Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, is the most famous welfare advocate. Grandin, who is autistic, designed humane slaughterhouse systems that reduce fear and pain in cattle. She does not argue that we should stop eating meat; she argues that if we are going to kill an animal, we owe it a stress-free final ride.
The most famous proponent of this view is the Australian philosopher Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation (1975), though Singer is technically a utilitarian. The stricter deontological view (rights based on personhood) comes from Tom Regan, who argued in The Case for Animal Rights that certain animals are "subjects-of-a-life" with inherent value. If an animal has a right to life, you cannot kill it for food, even if you do it painlessly. If an animal has a right to liberty, you cannot keep it in a zoo, even if the zoo has excellent enrichment. If an animal has a right to bodily autonomy, you cannot perform medical experiments on it, even if those experiments cure human diseases. Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at
The question isn't whether you support animal welfare or animal rights. The question is: And are you willing to change what you put on your plate to get there? If you want to learn more, look into the "Brambell Report" (welfare), Tom Regan's "The Case for Animal Rights" (rights), or the documentary "Dominion" (rights). Your education is the first step toward changing the law. The most famous proponent of this view is