Do Chickens Have Rights?

Our good friends from north of Sharbot Lake were down to Belleville on the weekend because the abbatoir which slaughters their meat chickens is just north of town. They take care in the way they transport the birds, as well as their others animals because of their own convictions and because the laws in Ontario are quite strict. Friend Bill is inclined to say that he wants his critters to have only one bad day on their lives and we have bought much of our meat from them because of their outlook.

Can we say, though, that chickens have status in our society which affords them basic rights to fair treatment? Many would argue that is an absurd urban notion. Chickens are chickens, so how can they have rights. Others, including ethicists a d theologians would say otherwise - what's good for the goose is...well, you know. Today there was a CBC radio program on animal rights and is was thought-provoking. A philosopher spoke of his conviction that a self-aware mature ape was more a realized person than a newborn human child. He assured listeners that he didn't pursue this line of reasoning with his own kids and grandkids!

There are plenty of bible verses that encourage respects, if not rights for non-human creatures. God created them as well, after all. Did anyone else hear the program? Is it folly to speak of the dignity and rights of creatures we consume? Should I attempt to swallow that a gorilla has more personhood than my six-month-old grandson? Never!