Wild Animals and Duties of Assistance

AbstractIs there a moral requirement to assist wild animals suffering due to natural causes? According to thelaissez-faire intuition, although we may havespecial duties to assist wild animals, there are nogeneral requirements to care for them. If this view is right, then our positive duties toward wild animals can be only special, grounded in special circumstances. In this article I present thecontribution argument which employs the thought that the receipt of benefits from wild animals is one such kind of special circumstance. If this argument is correct, then the circle of moral agents required to assist some wild animals is significantly widened.
Source: Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics - Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research