A Humane Revolution

Meanwhile, Walmart responded to concerns for animal welfare bysaying last month that it would shift toward cage-free eggs, following similar announcements by Costco, Denny’s, Wendy’s, Safeway, Starbucks and McDonald’s in the U.S. and Canada.

.. These corporate changes have vast impact: Walmart or McDonald’s shapes the living conditions of more animals in a day than an animal shelter does in a decade.

.. One analysis suggests that a dead elephant’s tusks are worth $21,000, while the tourism value of a single living elephant over its lifetime is $1.6 million.

.. One analysis suggests that a dead elephant’s tusks are worth $21,000, while the tourism value of a single living elephant over its lifetime is $1.6 million.

.. “Just about every enterprise built on harming animals today is ripe for disruption,” Pacelle writes.

Why Courts May Declare Animal Personhood

Perhaps it goes back to the complacency I referenced at the beginning of this essay, a belief that the unique value of human life is so obvious that it requires no defense. If so, that is a potentially catastrophic philosophical Maginot Line. Unless those who understand the importance of human exceptionalism engage in continual and vigorous pushback, we shouldn’t be surprised if a court one day declares that a chimpanzee or a whale is entitled to legal personhood and equal rights.

A jungle no more: How Temple Grandin’s designs have reformed the meat industry

Ms Grandin has played a big part in the change. She is a star in two seemingly separate firmaments: animal welfare and the understanding of autism. Half the cattle in America and Canada today are slaughtered in equipment for restraining cattle designed by Ms Grandin, and around 35% of all cattle in America are handled in her curved chute and stockyard design. She has trained workers in more than 200 slaughterhouses all over the world. Meanwhile, she has become a sought-after speaker and writer on autism, a condition she has herself. “I was severely autistic as a child,” says Ms Grandin, who credits her mother for pushing her to lead a life as normal as possible and make use of her talents, which include an unusual facility for reading drawings in three dimensions.