Wise said.

In his book, Wise has developed a chart, ranging from .00 to 1.0 to measure an animal's consciousness. All the great apes, including gorillas and chimpanzees, are in the first group, along with other "non-human animals" such as dolphins.

“My 41/2-year-old son Christopher has moved into that group,” said Wise. “He wasn't in that category when I spoke here two years ago. He's moving along quite nicely. He's passed chimpanzees. That's a big deal for me.”

During his research, Wise said he met with Koko the gorilla, an ape famous for communicating through sign language.

“She was the perfect example of self-consciousness,” said Wise.

“If you were lucky, she'd look into a mirror, put her hat on, and then put lipstick on.”

Animals that aren't quite at the level of the great apes include elephants, gray parrots and, to what Wise said was a surprise to him, honeybees.

“The Pentagon (is) training honeybees to search for bombs,” said Wise. “They can recognize symbols. They can remember maps in their head, and they have the second-most advanced language behind humans.”

Scientific testing of animals, as well as animals as a food source, would stop if Wise's system was adopted.

“I argue the worst thing we can do to an autonomous being is to violate their physical integrity and use them for medical research or to eat,” said Wise. “If you believe in equality at all, they can no longer be slaves - they can no longer have their physical integrity infringed upon.”

There are several significant obstacles in the way of animals enjoying rights as more than “things,” Wise said.

They include physical obstacles such as the number of animals killed each year for food; the fact that the food industry is a $100 billion industry and religious obstacles.

“People believe that, somehow, non-human animals were put on this earth for humans, and only humans have souls,” Wise said.

The legal industry's opinions of animals also needs to change, he says.

“In law, every non-human animal is a thing - there are no rights for non-human animals,” said Wise. “Generally in law, you are either a person or a thing. Animals, microphones, even this podium, are all things.”

Wise said no matter what, some people will never change their opinion.

“They'll eventually die, and hopefully the people who take their place are more open-minded,” he said.

left: Julia Butterfly Hill enjoys a special moment with Emily.

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