The Lotus Sutra and Ecology

One of the most important texts in Buddhism is the Lotus Sutra. In this book, it often times portrays animals in a often varying light. This includes sometimes referring to them as able to become divine where other times it lists them as a part of the four evil realms. However the Buddhist religion is often seen as being very peaceful. This violence and slander against animals in the text is one that could be seen as extremely upsetting by today's settings. I bring this up to ask the question, are animals treated better now then they were centuries ago? Now there are rules and regulations to how humans can go about interacting with animals. However before these rules were in place animals were still being used by humans both ethically and unethically. So when did animals have it better, 0000 AD or now?

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