Elite Farm Services, a British Columbia chicken-catching company is currently facing harsh denunciation after Mercy for Animals, an animal welfare group released a video documenting the company’s extreme acts of animal abuse. In the video, a number of employees can be seen throwing, stomping on, mangling and dismembering chickens, all while in front of passive supervisors. As of June 13th, 2017, six employees have been fired from their positions and are liable to face charges; while knowledge of this disciplinary action was enough to placate a portion of the public, not all are satisfied. With many consumers demonstrating a demand for retribution in the form of petitions, public protests and boycotts, most companies associated with Elite Farm
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Famously argued in his novel, Animal Liberation, Peter Singer is a twentieth-century philosopher who “argues that the interests of all sentient beings (i.e, beings who are capable of experiencing pleasure or pain) should be taken into consideration, and not just humans”. For an environmental ethicist, the behaviour of the former members of Elite Farm Services and their blatant disregard for the lives of the obviously sentient chickens would be considered absolutely abhorrent. From this point of view, the dismissal of merely six employees would not be nearly enough to create a more ethically sound situation. While the public’s glaring dissatisfaction shows an auspicious attitude and could potentially incite positive change, the current level of punishment is still inadequate. The way things are now, the core of the issue, the mistreatment of animals, has, and will not be resolved. As long as animals are still being treated “purely as means to our ends” and confined in “cramped, unsuitable conditions for the entire durations of their lives”, environmental ethicist such as Singer will be unsatisfied. Morally speaking, it would be in the nature of those opposed to speciesism to advocate for a complete shutdown of all companies involved. The needs of the humans depending on these companies for food or jobs would be easily outweighed by the …show more content…
Compared to the environmental ethicists, the decision of a utilitarian in this situation would not be nearly as straightforward. While most rational people would easily be able to find fault in the actions of the former employees, a strict utilitarian would not only be able to defend Elite Farming Services, but would advocate for their protection against the public’s outcry. Indeed, according to the utilitarian perspective, the actions of the employees, while depraved, were done with the intention of seeking a sense of enjoyment. A subset of utilitarianism, known as hedonism, appertains to the belief that “the purpose of life must be to achieve as much (…) pleasure as possible”. For these men, torturing the animals gave them a twisted sense of pleasure, which, according to hedonism, is morally sound. Furthermore, a utilitarian would most likely express worry over the social consequences of the associated companies facing retribution, as it would bring suffering to a great number of people. By way of example, one should consider the consequences of a major business associated with Elite Farming Services, such as Lilydale Food Products, being boycotted. If sales continue to go down, as they have been, a loss of profit will mean employees who had nothing to do with the scandal will be
Famously argued in his novel, Animal Liberation, Peter Singer is a twentieth-century philosopher who “argues that the interests of all sentient beings (i.e, beings who are capable of experiencing pleasure or pain) should be taken into consideration, and not just humans”. For an environmental ethicist, the behaviour of the former members of Elite Farm Services and their blatant disregard for the lives of the obviously sentient chickens would be considered absolutely abhorrent. From this point of view, the dismissal of merely six employees would not be nearly enough to create a more ethically sound situation. While the public’s glaring dissatisfaction shows an auspicious attitude and could potentially incite positive change, the current level of punishment is still inadequate. The way things are now, the core of the issue, the mistreatment of animals, has, and will not be resolved. As long as animals are still being treated “purely as means to our ends” and confined in “cramped, unsuitable conditions for the entire durations of their lives”, environmental ethicist such as Singer will be unsatisfied. Morally speaking, it would be in the nature of those opposed to speciesism to advocate for a complete shutdown of all companies involved. The needs of the humans depending on these companies for food or jobs would be easily outweighed by the …show more content…
Compared to the environmental ethicists, the decision of a utilitarian in this situation would not be nearly as straightforward. While most rational people would easily be able to find fault in the actions of the former employees, a strict utilitarian would not only be able to defend Elite Farming Services, but would advocate for their protection against the public’s outcry. Indeed, according to the utilitarian perspective, the actions of the employees, while depraved, were done with the intention of seeking a sense of enjoyment. A subset of utilitarianism, known as hedonism, appertains to the belief that “the purpose of life must be to achieve as much (…) pleasure as possible”. For these men, torturing the animals gave them a twisted sense of pleasure, which, according to hedonism, is morally sound. Furthermore, a utilitarian would most likely express worry over the social consequences of the associated companies facing retribution, as it would bring suffering to a great number of people. By way of example, one should consider the consequences of a major business associated with Elite Farming Services, such as Lilydale Food Products, being boycotted. If sales continue to go down, as they have been, a loss of profit will mean employees who had nothing to do with the scandal will be