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Just Us Too is a blog about justice for other species: that we humans can be fair to the rest of the animals with whom we share the planet. I’ve found this to be an often complex and uncertain stance which often demands that we go on something of a learning journey. At least, that has been my experience over the past ten years of my interactions with people from all walks of life and research into the issues.

One significant theme that has emerged has been the recognition that others have their own ideas about what’s best to do and how to be when it comes to our relationships with other animals. Curiously, I found that as I refined my own thinking I came to realise that most of us are on the same ethical page to a greater or lesser extent yet there doesn’t seem to be one easy way to describe just what that ethical page really is. The concept of Veganism seems to me to come the closest, but that label evokes some extremes of opinions and attitudes.

Nonetheless, if I boil it down veganism represents an underlying idea about justice and moral attitudes towards other animals which at its core is the very same idea about how we regard our fellow people. Today, this idea applied to human societies is often framed in terms of human rights which hope to recognise the inherent value of each person, regardless of background, where we live, what we look like, what we think or what we believe. Such rights are based on principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect, which are shared across cultures, religions and philosophies. They are about being treated fairly, treating others fairly and having the ability to make genuine choices in our daily lives.

Can we see any reason not to regard other species in a similar way, whenever we can? It doesn’t seem so. Up to a point, anyway. Just Us Too hopes to contribute to the conversation about just where that point sits, recognising it will be different for each of us. In the end, what you can do to treat other animals fairly depends on where you are, what you do and even what you are not willing to do or change. Really, it’s just us trying to be fair to each other and the other animals too.

Read on…