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Timeline of wild-animal suffering

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| 1779 || || Publication || {{w|David Hume}} || David Hume in his posthumous work ''{{w|Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion}}'' makes reference to the antagonism experienced and inflicted by wild animals upon each other.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hume|first=David|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4583|title=Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion|date=|publisher=|year=1779|isbn=|location=|pages=|language=English|quote=Observe [...] the curious artifices of nature, in order to embitter the life of every living being. The stronger prey upon the weaker, and keep them in perpetual terror and anxiety. The weaker too, in their turn, often prey upon the stronger, and vex and molest them without relaxation. Consider that innumerable race of insects, which either are bred on the body of each animal, or flying about infix their stings in him. These insects have others still less than themselves, which torment them. And thus on each hand, before and behind, above and below, every animal is surrounded with enemies, which incessantly seek his misery and destruction.}}</ref>
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| 1821 || || Publication || {{w|Joseph de Maistre}} || Joseph de Maistre in his ''The Saint Petersburg Dialogues'', describes the extent of suffering and violent deaths experienced by animals in the wild.<ref>{{Cite book|last=de Maistre|first=Joseph|url=httpshttp://wwwmaistre.gutenberguni.orgcx/ebooks/4583st_petersburg.html|title=The Saint Petersburg Dialogues|date=|publisher=|year=1821|isbn=|location=|pages=|chapter=Seventh Dialogue|language=English|quote=In the immense sphere of living things, the obvious rule is violence, a kind of inevitable frenzy which arms all things ''in mutua funera''. Once you leave the world of insensible substances, you find the decree of violent death written on the very frontiers of life. Even in the vegetable kingdom, this law can be perceived: from the huge catalpa to the smallest of grasses, how many plants ''die'' and how many are ''killed''! But once you enter the animal kingdom, the law suddenly becomes frighteningly obvious. A power at once hidden and palpable appears constantly occupied in bringing to light the principle of life by violent means. In each great division of the animal world, it has chosen a certain number of animals charged with devouring the others; so there are insects of prey, reptiles of prey, birds of prey, fish of prey, and quadrupeds of prey. There is not an instant of time when some living creature is not devoured by another [...] Thus is worked out, from maggots up to man, the universal law of the violent destruction of living beings. The whole earth, continually steeped in blood, is nothing but an immense altar on which every living thing must be sacrificed without end, without restraint, without respite until the consummation of the world, the extinction of evil, the death of death.}}</ref>
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| 1824 || || Publication || {{w|Lewis Gompertz}} || Lewis Gompertz in ''Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes'' explores predation as a moral issue and advocates intervening to prevent it in certain circumstances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gompertz|first=Lewis|url=https://archive.org/details/moralinquiriesonthesituationofmanandofbrutes-lewisgompertz|title=Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes|date=|publisher=Centaur|year=1992|isbn=|editor1-last=Singer|editor1-first=Peter|location=Fontwell|pages=93–94|language=English|quote=Y: As you think it wrong for man to kill other animals for food, do you also think it wrong that animals should devour each other? As this is the general law of nature.<br>Z: It appears wrong, according to the rules by which we govern our own actions to each other; and should I witness the attempt in any animal of destroying another, I would endeavour to frustrate it; though this might probably be wrong.}}</ref>
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| 1906 || || Publication || J. Howard Moore || In his book ''{{w|The Universal Kinship}}'', J. Howard Moore argues that the egoism of sentient beings—a product of natural selection—which leads them to exploit their sentient fellows, is the most mournful fact of existence, and speculates whether a sufficiently sympathetic human could significantly improve this situation if given the chance.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moore|first=J. Howard (John Howard)|url=http://archive.org/details/universalkinship00moor|title=The Universal Kinship|publisher=Charles H. Kerr & Co.|year=1906|isbn=|location=Chicago|pages=249–250|quote= The preponderance of egoism in the natures of living beings is the most mournful and immense fact in the phenomena of conscious life. It has made the world the kind of world it would have been had the gods actually emptied their wrath vials upon it. Brotherhood is anomalous, and, even in its highest manifestations, is but the expression of a veiled and calculating egoism. Inhumanity is everywhere. The whole planet is steeped in it. Every creature faces an inhospitable universeful, and every life is a campaign. It has all come about as a result of the mindless and inhuman manner in which life has been developed on the earth. It has been said that an individual of unlimited faculties and infinite goodness and power made this world and endowed it with ways of acting, and that this individual, as the world's executive, continues to determine its phenomena by inspiring the order of its events. But one cannot help thinking sometimes, when, in his more daring and vivid moments, he comes to comprehend the real character and condition of the world, what a discrepancy exists between the reputation of this builder and his works, and cannot help wondering whether an ordinary human being with only common-sense and insight and an average concern for the welfare of the world would not make a great improvement in terrestrial affairs if he only had the opportunity for a while.}}</ref>
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| 1932 || || Publication || {{w|Clarence Darrow}}|| In his autobiography ''The Story of My Life'', Clarence Darrow describes in detail the brutality of the suffering experienced by animals in the wild.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Darrow|first=Clarence|url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500951h.html|title=The Story of My Life|publisher=|year=1932|isbn=|location=|pages=|quote=Whichever way man may look upon the earth, he is oppressed with the suffering incident to life. It would almost seem as though the earth had been created with malignity and hatred. If we look at what we are pleased to call the lower animals, we behold a universal carnage. We speak of the seemingly peaceful woods, but we need only look beneath the surface to be horrified by the misery of that underworld. Hidden in the grass and watching for its prey is the crawling snake which swiftly darts upon the toad or mouse and gradually swallows it alive; the hapless animal is crushed by the jaws and covered with slime, to be slowly digested in furnishing a meal. The snake knows nothing about sin or pain inflicted upon another; he automatically grabs insects and mice and frogs to preserve his life. The spider carefully weaves his web to catch the unwary fly, winds him into the fatal net until paralyzed and helpless, then drinks his blood and leaves him an empty shell. The hawk swoops down and snatches a chicken and carries it to its nest to feed its young. The wolf pounces on the lamb and tears it to shreds. The cat watches at the hole of the mouse until the mouse cautiously comes out, then with seeming fiendish glee he plays with it until tired of the game, then crunches it to death in his jaws. The beasts of the jungle roam by day and night to find their prey; the lion is endowed with strength of limb and fang to destroy and devour almost any animal that it can surprise or overtake. There is no place in the woods or air or sea where all life is not a carnage of death in terror and agony. Each animal is a hunter, and in turn is hunted, by day and night. No landscape is so beautiful or day so balmy but the cry of suffering and sacrifice rends the air. When night settles down over the earth the slaughter is not abated. Some creatures see best at night, and the outcry of the dying and terrified is always on the wind. Almost all animals meet death by violence and through the most agonizing pain. With the whole animal creation there is nothing like a peaceful death. Nowhere in nature is there the slightest evidence of kindness, of consideration, or a feeling for the suffering and the weak, except in the narrow circle of brief family life.}}</ref>
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| 1952 || {{dts|August}} || Publication || {{w|Alexander Skutch}} || Alexander Skutch publishes "Which Shall We Protect? Thoughts on the Ethics of the Treatment of Free Life", in which he discusses the ideal ethical relations towards "free life"; including predation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Skutch|first=Alexander F.|title=Which Shall We Protect? Thoughts on the Ethics of the Treatment of Free Life|journal=The Aryan Path|year=1952|volume=23|issue=|pages=382–386|url=https://www.alexanderskutch.com/uploads/7/0/1/0/70104897/1952_aryan_protect_382-386.pdf|archiveurl=|archivedate=|deadurl=no}}</ref>
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| 1962 || {{dts|July}} || Publication || Alexander Skutch || Alexander Skutch publishes "Vegetarianism and the Evil of Predation", in which he argues that vegetarianism is a direct response to the greatest and most far-reaching evil of all—predation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Skutch|first=Alexander F.|title=Vegetarianism and the Evil of Predation|journal=The Aryan Path|year=1962|volume=33|issue=|pages=298–302|url=https://www.alexanderskutch.com/uploads/7/0/1/0/70104897/1962_aryan_vegetarianism_298-302.pdf|archiveurl=|archivedate=|deadurl=no}}</ref>
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| 1973 || {{dts|June 14}} || Publication || {{w|Peter Singer}} || Peter Singer responds to a question about predation, arguing against interference in practice because the long-term consequences of intervention cannot be predicted. However, he accepts that intervention to reduce wild-animal suffering would be morally justified if one could be reasonably confident that the long-term effects would be positive.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Singer|first1=Peter|title=Food for Thought|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1973/jun/14/food-for-thought/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509205824/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/06/14/food-for-thought/<!--https://archive.fo/WkUXS-->|archivedate=2018-05-09|deadurl=no|journal=The New York Review of Books|date=June 14, 1973}}</ref>
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| 1995 || || Publication || [[wikipedia:David Pearce (philosopher)|David Pearce]] || David Pearce publishes his transhumanist manifesto ''The Hedonistic Imperative'', which argues that biotechnology can and should be used to eliminate the experience of suffering.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pearce, David|title=The Hedonistic Imperative|url=https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527232626/https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archivedate=2018-05-27|deadurl=no|date=1995|publisher=hedweb.com}}</ref> It includes a section on wild-animal suffering.
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| Summer 1995 || || Publication || Andrew Luke || Andrew Luke's article "And the Hyenas Laughed No More?" is published in ''The Vegan'', in which the author argues for the incompatibility between veganism and environmentalism, and describes the creation of a vegan utopia—a world where no harms befall any sentient beings.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Luke |first=Andrew |date=1995 |title=And the Hyenas Laughed No More?|url=https://issuu.com/vegan_society/docs/the-vegan-summer-1995/6|magazine=The Vegan|location= |publisher=The Vegan Society|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
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| 1996 || December || Publication || David Olivier, Steve Sapontzis || ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' publishes its 14th edition, which is dedicated to discussing the problem of predation and human intervention in nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |last2=Bonnardel |first2=Yves |title=Éditorial |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721033959/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/<!--https://archive.is/AdO7s--> |archivedate=2018-07-21 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref> It features articles by David Olivier and Yves Bonnardel, as well as a translation of an article by Steve Sapontzis. For example, one article by Yves Bonnardel is entitled "Contre l’apartheid des espèces: À propos de la prédation et de l’opposition entre écologie et libération animale" ("Against the apartheid of species: On predation and the conflict between ecology and animal liberation").<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bonnardel |first1=Yves |title=Contre l’apartheid des espèces |trans-title=Against the apartheid of species |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003100009/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archivedate=2017-10-03 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
| 2019 || July 1 || Publication || || Animal Ethics publishes a new article about how fireworks harm nonhuman animals of all sizes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/fireworks-harm-nonhuman-animals/|title=A new article about how fireworks harm nonhuman animals of all sizes|last=Ethics|first=Animal|date=2019-07-01|website=Animal Ethics|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>
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| 2019 || April || Project || || Wild Animal Initiative launches ''Wildness'', a podcast on wild animal ethics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/wildness|title=Wildness Podcast|website=Wild Animal Initiative|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>
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| 2019 || January || Project || || Wild Animal Initiative launches The Compassionate Cat Grant aiming "to gather information on cat predation education at the rescue organization level and draw conclusions regarding the effect of advocacy efforts on the welfare of wild animals".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catgrants.org/|title=The Compassionate Cat Grant|website=The Compassionate Cat Grant|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>
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| 2020 || {{dts|January 15}}|| Publication || Jeff Sebo || Jeff Sebo in "All We Owe to Animals", describes the seriousness of the threat of climate change to both humans and nonhuman animals and argues that we have a moral obligation to relieve the suffering of individual wild animals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aeon.co/essays/we-cant-stand-by-as-animals-suffer-and-die-in-their-billions|title=All We Owe to Animals|date=2019-02-07|website=Aeon|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-29}}</ref>
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| 2020 || {{dts|February 10}}|| Publication || Animal Ethics || Animal Ethics publishes "Scientists' attitudes towards improving the welfare of animals in the wild: a qualitative study"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/scientists-attitudes-animals-wild-qualitative/|title=Scientists' attitudes towards improving the welfare of animals in the wild: a qualitative study|date=2020-02-10|website=Animal Ethics|language=en|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>
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| 2020 || {{dts|February 29}}|| Publication || Animal Ethics || Animal Ethics releases the first video of an online course on wild animal suffering.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcing-the-first-video-of-an-online-course-on-wild-animal-suffering/|title=Announcing the first video of an online course on wild animal suffering|date=2020-02-29|website=Animal Ethics|language=en|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>
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| 2020 || {{dts|April 3}}|| Publication || Animal Ethics || Animal Ethics releases ''Introduction to Wild Animal Suffering: A Guide to the Issues'', as a companion text to its online video course.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/introduction-wild-animal-suffering/|title=Introduction to wild animal suffering: A guide to the issues|date=2020-04-03|website=Animal Ethics|language=en|access-date=2020-04-06}}</ref>
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94
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