Animal rights activist and Berkeley City Council member Dona Spring wants the council to adopt a proclaiming that animals are “sentient beings” that has already been adopted by other cities in Ohio, New Jersey and elsewhere.
The proclamation reads,
Whereas, animals exploited by agribusiness are sentient beings — capable of awareness, feeling, and suffering; and
Whereas, human beings have an ethical obligation to refrain from causing pain and suffering to other sentient beings; and
Whereas, agribusiness commonly subjects cattle, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals to overcrowding, intensive confinement, and other conditions which cause pain and suffering;
Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the City of Berkeley recognizes farm animals as sentient beings who deserve to be treated with respect and protected from inhumane treatment.
Spring told The Oakland Tribune
We’ve got to make a commitment to try to improve the lives of animals used on farms and in agriculture. Europe is way ahead of the U.S. in terms of more humane conditions, so it’s about time the message got across here.
The resolution was supposed to be taken up at the Dec. 17, 2002 meeting of the council, but was removed from the council’s Consent Calendar and moved for consideration to the January 14, 2003 city council meeting.
Source:
Respect wanted for farm animals. Angela Hill, Oakland Tribune, December 14, 2002.