(Suspenseful music)
- [Jasmine] Have you ever heard of the word speciesism
and wondered what it means?
Speciesism is the widely held belief that humans
are superior to animals.
Scholar, Peter Singer, author of the 1975 book
"Animal Liberation" defines it as, "a prejudice or bias
in favor of the interest of members of ones own species,
and against those of members of other species."
Singer's "Animal Liberation" is regarded as the foundation
for the Animal Rights movement,
and has inspired millions of people
to make an ethical shift away from animal products.
- They think that something that affects human beings
is necessarily more important
than something that affects non-human animals and,
this is the question that I think needs to be challenged
at the fundamental, philosophical level.
- [Jasmine] Speciesism is how society justifies it's use
of animals as commodities,
whether that's through the food we eat,
the clothes we wear or our choice of entertainment.
But how did it all happen?
The relationship between humans and animals
dates back thousands of years.
Ancient humans also had a very different relationship
with animals than we do today.
According to the book, "Cherokee History, Myths and Sacred
Formulas" by James Mooney, every life was seen as sacred.
Hunters preyed for their animals,
killed only when needed and used every part of an animal.
Bones were fashioned into tools, dishes and weapons.
Entrails could be made into water containers
or cooking vessels.
Hides and fur helped protect people from cold weather.
They were used to create dwelling structures,
clothing and footwear.
Without animals to plow fields,
agriculture may not have advanced at the rate that it has.
Horseback riding helped advance year round trans-continental
postal systems, helping people stay in touch with each other
even if they lived hundreds of miles apart.
Our relationship with horses
also helped us to travel far distances,
until the assembly line allowed for mass production
of Ford's Model T, popularizing horse-less carriages.
By the middle of the twentieth century however,
humans had mostly transitioned away from it's hunting days
and toward the industrialization of animals.
Factory farming was invented in the 1960s to increase
production while cutting costs.
Today, factory farming kills 150 million animals
for food around the world every day.
It is viewed as an efficient way to feed the growing
global population.
As a result of factory farming,
meat became, and is still,
a cheap readily available source of protein.
But as plant based meat becomes more realistic...
- I'm not sure, that one tastes like vegan chicken as well.
- They both tasted - Exactly.
- Really the same. - Yeah.
- Like very hard to tell.
- It was very hard to tell.
- [Jasmine] It may soon also become more efficient
to produce it.
Just like the Model T was a horse without a carriage,
brands is showing that we can have meat without the animal.
Beef from certain farms is considered better than factory
farm raised meat.
Eggs from cage-free hens
are seen as the more ethical option.
(clucking hens)
♪ Well look out world ♪
♪ Me and the girls are goin' now ♪
♪ Aah ha ♪
♪ The suns shining down ♪
♪ so we gonna shake n' shout ♪
- [Jasmine] Both choices still result
in the commodification of animals.
- Every cow out here has some personality,
there's no one cow that's alike.
Not even the moms and babies.
- [Man In Hat] There's 32 cows and calves out here,
and basically once they hit five months old,
they'll be transferred in and weened from their moms,
and the moms will have 85 day break
before back with the bull to be bred again.
- [Jasmine] We laud forms of entertainment that fully
exploit the power we have over animals, like dog fights.
But others like horse races are still seen
as part of our cultural heritage.
Circuses were once one of the most popular
forms of entertainment,
where families could see exotic animals
like elephants, lions and tigers,
performing stunning tricks.
But in May 2017, the Ringling Bros. Circus,
one of the most well known in the world,
shut down for good due to falling attendance
and protests against animal cruelty.
Sea World is experiencing a similar struggle since
the 2013 documentary, "Blackfish" revealed the mental toll
captivity takes on Orca whales.
People continue to justify the exploitation of animals
in a number of ways.
One of the most common arguments you'll hear is,
"We've always done it that way."
And that's true.
Humans have eaten meat, dairy and eggs for a long time,
but it also has evolved from eating carrion
to developing our own hunting skills,
to raising livestock.
History has taught us
that if we stuck to the way things were,
slavery would still exist,
marriage equality wouldn't be legal
and women wouldn't be able to vote,
let alone run for President.
Humans have evolved their diet over thousands of years.
It's naive to think that evolution has stopped
and with plants creating safer, healthier and even cheaper
meat, eggs and dairy options,
there's no question that our diet is about to experience
a massive shift away from animal exploitation.
You might also hear religious reasons
for perpetuating speciesism.
In Genesis 1:26 the Bible says, "Let us make man
in our image, after our likeness and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens,
and over the livestock, and over all the earth
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
But dominion doesn't mean tyranny.
In the Bible, God even encourages Adam and Eve
and every animal on the planet, to eat vegan.
In Genesis 1:29-30 then God said, "Behold I have given
you every seed-bearing plant on the earth, of all the earth.
And every tree whose fruit contains seed,
they will be yours for food.
And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air
and every creature that crawls upon the earth;
everything that has breath of life in it;
I have given every green plant for food."
- There are also numerous passages in the Bible
that are frowned upon in today's day and age,
like bans on wearing mixed fabrics,
stoning disobedient children to death
and the belief that gay people are an abomination.
People also say that speciesism is justified
because animals are so different from us,
animals don't look like us or communicate like us.
Others bring up intelligence and the capacity for language.
Animals aren't as smart as us so it's okay
to commodify their bodies,
but animals are intelligent.
Research shows that pigs are the 5th most intelligent
animal in the world, even smarter than dogs.
They have excellent long term memory,
can solve simple puzzles and mazes,
and feel empathy toward their fellow animals.
Chickens, despite their reputation for being dumb,
can perform simple arithmetic, including counting,
can remember more than 100 faces
and they can even remember that objects out of sight, exist,
which is beyond the capacity of a two year old child.
Regardless, should someones intelligent level
dictate how respectfully we treat them?
This kind of speciesism has worked it's way
into practically all aspects of life,
and a few examples highlight it extraordinarily well.
Most of us know the 1952 book "Charlotte's Web"
by E.B. White.
The classic children's story features a pig named Wilbur,
who is born on a farm where animals are raised for meat.
Born the runt of the litter,
Wilbur is saved from being killed by Fern Arable,
the farmers daughter, who loves him like a pet.
- If I had been born small would you have killed me?
- Course not. A little girl is one thing,
a runty pig is another.
- There's no difference.
This is unfair and unjust.
(pig grunts)
How could you be so heartless?
- [Jasmine] But when Wilbur gets bigger,
the farmer intends to send him to slaughter.
Wilbur befriends a spider named Charlotte,
who spins webs with messages praising Wilbur.
Charlotte's webs catch the attention of locals,
then the county fair.
It's the peoples love for Wilbur that saves him
from slaughter.
The 1995 film "Babe", based on the 1983 book "The Sheep-Pig"
by Dick King-Smith, also features a pig
as the main character.
Babe is an orphan piglet purchased at a county fair
by farmer Arthur Hoggett.
Babe comes home and is placed under the care of Fly and Rex,
two Border Collies with puppies.
"Babe" blends humor and drama for genuine moments
that made many viewers question the exploitation of animals.
- I'm not sure if you realize
how much the other animals are laughing at you.
- [Farmers Wife] It's not a duck that thinks it's a rooster,
it's a pig that thinks it's a dog!
- He should accept what he is and be thankful for it.
- [Jasmine] The piglet comforts Fly when the farmers
sell her puppies off,
highlighting how the breeding industry separates
animal families for profit.
And it has frank moments about using animals for food.
A duck named Ferdinand that Babe meets early on,
crows like a rooster in the morning
hoping that it makes him useful enough to avoid
being slaughtered for food.
- Humans don't eat cats, why?
- [Babe] Well they're--
- [Ferdinand] They're indispensable, they catch mice.
Humans don't eat roosters, why?
- [Babe] Well I--
- [Ferdinand] They make eggs with their hens
and wake everyone up in the morning.
- Right.
- I tried it with the hens, it didn't work.
So I turned to crowing an Lo!
I discover my gift, but no sooner do I become indispensable,
then they bring in a machine to do the job.
(sobs) The treachery of it!
- [Jasmine] Even Babe himself is at risk
of becoming a roast.
The farmers wife considers him for Christmas dinner,
until she is reminded by Farmer Hoggett
that it might be profitable to save him
until he can be shown at a county fair.
Terrified of being killed,
Babe teaches himself how to herd sheep and hopes
that the farmer will find him useful and let him live.
At one point, Babe learns from the farmers cat
that humans eat pigs.
- You know why pigs are here?
- Why are any of us here?
- Well, the cow's here to be milked,
the dogs are here to help the bosses husband
with the sheep, and I'm here to be beautiful
and affectionate to the boss...
- Yes?
- (snidely) The fact is that, pigs don't have a purpose.
Just like ducks don't have a purpose.
- I don't think--
- Oh all right, for your own sake I'll be blunt.
Why do the bosses keep ducks?
To eat them.
- [Jasmine] So frightened, he runs away
and is too depressed to even eat.
His faith in humans is restored when the Farmer Hoggett
rescues and spends time with him.
It ends with Babe winning a sheep herding contest,
earning the respect of Farmer Hoggett
and concluding with the famous quote...
(dramatic violin music)
- "That'll do pig."
(Babe inhales happily)
(dramatic violin music)
"That'll do."
- [Jasmine] The film painted a more empathetic
portrait of animals, from those raised for food,
to dogs separated from their puppies.
It had a lasting impact for many.
Nathan Nobis, a Professor of Philosophy,
wrote in his paper, "The 'Babe' Vegetarians: Bioethics,
Animal Minds and Moral Methodology",
that the film inspired many, mostly teenage girls,
to go vegetarian.
It's known as The Babe Effect.
James Cromwell who played Farmer Hoggett,
became an ethical vegan activist
as a result of his role in the movie.
- And then went to Australia to do this film,
with these extraordinary animals,
and every day, at midday whenever lunch was,
I'd go and, on the table would be every animal that
I had just worked with, being served for lunch.
We have to stop animal agriculture.
We simply cannot slaughter billions of animals every year,
with the cruelty and the suffering
and the waste involved in that--
- [Jasmine] There's also "Chicken Run",
the 2000 stop-motion animation film from DreamWorks
and Aardman Studios,
the studio that created Wallace and Gromit.
The movie takes place on an egg farm
and stars a group of hens, led by Ginger.
The farms owner, Mrs. Tweedy,
is frustrated with the lack of profits from eggs,
and invests in a killing machine
to turn the chickens into pies.
The chickens become determined to escape,
and Ginger builds an actual plane so that they can escape.
During the grand escape, they even sabotage the machine
built to kill them.
Right up until the end,
they're able to hide their plan from Mrs. Tweedy,
who dismisses them as dumb birds and commodities.
These are just a few instances of farm animals
in leading roles.
The popular British animated show "Pepper Pig",
is also reportedly having The Pepper Effect
on some of it's younger viewers
who don't want to eat meat that comes from the same animal
as their favorite TV characters.
The empathy audiences can feel for fictional animals,
while dismissing or ignoring horrors
the same animals suffer, is just one example
of how speciesism has permeated modern culture.
The films show cartoon animals as having rich,
complex, social and personal lives.
They have wants and needs,
experience happiness and sadness,
they can be content or they can suffer.
Their fears of being killed
aren't so different from reality.
In recent years the media has picked up stories
of animals escaping slaughter.
One of the most high profile cases was Brianna,
a cow who escaped a slaughterhouse truck
and ended up in Skylands Animal Sanctuary in New Jersey.
- But as long as everything checks out,
Brianna will have a long life ahead of her
here at the sanctuary.
- [Man] A whole life of leisure (chuckles),
she's got it easy now.
- [Jasmine] When the escaped bovine gave birth to her calf,
it was covered by People and CNN.
A more recent example happened in New York City.
An escaped calf found on the expressway
near Yankee Stadium was rescued.
He was named Major Deegan,
after the road he was captured on,
and sent to the Animal Care Center in Harlem.
He was sent to Skylands but passed away
from medical complications shortly after.
A spokeswoman for the Animal Care Center
explained that sending escaped animals to sanctuaries
is the standard practice,
but if slaughterhouses ask, which they rarely do,
the animal is returned because they're considered property.
There are clear divides between which animals we see
as acceptable to eat, and those we don't,
that highlight how problematic that way of thinking can be.
In the West, it's normal to eat cows, pigs and chickens;
but we speak out against the consumption of cats and dogs
in South Korea and China,
because we keep these animals as pets.
Doctor Melanie Joy highlights this in her 2009 book
"Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows".
When our attitudes and behaviors towards animals
are so inconsistent,
and this inconsistency is so unexamined,
we can safely say we have been fed absurdities.
It's absurd that we eat pigs and love dogs
and don't even know why.
Most of us spent long minutes in the aisle of a drugstore,
mulling over what toothpaste to buy,
yet most of us don't spend any time at all
thinking about which species of animal we eat and why.
We love our cats and dogs for the companionship they bring,
the way they learn their names, learn tricks
and show us affection.
We're familiar with the way they, like humans,
express their emotions.
We know that our dog is happy when their tail is wagging,
and we know that when our cats ears are back,
they're upset.
But cows, pigs and chickens can also learn their names.
They feel fear, they get annoyed and they express joy,
just like the pets we love, and just like us.
Instead of using what makes us different to divide us,
looking at what unites us as earthlings
is where our real power lies,
no matter what species we are.
(gentle piano music)