Summary Of Killing Animals By Gary Francione

Would you ever kick a harmless cat as hard as you can? Could you ever hurt a harmless animal, especially if it was just asking for your attention? Gary L. Francione, in his opinion article Stop scapegoating the cat-kicker, seems to think that the case of Andre Robinson kicking a stray cat 15 feet into the air should not be prosecuted or punished. He goes even further and compares Andre Robinson to every single person who eats meat, fish, dairy or eggs. From Francione’s point of view, all meat-eaters are the same as Andre Robinson who kicked a cat. According to him, all the non-vegans who stand up against animal abuse and cruelty are hypocrites. I believe going into such extremes and comparing those two things is absolutely absurd. I work in an animal hospital and personally would never hurt an animal unless it was a life threatening situation.

However, I still eat meat, fish, dairy and eggs.

Am I a hypocrite because of this? Am I a bad human being? This essay will discuss why an act like Robinson’s should be sentenced and disciplined; it will show the difference between senseless animal cruelty and killing animals for food, and will also examine why a vegan diet is not suitable for everyone.
When a dog or a cat, or any other animal hurts a human it is put to sleep straight away. A human life is more important than a life of an animal. That is the way we think and to us it is logical; however, animals have no voice in the matter. So, what kind of punishment should a person receive for a senseless act of violence against an animal? In his article, Dr. George Simon, who is a clinical psychologist, separates animal abusers into three different categories: Unwitting abusers who do not realize they are doing harm to animals; immature abusers who harm animals on purpose but lack the mental capacity to understand their wrong doing; and lastly, serious intentional

abusers who actually derive satisfaction from hurting animals. I think the first two categories fall under the mentally unstable or ill and deserve psychological help and attention. However, the third category is on a completely different level. It is comprised of people who feel a need to exercise power over inferior beings. The answer would be, because they lack the feeling of power in other aspects of their lives. They need to feel dominant so they vent on creatures that cannot defend themselves. I believe Andre Robinson falls into this category. “Animal cruelty is not a harmless venting of emotion in a healthy individual; this is a warning sign that this individual is not mentally healthy and needs some sort of intervention. Abusing animals does not dissipate these violent emotions, it may fuel them.” – Allen Brantley (FBI supervisory Special Agent) I agree with Special Agent Brantley, Robinson needs intervention, not sentencing such behavior could result in something even worse. He obviously lacks empathy, so there is nothing to stop him from doing the same thing to a human being. Do you really think he should be pardoned? Should non-vegans be put in the same box/category as such a person?
Francione truly believes that people who consume animal related products are no better than animal abusers such as Robinson. One does not need to be an expert to see how ridiculous that point of view is. In the first case, animals are killed for food and their skin is used for clothing. Of course, there are animal farms and factories where animals are mistreated, abused and living poorly, because unfortunately people like Andre Robinson are everywhere. Thankfully, there are also a lot of humane farms nowadays, where livestock is treated well, and is not suffering. On the other hand, in Robinson’s case, an animal is being abused for no reason at all. Or you could say that his reason was to amuse his friends and make them laugh. Is there any point to continue explaining the difference between the two? I believe not. Senseless violence has no justification, whereas food is necessary for survival.
In theory, everyone should be able to live on a vegan diet. Unfortunately, vegan-nazis seem to forget that not everyone is the same. Some people react the same to certain things and differently to other things. The same can be said for our bodies. Everyone’s body is different and different bodies require different nutrition. We can take the famous actress Angelina Jolie as an example. She said in an interview, “I was a vegan for a long time, and it nearly killed me. I found I was not getting enough nutrition.” Her body obviously couldn’t get everything necessary from such a diet. A study performed at the University of Wisconsin showed that a stunning 92% of vegans (who didn’t supplement their diets with tablets) had lower than normal values of the crucial B12 vitamin in their blood. (Dong, Scott) There are also other important nutrients which can only be found in animal foods. Some of them are carnosine, creatine and DHA. Of course, all of these can be provided by nutritional supplements which often come as powder or in pill form; maybe even by following a strict vegan diet which consists of various fruits and vegetables that could provide or replace said nutrients. However, not many people are able to follow such diets; it requires discipline and can be costly. Therefore, a good balanced diet which includes both animal products and vegetables and fruits is the optimal solution.
I believe any of the three reasons I have stated are more than enough to show that Francione’s argument, about non-vegans being the same as a cat-kicker, is absurd. Andre Robinson is a violent man who finds amusement in inflicting pain and suffering onto a helpless creature. He needs rehabilitation, time in prison to reflect and understand what he did was wrong; he needs social work and volunteering to learn to be compassionate since he hasn’t learned it already. If there were no consequences for such behavior, where would we draw the line?
“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.” – Albert Schweitzer