Human rights to dolphins?

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gcarter

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In election year, Romania debates giving human rights to dolphins

The 39-year-old activist politician introduced a bill in parliament last week that would recognise the marine mammals as "non-human persons", on account of their highly developed intelligence, personalities and behaviour patterns.

The bill, which will be debated in the Romanian upper house in the coming weeks, would make humans and dolphins equal before the law. Dolphin killers would be given the same sentences as murderers of human beings.



Do people really think this is a good idea? :confused:

A good way to achieve species protection or the end of inhumane treatment or hunting? :shakehead:

Or does it both cheapen the value placed on a human life and just make the proposer and supporters look silly? :idk:
 
I think the dolphins deserve rights... But what those rights should be in a court of law are surely debatable. I don't think they should be hunted nor kept from being free to swim in the wild. I think dolphin hunts are awful.
 
In democratic societies which are based on a rule of law, the changing of laws in parliament may be the only effective way of changing behaviour.

The link above takes you to a thread that is dominated by extreme views presented by emotionally charged campaigners. That is another method for changing behaviour.

Each method has advantages and limitations. They both achieve the first step, which is raising awareness. History shows that effecting change is much more difficult and takes much longer (e.g., gun control in the US, female genital mutilation) but possible (e.g., slavery) but not in all countries (e.g., state executions).

IMHO, individual humans will make good choices given the right information and the right opportunities. Societies need to be guided by democracy and the rule of law.


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I think the dolphins deserve rights... But what those rights should be in a court of law are surely debatable. I don't think they should be hunted nor kept from being free to swim in the wild. I think dolphin hunts are awful.

How do you feel about pigs?
 
Or gorillas, orangutans and chimps??


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Or gorillas, orangutans and chimps??


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Well, the reason that I bring up pigs is that they are intelligent mammals that are social, care for their young, and are kept as pets. And in this country, we slaughter about 100,000,000 of them every year after lives of horrifying torture. Just wondering where to draw the line... I'll bet that at least a few of the people protesting Taiji at the Japanese embassy in NYC the other day probably stopped at McDonalds first for breakfast.
 
Human rights? Human being the operative word there. They have the same right any other animal does, that is to be treated humanly including when harvested for food. Animals don't have "rights" because they cannot respect the "rights" of other animals. Dolphins have no regard for the "right" of the fish in the bait ball to life they just eat them alive not caring that they die a slow death during digestion.

When dolphins write a bill of rights declaring their rights I'll change my mind.
 
"Non-human persons" -- a very interesting concept and the start of a VERY slippery slope -- one that truly has no end.

It's very clear that Neanderthal was a "non-human person" in that Neanderthal and Homo-Sapiens could interbreed (and did so quite successfully evidently) but others? Hmmmm.
 
Well, the reason that I bring up pigs is that they are intelligent mammals that are social, care for their young, and are kept as pets. And in this country, we slaughter about 100,000,000 of them every year after lives of horrifying torture. Just wondering where to draw the line... I'll bet that at least a few of the people protesting Taiji at the Japanese embassy in NYC the other day probably stopped at McDonalds first for breakfast.

I completely agree with you there. You may have seem how i feel about all of this on the Taiji Dolphin thread.

Dolphins are amazingly intelligent and what have you but until they start paying tax I'm going yo have to disagree on the whole 'non-human' rights thing. :wink:


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