Animal Rights Spectrum Quiz

1. A factory dumps industrial runoff into a nearby river, which is the main source of water for the local ecosystem. As a result, animals that drink the water begin to get sick, and plants nearby the riverbank start to die. A local group of activists call for the factory to be shut down, but doing so would layoff hundreds of local jobs. Another group demands for the company that owns the factory to clean up the pollution themselves, costing the companys millions of dollars. What would you do?

2. A MegaPets tractor trailer carries thousands of live mice for MegaPets stores across the country. One day, it tips over while driving on a road that goes by Pisgah national forest, and all of the mice are released into the forest. Reproducing rapidly, these mice cause great damage to the local ecosystem. A group of Ecologists from Brevard announce that they have developed a powerful poison specifically designed to only kill the MegaPets mice, and that they can release it into the forest at anytime. Is this ethical? Why or why not?

3. Rivers, hills, and mountains are moral patients as much as humans or animals. Do you agree or disagree, and why?

4. You have a cut of delcious steak that, due to a noticable imperfection, are not going to eat. While walking down the road to return it to the butcher, you pass the most adorable dog. It looks up at you with its big ol' eyes, wagging his tail and positively begging for the slab of beef. You think about it for a moment, and decide to... 

5. In a large room, there are two airtight glass cells with a single red button in front of each. In one cell is your younger sibling. In the other cell is your favorite childhood pet. In five minutes, both cells will fill with with an equal amount of poisonous gas, killing whatever it touches. If you press one of the buttons in front of the glass cells, it will fill that cell with all of the gas, killing whatever is inside that cell, but sparing whatever is in the other one. 

6. MegaPets pet store sells thousands of live mice to pet-owners. Sometimes as pets, in which case they go to a (hopefully) happy home. Other times, they sell them as live prey for predatory pets. Is this ethical?

7. You're driving in the middle of the night through a heavy rainstorm. Suddenly, a bobcat runs out into the middle of the road. At your speed, you only have enough time to swerve out of the way, but in this rain there's a great chance that you may lose control of your car. If you don't swerve, you'll surely kill the bobcat. Do you...

8. Koko the gorilla is clearly intelligent. She can use over 1,000 different signs, allowing her to participate in rudimentary communication with her handlers. She is also empathic, having "adopted" a kitten that she took care of like a child. She is trapped in a burning building. On the other side of the building is a human child, who was somehow left behind when the building was evacuated. Who do you save?

9. Why do you keep a pet?

10. You are a field biologist, lost somewhere deep in Yellowstone. Half-starved of hunger, you finally managed to catch something in one of your traps; a wolf. It seems to be stunned, and injured, and you could easily dispatch of it and provide a meal for yourself, giving you the energy you need to hike to the closest ranger station. However, you also know that this wolf is an important part of Yellowstone's natural ecosystem, and even this one wolf could help or hinder the repopulation efforts. Dressing the wolf's wounds with the last of your supplies would probably save it's life, but there's no telling if or when you'll need the supplies you use. What do you do?

11. Animals are "somebody" rather than "something". Do you agree or disagree?

12. Andrew Linzey once wrote, "If humans claim lordship over creation, then it can only be a lordship of service." Do you agree or disagree?

13. Is it ethical to purchase meat-based pet food for your carnivorous pets?

14. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few"-Spock

15. MedCo pharmacutical company develops a cure to cancer. It's super-effective, easy to manufacture, and incredibly cheap. The only catch is, it requires a particular jelly extracted from a rare jellyfish native to the Pacific Ocean. This  always results in its death. The cure will be in so much demand that the jellyfish will surely go extinct after a couple of years, but by then scientists will have discovered how to synthesize the jelly artificially. Should the cure be made?