Does a belief in animal rights lead to a lower quality of life?
It really depends on the person, but in general if you believe animal suffering is a huge problem, then the world pretty much sucks. When I was fairly sentimental about animals I took some wildlife management classes and volunteered at a nature center. If you think humans are the cruelest animals, you need to meet some hawks or bobcats, though of course that is in our own eyes since animals have no such concept. I was fairly horrified at the way they toyed with their food. Think about it: right now there are millions of animals dying slowly as some amoral predator rips them apart limb by limb while they are still conscious. We humans are really lucky to be at the top of the food chain. I guess that really doesn’t answer the question, but when life itself is so counter to your philosophy, it might be a tough road to walk. There are some animal rightists who hate people and drive them away, but most of the ones I know are more the self-sacrificial type, which can lead to other problems.
