Expanding Global Justice: The Case for the International Protection of Animals
| Author | Oscar Horta |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12085 |
| Published date | 01 November 2013 |
| Date | 01 November 2013 |
Expanding Global Justice: The Case for
the International Protection of Animals
Oscar Horta
University of Santiago de Compostela
Abstract
This article examines and rejects the view that nonhuman animals cannot be recipients of justice, and argues that the
main reasons in favor of universal human rights and global justice also apply in the case of the international protection
of the interests of nonhuman animals. In any plausible theory of wellbeing, sentience matters; mere species member-
ship or the place where an animal is born does not. This does not merely entail that regulations of the use of animals
aimed at reducing their suffering should be implemented. It actually supports the end of such use, as well as other
positive steps to provide help and to promote what is good not only for domesticated animals, but also for those liv-
ing in the wild. Another reason to bring the protection of animals’interests into the international arena is that it is at
this level that numerous animal exploitation industries enjoy the protection of different agreements and institutions. It
does not follow from this that changing international law should be animal advocates’first priority, but it does follow
that they should conduct their work internationally and not limit it to their own countries.
Policy Implications
•An international body should be constituted that is aimed at the protection of all sentient animals globally. Unlike
the Organization for Animal Health (OIE) or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna (CITES), the purpose of this organization should not be to further human interests concerning how animals
are used, nor to promote environmentalist aims that are concerned with animals only as members of certain salient
species. Rather, its purpose should be the protection of the interests of nonhuman animals as sentient individuals.
•International subsidies to industries whose activities harm nonhuman animals should be brought to an end.
•The WTO accepts that human rights cannot be violated for the sake of free trade. A similar position should be
maintained in the case of the protection of nonhuman animals. No domestic or supranational legislation aimed at
protecting animals should be targeted, even if it means a ban on certain imports from other countries.
•Animal advocacy NGOs and private organizations should aim to spread their work beyond their home countries to
the international arena. In particular, given how little public awareness there is about the need for global justice for
animals in many countries, they should consider using significant resources to carry out public education on this
topic.
Why do the interests of nonhuman animals
need international protection?
A growing number of people in different countries
believe that the way in which we commonly relate to
nonhuman animals cannot be considered acceptable. In
fact, this article will argue, there are strong reasons back-
ing that view, according to which the interests of animals
should be respected. They are based on two premises
that can be presented rather simply: the fact that they
are sentient, and the fact that their sentience gives us
reasons to take their interests into account. Despite this,
animals are made to suffer, are killed and harmed in
many ways, and their interests enjoy almost no legal
protection. The problem is not only that so many
countries have so few or no laws restricting what can be
done to animals. It is also the fact that in those countries
where legislation protecting nonhuman animals does
exist, those laws usually deal with secondary issues,
allowing practices that cause massive harm to animals to
go on fully permissibly. Given the situation of the domes-
tic protection of animals, it is no surprise that their pro-
tection is also virtually nonexistent in the international
arena.
To be sure, there are international NGOs and private
organizations around the world that, with different strat-
egies and results, invest their resources in helping non-
human animals. The term ‘international protection of
animals’is sometimes used to describe their work. And it
is no doubt the case that some of these groups are
Global Policy (2013) 4:4 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12085 ©2013 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Global Policy Volume 4 . Issue 4 . November 2013 371
Special Section Article
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