Animal Slavery

[sven]

Humans routinely limit the movement of members of other species, force them to do certain things, and claim ownership of them. To do these things to other humans is called slavery. Is out treatment of animals slavery? If not, why not? What's wrong with the position that people who own animals are slavers, and people who eat eggs or dairy products or go to the circus are promoting slavery?

I think this is a complicated ethical question that deserves to be taken seriously.
I differentiate between pet ownership and domesticated livestock, animal experiments and so on. I think most pet ownership is a type of symbiosis, and that's probably how it came to evolve.

I once ended up at a seminar about animal ethics, partly by chance. In the end one of the panelists expressed the view that we have the right to exploit animals, because we have assumed the right to do this. (Well, that was the gist of it. He had more explanations, but I won't tire you with them here)

I found this very disturbing, but in some ways it was one of the few arguments expressed during the seminar that made any real sense to me. I suppose you could call this an authoritarian view. I've often felt that rights aren't something you just receive -- they have to be fought for in some way, even if its your ancestors or someone who is sympathetic to you who once did the fighting.