This is a reality check: Oh, how the animal liberationists must be writhing in anguish and grief about this story from India. It seems a tribe of lowest caste Indians is making a decent living killing rats to protect the crops of local farms:
In this impoverished tribal belt in southern Tamil Nadu state, catching rats has been a primary job for members of Chinnapayan’s Irula tribe—an impoverished community of 3 million people at the bottom rung of the Hindu caste hierarchy who have often found themselves teetering on the brink of starvation.
But the introduction of innovative rat traps has remarkably reversed the Irulas’ plight. By curbing the amount of rodents that have long menaced Indian farmers, the tribe has seen its income triple in the past three years, while bringing them new respect. The Irulas, who were once jeered by many locals as “rodent assassins,” are now being touted as saviors by many farmers.
Under animal rights belief, the rats should be left alone. After all, animal liberationists believe that “a rat, is a pig, is a dog, is a boy,” and hence, the mass killing of rats—sentient beings deemed by liberationists to be owed “equal consideration” with people—would seem to be a moral horror. I mean, the rats have as much right to eat as the people, right? Indeed, the rats were, I am sure, indigenous to the area long before people arrived, thus it should be the people who adjust to their presence and not the other way around.
This story reveals how the entire movement—as opposed to animal welfare— should not be taken seriously. The urgent needs of people have to come first. Moreover, most people in the world don’t have the luxury of presuming that a rat has a right to life or to eat. Indeed, the amazing prosperity and success of the West—and a resulting decadence and nihilism—is what spawned the very notion of animal rights.
