Specific Rights in Nonhuman Animal Rights Declarations (Part 6)

Which political theories and systems are most suitable when it comes to including nonhuman animals into our polis? Cochrane (2010, 9), after reviewing the existing literature on the political consideration and inclusion of nonhuman animals, concludes that utilitarian and liberal theories provide the soundest basis. Utilitarianism correctly emphasizes the importance of sentience in deciding who should be considered morally (ibid.). Liberal approaches focus on the individual and their wellbeing and thus, combined with the utilitarian consideration of sentience, can provide an appropriate approach that recognizes the subject as the proper focus of just politics (ibid.). The strengths of both approaches could then be combined in an interest-based approach (ibid.).