Editorial Commentary Individual Analysis

Analysis of an Editorial Commentary (Our Love for Animals)

Link to the commentary http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03w3g6x

This commetary is part of the BBC Radio 4 A Point of View. The particular episode was first broadcast the 28th of February of this year. I chose this programme because I’m a big advocate for animal rights issues, and thought this would be an interesting programme to listen to.

At the beginning of the programme, the presenters are still talking about a previous show. Then, without much of an introduction, they state the name of the commentarist, Roger Scruton, and he starts his commentary. There is no explanation as to who he is, probably because it is expected that the native listener’s know of him. After looking him up on-line, I found that he is one of the most important and controversial philosophers in Britain today, and leans clearly towards a Conservative position. All of this helped me understand why he said some of the things during the programme.

Scruton starts by describing where he lives, a small rural area, and the animals of the place. After presenting just how well human raised animals live, he introduces the dilemma of wildlife, and the many inconsistent actions that we take that put them in danger, like killing rodents but then trying to save owls and other animals that feed on them.  After a brief summary of the purely anthropogenic  causes for wildlife destruction, he goes on to the main issue of his commentary: pets. And this is were his commentary turns to being an essay on environmentalism to a very poetic argument about the different types of love that us humans may feel. He argues that people who are caught in childish types of love, who do not manage to discipline their emotions, do so because of their pets. At one point, he compares this to the love Hitler felt for his dogs. This statement seems to be added just for the dramatic touch of incluiding Hitler’s name in his commentary, but it doesn’t clarify anything and in fact has very little relation to what he is talking about.

After focusing on dogs, he starst to discuss about cats, for whom Scruton clearly has a particular dislike that he tries to transmit to the listener by pointing out that they are “the most destructive alien species of the country” (which he supports by giving some numeric facts) and that they have a “taste for blood”, and calls the animal conservation group RSCPA “inquisitors” for protecting stray cats despite the fact that they kill wildlife.

He finishes his commentary by stating that he understands the love and sense of duty that pet owners feel for their animals, and which is the reason why they don’t take into account the damage they cause on wildlife. With this, he gets the viewer back in his corner (since some of his previous claims might have offended pet owning listeners). He asks that people be aware that we do not only have a duty towards the animals we love as individuals, but also towards wildlife in general. This type of love directed towards a large group of species is “the hard kind of love”, and the one Scruton thinks we should have.

The programme ends repeating the name of the commentarist, in case anyone missed it at the beginning, and giving the name of the producer. After that, they announce the upcoming programmes. 

Alejandra Freund