ABSTRACT
That humans exploit animals, often in cruel ways, is not open to doubt. Neither is there any doubt that responsibility for exploitation and cruelty lies unambiguously on the human side of any human-animal divide. For this reason, relations between humans and animals may be described as profoundly asymmetrical (Schiktanz 2004: 2). Asymmetry results whenever animals are confined for human purposes, for instance, in farms, zoos and homes. As Schiktanz (2004: 2) puts it, ‘the animal itself has usually no opportunity to force its necessities – everything depends on the good will of the human “owner” .’ Asymmetric relations are apparently inevitable, especially in the agricultural domain where billions of animals are raised for slaughter in heavily industrialized and mechanized systems of production (Fiddes 1992; Rifkin 1992; Stassart and Whatmore 2003).
