Specific Rights in Nonhuman Animal Rights Declarations (Part 4)

It would be difficult to deny that the human needs for love, sexuality, procreation, family, and friendships tend to be strong needs. But how important is the fulfilment of these needs and the actualization of the corresponding abilities for nonhuman animal species? In order to be able to answer this question, we need to become more specific, and ask the question at least about each species; even then, there might be differences in the needs individuals within each species have. However, Nussbaum (2010, 535) argues for a nonhuman animal claim to loving attachments and relationships: “Animals have a complex emotional life. […] Like humans, they are entitled to a life that enables them to form bonds with others, to meet them with love and concern, and not to be […] denied these bonds.” Since there are more findings about these needs in the human realm and these are generally conducive to a general understanding of the complex of phenomena surrounding love and sexuality in the nonhuman animal kingdom, findings with regard to these phenomena in the context of humans will also be discussed in this section (cf. epistemic anthropocentrism, Sect. 5.1 in this book).