Giving Animals Human Qualities

Animals just want to have fun, survey finds
From tickling to playing catch, animals do some things simply for enjoyment
By Jennifer Viegas

Mon., May 11, 2009

From tickling to playing catch, animals engage in certain behaviors just for fun, even enjoying sensations that are unknown to humans, concludes an extensive new survey on pleasure in the animal kingdom.

The findings, published in the latest Applied Animal Behavior Science, hold moral significance, argues author Jonathan Balcombe. He believes scientists, conservationists and other animal rights activists should not overlook animal joy.

"The capacity for pleasure means that an animal's life has intrinsic value, that is, value to the individual independent of his or her value to anyone else, including humans," Balcombe, a senior research scientist for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, explained to Discovery News. Read More

Whenever any type of research is published, I always think it’s important to look at the source of the information. In this case, a researcher from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) wrote this newly published research. The other source used to write this article was the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). These two groups represent two of the three wealthiest animal rights, anti-animal agriculture groups in the country. They continue trying to portray livestock and other animals as having human like qualities in order to push their vegan agenda. The bottom line is still this, we need to utilize livestock as a food source or the human race will have people starving.