The Ethics of Speciesism

This article summarizes the ethics behind the concept of speciesism. If given the scenario - a dog and a child are caught in a fire but you can only save one...who would you save? Most people instinctively would answer the child. This can be seen as a form of speciesism. So why do this exist? In my opinion, I believe that speciesism is natural because we will prefer our own species. This may be out of survival necessity - companionship and collaboration improve the quality of life or to raise a family. If given the choice between one of our own versus a non-human species, we would save our own.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/rights/speciesism.shtml