AR-FAQ - #83

#83 Farmers have to kill pests to protect our food supply. Given that, what's wrong with killing a few more rats for medical research?

[PLANK A] First, we object to the casual attitude of the questioner to the killing of rights holders. A nonspeciesist philosophy, such as that of Animal Rights, sees that as no different from suggesting:

Humans are killed legitimately every day. Given that, what's wrong with killing a few more humans for medical research?

Hopefully, the reply is now obvious: in the original question, the fate of pests is an irrelevant consideration (here), and the case for the liberation of laboratory animals must be evaluated on its own. Seeking to dilute a number of immoral killings into a greater number of arguably defensible ones is a creative but illogical attempt at ethical reasoning. AECW

SEE ALSO: #59