Laws or Societal Recognition?

In response to Brian - full post here

This is an interesting topic. I just wrote a post on the appropriateness of legal licensure, but this post raises an interesting question. I suppose I would still argue that licensure - that is, regulations by law - is morally appropriate, but I am not certain about its necessity, and, as you pointed out, something needs to change. I would also agree that among the most important changes is the societal change of recognition of the moral status of non-human animals.

Ideally, and we should work towards this, we would want a society in which there was little need for the laws and regulations because it would be socially unacceptable to 'own' non-human animals, and treat them in a way that is below their inherent moral value. I can also see how simply changing a law may not convince most people of their value. Many, I'd assume, would rebel against such laws and possibly treat animals worse. Still, I agree that we need to work on social recognition of animal rights (and many other rights issues on which we are painfully slow to change (i.e. gender, sexual orientation, et cetera).