Speciesism in the Face of the Australian Bushfires
Every morning we wake and are faced by harrowing images of the bushfire’s devastation. Cattle scorched. Kangaroos charred. Both native wildlife and farmed livestock obliterated.
According to a report released earlier this week, over 500 million animals have died in the Australian bushfires this season. Yet that is a conservative estimate, excluding bugs and insects. In reality, the number is far higher, but at this stage there is no accurate way to gauge the devastation.
I read an article today that began with the sentence “The dairy farming industry will be devastated from the bushfires unless supermarkets raise milk prices and government assistance becomes available…. Thousands of cattle, sheep and horses have perished in the blazes, while some farmers have been forced to euthanise hundreds more.” Hang on, aren’t you missing the point entirely? Whilst I empathise completely with the struggling farmers, I am shocked and angered to hear the utter disregard for the lives of the animals that have been lost. Let me repeat, again; these animals are sentient beings. We have no right to exploit them for our financial gain. Yet year after year they are commoditised, and speciesism reigns supreme.
When we talk about speciesism, we are referring to ‘the assumption of human superiority’. It’s a term that refers to a prejudice similar to sexism or racism in that the treatment of individuals is determined by their identification with a particular group. Just as people are discriminated against based on their gender or race, so too are animals afforded an even lower status based on the fact that they are a species other than human.
Because of the rampant nature of speciesism in our society, we forget that humans are not the only ones facing devastation in the face of this apocalyptic climate crisis. Because of our reliance on the animal agricultural industry, and our inherent speciesism, these livestock are routinely left to endure fires, floods and heat waves without human intervention in evacuation emergencies. The cruelty of this industry is exacerbated in these extreme conditions, such as the devastating fires that are ravaging our country right now.
These animals, who have been stripped of their autonomy and rely completely on humans for food, water and shelter, are facing unimaginable suffering and horrific deaths. They are being burnt alive. And the only reason they are facing this horror is because they have been subjugated by humans through the commoditisation of livestock for financial gain.
My heart bleeds for the people who have been hurt by the fires, and for those who have lost their homes; this cry is only to beg you all to recognise that others too are hurting. Millions of creatures have lost their lives. It is so much larger than the farmers facing ‘livestock losses’. It is the unprecedented loss of life of intelligent, sentient and individual beings. I urge each and every one of you to take the plunge and join me in committing to Veganuary – one whole month of eating a cruelty-free, plant-based lifestyle. Not only will you help reduce the reliance on livestock and raise awareness of the issue that is speciesism; you will also drastically reduce your environmental impact – and, with the enormous carbon emissions that are resulting from these horrific bushfires, every little bit counts.
Dara x