The document provides alternatives to commonly used speciesist terms when referring to nonhuman animals. It lists terms that should be avoided like "animal agriculture" and "beef industry" and suggests more respectful replacements like "food-industry enslavement and slaughter" and "cow-flesh industry". The alternatives aim to avoid implying animals are objects or solely existing for human use and instead emphasize their sentience and that they should not be exploited. Examples given include replacing "lab animal" with "vivisected animal" and "meat" with "flesh" to highlight the living beings involved and consequences of their use.
Original Description:
An excerpt from Joan Dunayer's book 'Animal Equality: Language and Liberation'.
The document provides alternatives to commonly used speciesist terms when referring to nonhuman animals. It lists terms that should be avoided like "animal agriculture" and "beef industry" and suggests more respectful replacements like "food-industry enslavement and slaughter" and "cow-flesh industry". The alternatives aim to avoid implying animals are objects or solely existing for human use and instead emphasize their sentience and that they should not be exploited. Examples given include replacing "lab animal" with "vivisected animal" and "meat" with "flesh" to highlight the living beings involved and consequences of their use.
The document provides alternatives to commonly used speciesist terms when referring to nonhuman animals. It lists terms that should be avoided like "animal agriculture" and "beef industry" and suggests more respectful replacements like "food-industry enslavement and slaughter" and "cow-flesh industry". The alternatives aim to avoid implying animals are objects or solely existing for human use and instead emphasize their sentience and that they should not be exploited. Examples given include replacing "lab animal" with "vivisected animal" and "meat" with "flesh" to highlight the living beings involved and consequences of their use.
Joan Dunayer Adapted by the author from her book Animal Equality: Language and Liberation (Derwood, Md.: Ryce Publishing, 2001) and reproduced with her permission.
Terms to Avoid Alternatives
animal agriculture food-industry enslavement and slaughter animal experimentation, animal research, biomedical vivisection research (that harms animals) animals (excluding humans) nonhuman animals, other animals, nonhumans beef, hamburger, steak, etc. cow flesh beef cow, broiler chicken, food fish, veal calf cow/chicken/fish/calf reared for slaughter beef industry, pork industry, poultry industry cow-flesh/pig-flesh/bird-flesh industry beef producer, cattle rancher cattle enslaver circus animal circus captive companion animal nonhuman companion, pet (with reference to possibly or definitely disrespected nonhumans, as in “the pet trade”) dairy cow, milk cow enslaved cow, cow enslaved for her milk dairy industry cow-milk industry, goat-milk industry, milk industry endangered animal, endangered species (in reference member of an endangered species to an individual not personally endangered) euthanize (a healthy animal) kill, murder even (as in “Even insects feel”) also, too, including, as well (as in “Insects, too, feel”) experimenter, researcher, scientist (who harms vivisector animals) factory farming factory “farming,” food-industry confinement, intensive confinement farm animal, farmed animal animal enslaved for food, “farmed” animal fur industry pelt industry game animal hunted animal, sport-hunted animal guardian (in a legal context or in reference to owner someone who may not love or adequately care for a nonhuman they legally own) it (in reference to an animal) she (female); he (male); he/she, she/he (hermaphrodite); she, he (particular individual of unknown gender); they (unspecified individual of unknown gender) lab animal vivisected animal, animal used in vivisection laying hen enslaved hen, hen enslaved for her eggs leather cow skin meat flesh milk (from cows) cow milk overfishing fishing, genocide by fishing, decimating a fish population poultry (in reference to living birds) birds/chickens/ducks/geese/turkeys enslaved for food purebred inbred shelter (that kills healthy animals) adoption-and-killing facility that, which, what (in reference to an animal) who wild animals, wildlife free-living nonhumans, non-“domesticated” nonhumans zoo animal zoo captive, zoo inmate, zoo prisoner