Speciesism

Richard D. Ryder created the term in 1973, and ever since then it has been an essential argument for the cause! Speciesism is the assigning of values or rights to beings, based on the species they belong to. This has been turned into the argument that assigning values or rights based on species membership is a form of prejudice, similar to anti-Semitism or racism. It has been used by animal rights activist to argue that the use of sentient beings as property, such as in factory farms, is morally wrong and/or irrational.

I know this theory can be daunting at first, so I will go through questions you may have.

Well people are smarter than animals, so I deserve to eat them.
- The problem with this rationalization is the fact that there are human beings who are not as intelligent as  other humans, such as those who are mentally ill. Obviously it is wrong to treat a mentally ill human the way animals are treated, so intelligence is not an adequate argument.

Humans have families, animals don't.
- Farm animals, such as cows and pigs, have been found to show emotional responses to different stimuli. How animal emotions are measured is by the amount of white visible in their eye. While this is not definitive evidence as to the exact emotion the animal is feeling, it is the best indicator we have available, and it has been consistently found to be reliable. One study found that when a cow is separated from their calf, a common occurrence in the meat industry, the white in their eyes widened significantly. This has been interpreted to mean the cow was under emotional distress when the calf was removed. (Study done on cow-calf separation (requires purchase)) This reaction shows, at the very minimum, that cows are affected by the removal of their young. I recognize that this is not a definitive study, however that does not mean the study holds no merit. Animal emotion is something that has not been in focus for a long time, therefore the studies and methods used are still being developed. However, there are still multiple studies that support the findings of this study, and the theory is gaining validity within the science sommunity. This experiment, along with others (Study concerning emotional capabilities of farm animals (requires purchase)) show that farm animals are capable of forming emotional connections to others, therefore ability to form emotional attachments is invalid.

Animals are overpopulating the planet, so we should eat them.
- So are people (and I do not recommend eating them)! So why we eat animals because of overpopulation when people contribute even more the exact same problem? What makes us superior to them, and therefore more worth living?

People can use tools, let's see an animal do that!
-Animals using tools. Animals are way more intelligent than given credit for. They have an amazing ability to adapt to their environment and use the tools provided to them by the environment as a means of survival and defense.

People are capable of industrialization.
- A problem with this argument is that not all people are industrialized, there are plenty of societies that live off the earth, without technology. Those societies that live a completely unindustrialized life, are not killed for not industrializing, monkeys have been taught to use a computer more than most of those civilizations will ever know.