The Moral Status of Animals

[kahljorn]

Animals are territorial and shitting is one way to express that.

As far as every study of the brain I've ever heard of says, reptiles share the most fundamental part of our brain; the brain stem. Most mammals and animals have the Limbic system, which is responsible for PRIMAL EMOTION(but not logic, memory, analysis, logic, differentiation or any other high cognitive functions). Humans have the neocortex which composes roughly 90 percent of the human brain. This is where all higher functions take place(including logic and other high brain functions).
Assuming morality is the result of logic, animals don't really have a set of morals. That's why when your cat attacks a bird and plays with it before ripping it apart and devouring it, it doesn't really have any kind of a moral crisis. In this sense, they couldn't even imagine being treated "morally". However, they still have primal emotions which could allow them to get "Pissed off" at you and shit in your toolbox.

However, i don't really think their inability to understand morality excludes them from being treated morally.