"Steadily, and not so slowly any more, we are making progress. One day, not in our lifetime perhaps, but in a future that is not unforeseeable, animals of non-human species will be born into a world in which they stand a fair chance of living a life that is happy by their own standards and fulfilling.

"When that day comes, they will not look back with gratitude to the human beings who helped to make this dispensation possible, that is to say, who helped to restore a decent life to them. But that does not matter. We are a species whose nature it is to look back; other species have what they consider to be more important things to do with their time than looking back.

"Voiceless acts in the most practical of ways to fund projects across the country whose goal is to ameliorate the lives of animals. Voiceless is a small part of what has become a large and I would hope irreversible movement among human beings to make this planet a less harsh and deadly place for all those to whom it is the one and only home." 

J.M.Coetzee 26th November 2004

Read more 'Up Close and Personal' stories

Add to: