Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Humane Society’s four Rs: reduce, refine, replace and rationalize.

The HSUS promotes eating with conscience and embracing the Three Rs.

The three R’s: Reduce, refine and replace. Three simple actions can reduce the suffering of billions of farm animals on factory farms.

The fourth R: Rationalize. This one simple action can reduce the guilt felt by people who want to advocate for animal rights without giving up the taste of their flesh.

Morality is like the cage of a laying hen. Just as we in the HSUS fight for bigger cages, we also advocate expanding the definition of animal welfare. The bigger cages permit the laying hens to turn around freely and fully extend their limbs. Our new expanded definition of animal welfare gives us plenty of room to consume animal flesh and still pass ourselves off as advocates of the animals we eat.

We can sign petitions in support of bigger cages for farm animals with one hand while holding a chicken sandwich with the other. Hypocrisy? Insanity? Not if you embrace the fourth R.