Species justice and harm to animals - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 107

the part of the human, then animal abuse is much more likely to both
occur and to be prevalent.
Categorising animals
The ontological standing of nonhuman animals is largely a status
conferred by humans. Unsurprisingly, such conferred status is generally
based upon a calculus of human needs and wants combined with
statistical data on the prevalence or number of nonhuman animals. The
calculus changes over time and varies according to social and cultural
context. Nonetheless, it establishes the ground rules which guide how
specific animals and specific species are valued and acknowledged by
particular societies of humans at any point in time.
Attempts to categorise animals according to environment and/
or human service are difficult to do well due to the complexities
involved. Different criteria inevitably provide different ways in which
to categorise different types of species (see O'Sullivan, 2009; Herbig
and Joubert, 2006). While not unproblematic, Box 4.1 provides an
attempt to distinguish animals according to two main criteria (wildlife/
domesticated), and within each of these categories according to how
the animal is perceived relative to human needs (service to/service for).
These are inherently anthropomorphic categorisations in the sense that
the ways in which animals are classified reflect human interventions
over time, and human notions of usefulness. Yet, regardless of their
human-centric origins and character, such descriptions are essential
in assessing matters of animal rights and animal welfare as these are
presently constituted in law and social practices.
Box 4.1: animal categories
Wildlife
• Introduced wild:
- invasive/pests (for example, cane toad in Australia)
- valued (for example, trout in Tasmania)
- ambiguous (for example, camels and wild donkeys in central
Australia).
• Native species with a value of their own:
- avian (for example, kookaburras, cockatoos)
- marine (for example, whales, sharks)
- aquatic (for example, Murray river cod, marron)
- terrestrial (for example, koala, kangaroo).
• Economic wild animals:
recreation (for example, fish)