Human Exceptionalism: Is It Ethical To Ride a Horse to Death to Save a Human Life?

I saw True Grit over the holiday, and enjoyed it thoroughly.  (In the original movie, John Wayne stole the film. In the new version, the girl who hires the marshal to capture—or better yet, kill—her father’s murderer eats the scenery; a true tour de force by newcomer Hailee Steinfield.)  It’s not as much fun as the John Wayne version, but is in some ways a better movie precisely because it is darker and deeper.

But being me, I couldn’t escape a human exceptionalism angle that leaped off the screen—although I am sure it was not intended by the movie makers (or novelist, upon which the movie is based).  There is a scene—I will not state the context so as to not spoil the movie’s enjoyment—in which a horse is ridden to death in an attempt to get a character to a doctor to save the character’s life.  It is an emotional moment in the movie—evoking empathy for the horse that is unique to our species (I had tears in my eyes)—but it got me thinking: If animals are truly our equals, the characters had no business sacrificing the horse to save the human.

So those who think animals deserve equal consideration, what say you?  This is not an unthinkable scenario for contemplation.  It has been done in real life, I am sure.  And if sacrificing the horse was ethical—and I would say it was the morally required, if painful, choice—doesn’t that demonstrate that human beings really do have greater value?