All Animals are Equal, But Some Animals are More Equal than Others

Frank Deford, senior contributing writer at Sports Illustrated magazine, has an essay every Wednesday on NPR’s Morning Edition. I am quite a fan of Deford’s essays. His thinking is insightful and his writing is quite good. His perspective on the world of sport goes beyond the usual scores, rankings, and stats to examine the whole culture of sport within our culture.

Today, however, I must take issue with his essay. Today, Deford wrote about a growing horse slaughtering industry in the US. According to Deford, there are currently three horsemeat processing plants in the United States where horses are slaughtered and their meat exported to Europe and other areas of the world. Deford is offended by this fact, not only because he personally finds the thought of eating horse meat both literally and figuratively unpalatable, but also because, according to Deford, horses, unlike cows, pigs, and sheep, are physically different making the slaughtering process cruel and inhumane.

It’s no secret that not only am I a vegetarian, but I’m also extremely empathetic, particularly when it comes to animals. That being said, I generally don’t have a problem with people eating meat, at the same time that I hope the slaughtering process is done as humanely as possible. I do, however, have a problem with Deford valorizing horses over other animals. I don’t find the consumption of horsemeat to be any more or any less offensive than the consumption of other animal flesh. Deford equates the eating of horsemeat with the eating of cats and dogs. But at its most fundamental level, there is no real difference between eating cow meat and eating cat meat, despite the fact that cats and not cows are generally kept as pets. If animals are to be slaughtered and consumed, I hope they’re all treated humanely. Furthermore, there seems to be a matter of utility to this issue. If horsemeat can be used as food for people who want it, then why not use it as such? It seems to me to be related to issues of resources and recycling. There are after all thousands of cats and dogs euthanized in this country everyday. I’m not suggesting that all unwanted animals should suddenly be used as food products, but let’s not start creating classes of animals whereby some are worthy of reverence and respect while others can so easily be sent to market. If it’s so easy to rank animals, is it any wonder that we haven’t been able to eliminate inequalities among human beings based on race, class, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and so many other characteristics?