THE RIGHTS OF WILD ANIMALS 



EVERY harmless wild bird and mammal has the right to 

 live out its life according to its destiny; and man is in 

 honor bound to respect those rights. At the same time 

 it is a mistake to regard each wild bird or quadruped as a 

 sacred thing, which under no circumstances may be utilized 

 by man. We are not fanatical Hindus of the castes which 

 religiously avoid the "taking of life" of any kind, and gently 

 push aside the flea, the centipede and the scorpion. The 

 reasoning powers of such people are strictly limited, the same 

 as those of people who are opposed to the removal by death 

 of the bandits and murderers of the human race. 



The highest duty of a reasoning being is to reason. We 

 have no moral or legal right to act like idiots, or to become a 

 menace to society by protecting criminal animals or criminal 

 men from adequate punishment. Like the tree that is known 

 by its fruit, every alleged "reasoning being" is to be judged 

 by the daily output of his thoughts. 



Toward wild life, our highest duty is to be sane and sen- 

 sible, in order to be just, and to promote the greatest good for 

 the greatest number. Be neither a Hindu fanatic nor a cruel 

 game-butcher like a certain wild-animal slaughterer whom I 

 knew, who while he was on earth earned for himself a place 

 in the hottest corner of the hereafter, and quickly passed on 

 to occupy it. 



The following planks constitute a good platform on which 

 to base our relations with the wild animal world, and by which 

 to regulate our duty to the creatures that have no means of 

 defense against the persecutions of cruel men. They may De 



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