Does defending animal rights mean one has to be an “animal lover”?
No. It is not necessary to feel a special sympathy for someone in order to respect him or her as a subject with individual interests. Justice is not a matter of sympathy, but should be based on impartial consideration of our interests. If the contrary were the case, a judge could convict or clear the accused according to how sympathetic he or she finds them – something we tend to find unjust. On the other hand, no one can be asked to love another, whether it is his or her neighbour, an unknown person, a frog or a squirrel. No one can be asked to be an “animal lover”. And there are no reasons to do so either, since personal likes and dislikes are a private matter. Nevertheless, what we can be expected to do is to avoid harming others, whether they be animals or humans.
