In the essay "All Animals Are Equal.," Peter Singer argues the point that animals and humans should be granted "equal consideration" (29). Granting equal consideration means that humans and animals do not need to be treated exactly the same way, but that they need to be treated in an appropriate manner depending on the nature of the two groups. The argument Singer believes in is that suffering is "the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration" (34). If a being is able to suffer it should be treated with consideration equal to humans in most circumstances. Following from this, Singer proposes that humans should become vegetarians, an enforced prohibition on animal killing used for human consumption and luxury, and not use animals as a form of entertainment. However, to a certain extent, Singer's argument is flawed. Humans have been killing animals for food which is what nature intended for humans. Also, humans are reliant on the nutrition from meat and the animals are reliant on humans to be one of their predators to prevent overpopulation of their species. With animal meat being one of the main sources of food it has a big economic impact on human societies.
Singer is against anything to do with cruelty to animals. One thing which I agree with Singer on, is the disturbing farming methods used. There are millions of cows slaughtered each year and not used for food. .
because the government pays farmers not to sell their cows, but instead slaughter them to keep the price of meat from dropping which would make it harder for farmers to earn a living. "The government kills animals to artificially inflate the market price for beef" (Baxter). Instead of figuring out a better way to make sure that there is not an excess of cows, the government feels it is fine to slaughter and murder the cows and let them got to waste. It is not as if cows are deer which would starve to death if they became overpopulated; this practice simply continue just so the price of meat can stay at steady rate, which is wrong.
