FAQs

This page answers frequently asked questions about veganism, including nutrition, animal rights, effective advocacy, domestication and other important topics. Many of these FAQ answers are excerpts from Gary L. Francione’s book, Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? or Gary L. Francione and Anna Charlton’s Eat Like You Care. To filter, simply click one of the categories below.

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Should we feed our dogs and cats a vegan diet?

Domestication is morally unjustifiable and we should stop bringing…

July 5, 2015/by sandrac

Of course the amount of animal suffering incidental to our use of animals is horrendous, and we should not be using animals for “frivolous” purposes, such as entertainment, but how can you expect people to give up eating meat?

In many ways this is an appropriate question with which to conclude…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Doesn’t the animal rights position represent a “religious” view?

No, not necessarily, although the idea that we should not treat…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Isn’t the matter of whether animals ought to be accorded the basic right not to be treated as our resources a matter of opinion? What right does anyone have to say that another should not eat meat or other animal products or how they should otherwise use or treat animals?

Animal rights are no more a matter of opinion than is any other…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

If animals have rights, doesn’t that mean we have to intervene to stop animals from killing other animals, or that we must otherwise act affirmatively to prevent harm from coming to animals from any source?

No. the basic right not to be treated as a thing means that we…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

If animals have rights, does that not mean that we would have to punish the killing of animals in the same way we do the killing of humans?

No, of course not. It is certainly true that if we as a society…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Don’t laws like the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits the killing of certain species of animals facing extinction, effectively change the property status of animals?

No. The Endangered Species Act and similar measures protect only…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Is it likely that the pursuit of more “humane” animal treatment will eventually lead to the recognition that animals have the basic right not to be treated as things, and the consequent abolition of institutionalized animal use?

No, it is not likely. Anticruelty laws requiring the humane treatment…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Isn’t taking advantage of medications or procedures developed through the use of animals inconsistent with taking an animal rights position?

No, it is not. Those who support animal exploitation often argue…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

If we adopt a vegan diet, animals will inevitably be harmed when we plant vegetables, and what is the difference between raising and killing animals for food and unintentionally killing them as part of a plant-based agriculture?

When we plant crops, we will inevitably displace and possibly…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

If we want to treat similar interests similarly, does our recognition that animals have a basic right not to be property mean that abortion should also be prohibited?

Abortion raises a number of difficult issues, particularly because…

March 9, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Do nonsentient humans, such as those who are irreversibly brain dead, have a right not to be treated as things?

If a human is really nonsentient–not conscious or aware of…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Where do you draw the line on who can have rights? Do insects have rights?

I draw the line at sentience because, as I have argued, sentient…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Hitler was a vegetarian; what does that say about vegetarians?

It says nothing more than that some evil people may also be vegetarians.…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

By equating speciesism with racism and sexism, don’t you equate animals, people of color, and women?

No. Racism, sexism, speciesism, and other forms of discrimination…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

If we did not exploit animals, we would not have society as we now know it. Does this fact not prove that animal use by humans is morally justified?

No. In the first place, the question assumes that we would not…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Isn’t human use of animals a “tradition,” or “natural,” and therefore morally justified?

Every form of discrimination in the history of humankind has…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

If you are in favor of abolishing the use of animals as human resources, don’t you care more about animals than you do about those humans with illnesses who might possibly be cured through animal research?

No, of course not. This question is logically and morally indistinguishable…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Does the institution of pet ownership violate animals’ basic right not to be regarded as things?

Yes. Pets are our property. Dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, and…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Rights were devised by humans. How can they even be applicable to animals?

Just as the moral status of a human or animal is not determined…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

Domestic animals, such as cows and pigs, and laboratory rats would not exist were it not for our bringing them into existence in the first place for our purposes. So is it not the case that we are free to treat them as our resources?

No. The fact that we are in some sense responsible for the existence…

February 20, 2015/by vguihan@gmail.com

FAQs

Should we feed our dogs and cats a vegan diet?

Of course the amount of animal suffering incidental to our use of animals is horrendous, and we should not be using animals for “frivolous” purposes, such as entertainment, but how can you expect people to give up eating meat?

Doesn’t the animal rights position represent a “religious” view?

Isn’t the matter of whether animals ought to be accorded the basic right not to be treated as our resources a matter of opinion? What right does anyone have to say that another should not eat meat or other animal products or how they should otherwise use or treat animals?

If animals have rights, doesn’t that mean we have to intervene to stop animals from killing other animals, or that we must otherwise act affirmatively to prevent harm from coming to animals from any source?

If animals have rights, does that not mean that we would have to punish the killing of animals in the same way we do the killing of humans?

Don’t laws like the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits the killing of certain species of animals facing extinction, effectively change the property status of animals?

Is it likely that the pursuit of more “humane” animal treatment will eventually lead to the recognition that animals have the basic right not to be treated as things, and the consequent abolition of institutionalized animal use?

Isn’t taking advantage of medications or procedures developed through the use of animals inconsistent with taking an animal rights position?

If we adopt a vegan diet, animals will inevitably be harmed when we plant vegetables, and what is the difference between raising and killing animals for food and unintentionally killing them as part of a plant-based agriculture?

If we want to treat similar interests similarly, does our recognition that animals have a basic right not to be property mean that abortion should also be prohibited?

How do I know a product is plant-only?

What are the common dietary recommendations for vegans?

Is it necessary to eat animal products to be healthy?

Do nonsentient humans, such as those who are irreversibly brain dead, have a right not to be treated as things?

Where do you draw the line on who can have rights? Do insects have rights?

Hitler was a vegetarian; what does that say about vegetarians?

By equating speciesism with racism and sexism, don’t you equate animals, people of color, and women?

If we did not exploit animals, we would not have society as we now know it. Does this fact not prove that animal use by humans is morally justified?

Isn’t human use of animals a “tradition,” or “natural,” and therefore morally justified?

If you are in favor of abolishing the use of animals as human resources, don’t you care more about animals than you do about those humans with illnesses who might possibly be cured through animal research?

Does the institution of pet ownership violate animals’ basic right not to be regarded as things?

Rights were devised by humans. How can they even be applicable to animals?

Domestic animals, such as cows and pigs, and laboratory rats would not exist were it not for our bringing them into existence in the first place for our purposes. So is it not the case that we are free to treat them as our resources?

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Gary L. Francione: The Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights

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