If morality exists, I think it must needs be concerned with intelligence, rather than speciesism. If we say "only humans have value," that's just another form of Ethical Egoism. Which is as much an ethical theory as atheism is a religion. It hadn't occurred to me that humans might have an ethical obligation to domesticated animals, specifically because of the domestication. I don't think I believe it. It smells very Egoist. From Heinlein's Have Spacesuit, Will Travel: "Haven't you guessed? They're moving in on us." "You mean that they are going to kill us off and take over Earth?" She hesitated. "It might not be anything that nice." "Uh... make slaves of us?" "You're getting warmer. Kip--I think they eat meat..."unlike domesticated animals, octopuses don’t have what Pollan calls a “bargain with humanity,”
when we find them, what if aliens turn out to be delicious?
"What are they up to?" I asked.