Not only are animals unable to avail themselves of language to assert their own rights, but many fewer humans have a clear sense of kinship with animals than have a clear sense of kinship with other humans. Among beings with subjective states of awareness, animals are the untouchable caste, those whom human others would rather not acknowledge, let alone render assistance.
Gary Steiner (2012). “Animals and the Moral Community: Mental Life, Moral Status, and Kinship”, p.138, Columbia University Press
