#animals

I looked at all the caged animals. . . . . . . the cast-offs of human society. I saw in their eyes love and hope, fear and dread, sadness and betrayal. And I was angry. "God," I said, "this is terrible! Why don't you do something?" God was silent for a moment and then He spoke softly. "I have done something. . . I created you. ↗

— Jim Willis

#god #help #love #religion #love

Although other animals may be different from us, this does not make them LESS than us ↗

— Marc Bekoff

#animals #speciesism #suffer #respect

Even if only one person’s respect for animals increases, then writing Talon would have been worthwhile. ↗

— Christopher Gerard

#animal-welfare #animals #animals-stories-heroism #respect

If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much. ↗

— Mark Twain

#cats #dogs #grace #reticence #words

I'm a dog lover and sex addict. Those two things are unrelated.
 ↗

— Dark Jar Tin Zoo

#dog #dogs #funny #humor #love

The rights paradigm, which, as I interpret it, morally requires the abolition of animal exploitation and requires veganism as a matter of fundamental justice, is radically different from the welfarist paradigm, which, in theory focuses on reducing suffering, and, in reality, focuses on tidying up animal exploitation at its economically inefficient edges. In science, those who subscribe to one paradigm are often unable to understand and engage those who subscribe to another paradigm precisely because the theoretical language that they use is not compatible. I think that the situation is similar in the context of the debate between animal rights and animal welfare. And that is why welfarists simply cannot understand or accept the slavery analogy. ↗

— Gary L. Francione

#abolitionist #ahimsa #animals #education #exploitation

Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky, and water was a real and active principle. In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept us safe among them... The animals had rights - the right of man's protection, the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom, and the right to man's indebtedness. This concept of life and its relations filled us with the joy and mystery of living; it gave us reverence for all life; it made a place for all things in the scheme of existence with equal importance to all. ↗

— Chief Luther Standing Bear

#animals #earth #mother-earth #native-american #equality

But perhaps the most important lesson I learned is that there are no walls between humans and the elephants except those that we put up ourselves, and that until we allow not only elephants, but all living creatures their place in the sun, we can never be whole ourselves. ↗

— Lawrence Anthony

#animals #elephants #inspirational #inspirational

The keepers would give the gorillas an assortment of fruits and vegetables each afternoon, and on this particular occasion, Judy Sievert tossed Nina an apple, which rolled away. Instead of going to get it, Nina just 'sat there sadly,' in Judy's words. Judy continued her rounds, handing out yams and apples to the other gorillas, but Nina sat there looking appleless and downtrodden. Taking pity, Judy tossed her another apple. As soon as Nina had it, she got up and went over to where the first apple had rolled away, taking it too. ↗

— Eugene Linden

#deception #gorillas #intelligence

If an animal does something, we call it instinct. If we do the same thing for the same reason, we call it intelligence. ↗

— Will Cuppy

#intelligence #intelligence