Mirko Bagaric is a lawyer and author and Lyn White is communications director of Animals Australia.
He said:
...Animals hurt in the same way as humans. There are not different types of suffering.
...The physiological process by which pain is generated and felt is the same in humans and animals.
....The intensity with which animals feel pain or distress is no less than in humans. Anyone who has seen the cowering of a dog in response to a raised angry hand can be left in no doubt of that.
...The fact that an entity can experience suffering terminates all questions regarding its moral standing. The only commonality shared by humans, who command our concern and respect, is that they can hurt. The capacity to sense pain gives humans, no matter how marginalised, pitiably deranged or behaviourally maladaptive, moral status. Animals command our moral standing for exactly the same reason.
...The inability of animals to use words to communicate to us about their level of suffering is no excuse for ignoring their terrified screams.
