Not long ago, and even today in some places, people who were considered "inferior" were locked up, enslaved and killed, just because they didn't belong to the same group as their oppressors. Nowadays, most of us are horrified by these practices and relieved that many of them are relegated to a dreadful memory. But we rarely think more deeply about the issue and realise that, for many more than we think, that horror is far from over.
Many people try to dismiss this comparison between human and animal exploitation and accuse it of being exaggerated or even insulting. But is it really so outrageous? Let us have a look at the facts: both humans and cows, for example, can experience pleasure, satisfaction, pain and distress. So both have an interest in living, doing so in freedom, without being subjected to suffering. Having such interests is a sufficient reason for others to be duty bound to consider them. Someone's race, social group, sex or species shouldn't be a reason to discriminate against him or her. That’s why animal exploitation must be rejected.
