Species justice and harm to animals - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 127

century. The restoration earned protests from some in the
ranching community. Such restoration arises, according to
most advocates, from a duty to the wolf as a species, coupled
with the fact that the wolf was historically, and ought to
be again, the top predator in the Yellowstone ecosystem.
Conservationists also realize that problem wolves will have
to be relocated, sometimes killed, and believe this is an
acceptable killing of individuals in order to have the wolf
species present. It removes wolves who turn to killing
not their natural prey, but sheep or cattle; it also protects
ranchers against losses. In the recommended mix of nature
and culture, if we are to have wolves, we must kill wolves.
(Rolston, 2010: 605)
Such a view may seem to be anathema to animal rights advocates who
believe in the sanctity of animal life as an absolute value rather than
circumstantial privilege.
The debates over the ways in which 'feral' and 'sick' animals are
approached provide a useful summary of conflicting views pertaining to
human intervention. Invasive species are seen as a threat to local species
in the same way that ill animals are seen as a threat to local animal
populations. More generally, from the perspective of humans, certain
creatures are by their very nature hostile to human interests. As such,
they demand action directed against them in order to protect ourselves.
This applies to 'vermin, pests and parasites' that cannot adjust their
behaviour and with which there is no possibility of communication
or compromise. If left unchecked, they would create ecological havoc
and harm to humans (Anderson, 2004).
It is nonetheless acknowledged that 'Even vermin have some degree
of moral considerability' (Anderson, 2004: 289). A key debate when it
comes to feral animals, therefore, is over 'what works' when it comes to
methods of eradication and control. Animal welfare advocates generally
express a concern about cruelty in the control regime, sparked by a
sense of urgency in the light of the exemption of feral animals from
the protections of animal welfare legislation and current eradication
practices. They argue for 'humane' methods of numbers management
in the face of methods such as use of poison bait, steel-jawed trapping,
shooting from ground or helicopter, biological control with disease
and exclusion fencing (McEwen, 2008). As an alternative, it is argued
that fertility control offers real hope as a long-term measure, a strategy
that would involve a shift in emphasis from 'kill rate to birth rate'
(McEwen, 2008: 30).