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Ethical responsibilities toward wildlife

Date

1992-03-01

Authors

Rolston, Holmes, 1932-, author
American Veterinary Medical Association, publisher

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Abstract

Save the whales! Let the bison drown! Let the lame deer suffer! Leave wounded deer to the coyotes! Let the blinded bighorns starve! Treat the bighorns with lung worm! Rescue the sow grizzly! Shoot the feral goats! Sterilize the mustangs! Restore the wolves! Respect wild life! Compassion is not the only consideration in an ethic, and in environmental ethics it plays a different role than in a humanist ethics. To intervene artificially in the processes of natural selection is not to do wild animals any benefit at the level of the good of the kind, although it would benefit an individual. However, intervention is warranted if humans have caused the suffering or threatened the species.

Description

Originally a keynote address, "Ethical Responsibilities toward Wildlife," at the American Veterinary Medical Association Forum on "The Veterinarian's Role in the Welfare of Wildlife," Palmer House, Chicago, IL, November 7, 1991.
Includes bibliographical references.

Rights Access

Subject

let nature take its course
bison
deer
suffering in wild animals
wolves
grizzly bears
compassion
medical intervention in wildlife

Citation

Associated Publications