My thoughts on the ethical treatment of animals

I am a strong believer in the idea that all people are equal. I have never understood the arguments that skin color, sexual orientation, strength, or even genetics makes one person more important or "better" than another. To me it is fairly obvious that people all have different qualities, some good and some bad, but all come out about the same. There are some people (such as rapists) that I feel the world could certainly live without but that doesn't in my mind conflict with the idea of people being equal.

But what about animals? Are we better than them? No, because technically people are animals. We are just a different class of animal. But to make the wording simpler I am going to refer to people and animals instead of people being a type of animal.

I have met people who treat all animals badly, others that treat animals with indifference, and a few that view them as having equal rights as people. Each philosophy has its points but for myself if I had to choose between an animal dying or a person dying it would be a no brainer. I value people more than I value animals. People have a higher intelligence (at least in general).

But just because I value people more than animals doesn't mean I treat animals badly. I eat animals for food but I want the animal killed as painlessly as possible and raised as painlessly as possible. I do not go out of my way to cause pain in animals. I do not have a pet because I am away from home a lot and they would be very bored sitting inside all day.

I am having trouble with the wording of this post, but here are some of my thoughts so I don't lose them:

Wild animals should be left alone where possible. If they are a pest they should be killed as painlessly as possible but we should in no way try to improve their lives. Feeding or trying to help a wild animal always ends up causing more pain in the long run and not less.

Pets should be treated well. If you can't treat them well give them to somebody who can. If there isn't anybody then they should be killed as painlessly as possible. A painless death if better than a life of pain.

Food animals should be raised in decent, clean environments then killed as painlessly as possible. An animal should be given a decent lifespan, not killed when it is very young. A middle ground needs to be sought over giving an animal a decent lifespan and the quality of the meat.

There are good animals and bad animals, the same as there are good and bad people. A dog that attacks a person should be killed outright even if that causes it pain. We need to balance the pain we cause it with the pain it causes others.