Libby Anderson: Concern for animals is not a failing in people

No doubt Michael Kelly composed an intentionally controversial article about people and animals (Four legs good, two legs better for man and beast, 28/10/10), in the expectation of a reaction from the animal protection movement. Please allow me to oblige.

The main theme of the article appears to be that animals are inferior to humans and that people who attach too much value to them are to be scorned. What a hard message for the old man whose only source of companionship, friendly touch, or communication is his dog. Or for the child whose only confidant is her pet rabbit (one of the animals described in the article as a pest). If, later in life, these people want to leave something behind to help animals, most of us would support that as a generous, and proportionate, way of recognising friendships that have enriched their lives. And even more importantly, a way of addressing the immense suffering that is caused to animals by humans in all kinds of settings, from factory farms to animal testing laboratories.

Practical concerns (dog licences, depleted fish stocks and over-breeding of pets, for instance) are concealed in a catalogue of extreme statements such as: "the human race (...] has dominion over the animal kingdom". This outdated view ignores the scientific evidence (and the recognition of the law) that animals are sentient creatures, capable of feelings and perception. That doesn't make them exactly the same as us, but it certainly makes them important.

Later on, we read: "A two-year-old child is more aware of the world around it than any animal." Really? More aware than the dog whose sense of smell is 40 times more acute than ours? The chicken that realises an object taken away and hidden from it still exists (something that young humans cannot understand)? Finally, to say that the "least resident" of the Third World is "worth more than all the animal rescue centres in the UK" is to make an illogical comparison. Caring for one does not exclude care for the other.

• Libby Anderson is Policy Director of OneKind