Katrina Sharman is the Corporate Counsel for Voiceless, Clueless or Gormless; which one is it? Katrina, I explored the Voiceless site and saw scant mention of the religion that insists on an animal to be completely alive just prior to having its throat slit. A more cruel or callous act is hard to imagine yet it fails to disturb you and your organization.

I can’t take you seriously Katrina.

Ironically being tasty and docile has been a very successful strategy for domesticated animals. They have spread to every inhabited continent and vast areas of world has been altered to provide a suitable habitat.

However the author does have a point. Why should we protect one species to the nth degree (our own) while we can kill many others at will.

I suspect there is something about how our brains are wired because group based discrimination is deeply rooted in every society. Just look at how hard it is to root out racism, nationalism and gender discrimination. Taking on specieism will be a challenge.

Technology may come to our aid. It may be possible to grow steaks in the lab before too long. No cows will have to suffer as they'd be redundant. Or perhaps the sentient part will be removed from farm animals.

I am surprised that the author didn't mention that the PvdD (Party for the Animals) won two seats in the dutch lower house a couple of weeks ago. I am sure we'll hear much more about this issue in years to come.

The myth that hunters do not respect animals and that they take animal life lightly is one perpetuated by people who have never observed the close links hunters have with the land. Hunters have been among the first, throughout human history, to call for conservation and protection of refuges and habitat for wild animals. Unlike many, they are also well aware of the need to balance all species in an ecosystem to ensure healthy futures for the entire system. Feral animals, for example, are destroying habitat required by unique indigenous species as well as having a devastating impact on agriculture.

The idea that the human species can ignore their responsibilities to ensure complete natural ecosystems are maintained sustainably is not only naive, it is irresponsible. If you don't want to eat meat, that's fine. What is important is the recognition that because someone else doesn't follow your philosophy about animal rights they can still care about animals. Hunters and farmers certainly do care about the welfare of animals. Perhaps the difference is that both groups are prepared to take custodial care of natural and agricultural systems instead of abrogating their duty of care to the environment and the species inhabiting it.

The vast majority of people wish to treat animals humanely. However, when the fringe dwelling intelligentsia distill our long held cultural mores into a new religion then, the rest of us can not be blamed for speaking up. Animal welfare is justifiable, animal liberation is just another fundamentalist religion i.e. The New Taliban.

Australians have long regarded wowsers with disdain and distrust. Animal libbers are self righteous, radicalised wowsers.

Prior to the 9/11 mass homicide Animal Libbers featured on the FBI Most Wanted List, Peter Singer's psychosis was stripped bare by a Boston Globe article several years ago which outlined the pathetic lack of philosophical rigour in his assertion that "humans should have consensual sex with animals".

Now we have young lawyers training for a career in animal law. Just consider what they have done for society in reference to public liability and the exorbitant liability premiums.

Learned ministers of religion have recently identified the emerging cult of animal worshippers who feel the classical religions lack social capital.

A.L. "thinkers" have even drawn an analogy between slavery and animal husbandry.

The older I become, the more firmly I believe that one of the biggest threats to Australia is the fact that 80% of our population are pasteurised, homogenised, plasticised city slickers possessing self destructive thought processes that can only percolate out of a shallow, self righteous, egotistical mindset.

Upon reading Katrina’s article I felt uplifted with joy .

The very existence of someone as compassionate as Katrina is undeniable evidence that we humans are so ingenious that with time all of the worlds ills will be cured .

As it appears we have defeated the process of natural selection .

Jamo, wasn't the Age of Aquarius in the seventies?