Treating animals as property prevents them from being perceived as part of the moral community  As long as animals are treated as property, their interests will always be subsidiary to the interests of their owners. To treat animals as property simply because they are not human is specieism [1] and no different to discrimination on race or gender. [2]  For humans, not being a slave is the practical prerequisite of all other rights. So too must it be for animals. Making the treatment of animals more ‘humane’ is an inadequate solution because it does not change the fundamental problem of exploitation.  [1] BBC Ethics guide, ‘The ethics of speciesism’  [2] Gary Francione, ‘The animal rights debate: abolition or regulation?’ p.22