Do Political Parties Instrumentalize Animal Rights? A Comparison of Votes and Arguments in Two Parliamentary Debates

Abstract

In this chapter, I examine the possible instrumental use of animal rights: situations where animal rights advocates support the cause not out of a desire to protect non-human animals, but to denigrate minorities. I compare the parliamentary debate on banning bullfights in Catalonia with the Dutch parliamentary debate on banning unstunned ritual slaughter. The analysis reveals that existing political cleavages predict the position of political parties and shows that tenets of an instrumental use are existent with some, but certainly not with all parties in favour of abolishing these traditions. I conclude by reflecting on the prospects of a further politicization of issues surrounding the protection of non-human animals in Western Europe.