Animal Rights in SF

[dddrrr]

Is anyone familiar with books or stories in the SF genre which contain messages regarding Animal Rights (e.g. vegetarianism, vivisection, specisism...)? There are tons of novels that raise the question of treatment of non-human species, but in most cases the species discussed are intelligent and self-aware beings, which differ in the case of animal rights ethics.

[Overread]

There are some refrenes in Robin Hobbs Assassins Trillogy - from memory there is a section in the first book which deals with the capture and keeping of wild animals = at least half way though I think

[j. d. worthington]

It's seldom the main focus, I think, but a lot of them touch on it. Heinlein frequently makes references to this sort of thing, and Leiber does on occasion (The Wanderer, for instance); Asimov has done some, as well (in fact, when he was getting his degree in biochemistry, he refused to attend on the day they were doing dissection of a cat, if I remember correctly).

Also, one needs to remember that a lot of the "sentient species" aspect of sf is also a metaphor for both humans of other cultures and for our treatment of other species, our arrogance concerning their intellect, for example... this is quite clear, for instance, in Heinlein's juveniles such as Space Cadet, Between Planets, and Red Planet (among others).

[murphy]

In Anne McCaffrey's Dinosaur Planet, the emphasis is on vegetarianism. The main characters are quite shocked when on a visit to a planet with dinosaurs, some of the members of the team kill and eat some of the native animals. In her future (in this series, anyway), meat is no longer eaten.

[The Ace]

Well, Freda doesn't like the scenes in Mirkwood from, 'The Hobbit.'

[steve12553]

The beauty of both Science Fiction and Fantasy is that even the plantlife may be sentient and have rights in the broad scheme of things. In this case the vegetarians are cruel and evil taking the lives of innocent flora. Going one step further even mineral life is possible. Well all this is making me hungry. Must be time for lunch.

[murphy]

Originally Posted by steve12553

The beauty of both Science Fiction and Fantasy is that even the plantlife may be sentient and have rights in the broad scheme of things. In this case the vegetarians are cruel and evil taking the lives of innocent flora. Going one step further even mineral life is possible. Well all this is making me hungry. Must be time for lunch.

Now that you mention it, there are giant beings called Theks in that Dinosaur Planet book. Very much like rocks.