Ron,
Good point about the domestication of animals. Indeed, some plantation owners in the Antebellum American South probably thought that the proper ethical stance on Slavery was that they should see to their Slaves needs and not beat them unless absolutely necessary. Of course, one of the problems with our Slave Owner's view was that the people enslaved didn't all agree to this viewpoint. Is it okay to enslave something so long as it is doesn't understand and/or desire freedom? Or maybe it is wrong to have domesticated animals, making them serve our whims and needs, linking them to us through breeding them into a perpetual childlike state, and "putting down" any domestic that goes "feral".
I am not at this moment suggesting any of these statements as true or false; just trying to work out all the issues involved. Thanks for your input on the question.
Glen Finney