Species justice and harm to animals - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 134

Harm is not only defined variously in law (depending upon the status,
use and behaviour of the animal in question), but there are contentious
issues surrounding whether harm to an individual animal is warranted
under certain conditions. For the most part, animal welfare and
protection has been construed from a largely instrumental perspective,
one that basically sees animals as property. The commodification of
animals means that harm is basically constructed in relation to human
needs, wants and desires, rather than from an animal perspective.
This translates into policies that address issues such as illegality in the
trading and harvesting of animals for human use. It is also manifest in
legislation designed to prevent animal abuse and cruelty insofar as this
does not interfere with certain productive activities (for humans) such
as research and farming.
At a pragmatic and concrete level, numerous dilemmas are posed by
the unproblematic acceptance of the notion of animal rights. If this
is accompanied by the prescription to 'do no harm', then we have no
moral compass to navigate muddied ethical waters involving human
versus animal interests, animal versus animal interests, and animal versus
plant interests. As discussed previously in this chapter, there are many
instances in which certain animals have to be killed in order that the
needs and interests of other species (including humans) are maintained
or extended. This is a separate matter from welfare per se, where the
main consideration is to reduce and eliminate animal suffering. Who
decides what, and on what basis, remain crucial considerations.