Read article on Huffington Post
UN Ambassador Muhumed Sacirbey speaks to the direct correlations between humanitarian issues and animal rights, and why animals should be represented in our international courts, entities, etc as nations and possibly global citizens .
He mentions the fight against commercial whaling and ending animal exploitation perpetuated by self-serving multi-national corporations as examples as to why animals need international representation.
One of the most important points of this article is that Ambassador Sacirbey recognizes the individuality and agency of non-human beings. Moreover, through representation via the UN or other international bodies, we can speak for those who have been silenced and are often times forgotten in the body count of environmental/humanitarian crises due to their non-human status.
He states we must adopt an “… effort to imprint a culture that respects animal life and environment beyond its possible human exploitation. There is no pleasure in killing another animal, and such promotion of empathy would also enhance respect for human rights.”