REUTERS/BUAV/Handout

Nobody could call me an animal rights activist (although admittedly, a PETA mailing caused me to stop eating meat for a year), but images such as these are very compelling. You can’t tell me there isn’t something behind that frightened creature’s eyes. Not a soul per se (I don’t believe in souls), but something like what we have. An awareness I suppose.

Sometimes, I think belief in the human soul is why we have trouble respecting other species. The soul is exclusive to humanity. We alone posess it. All other life is lesser for lack of it.