Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” The social issue of animal rights first arose in the 1970s; since then the animal rights movement has gained momentum and a considerable amount of followers “Animal Rights.” Organizations like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) hold demonstrations and protests in the streets and outside businesses to denounce the maltreatment of animals. There are two sides on this issue, those who believe that the life of an animal is inferior to that of a human’s and those who deem that animals deserve to have a life free of human interruption “What Are Animal Rights.” Without animal rights, our society can be deemed unfettered by empathy and restrained by immoral values.
To begin with, why support animal rights? Some people are not joining the animal rights movement frankly because they are not informed and up to date with the controversy. The general public is aware of the animal testing taking place in labs daily. Adopting this strategy was an effortless decision as it produced results and did not put the lives of other humans in danger. However, the public isn’t aware that the results provided aren’t always guaranteed to be reliable and that animals sometimes suffer slow, painful deaths as a result of these experiments. Our society holds gruesome double standards, we would not dare think about holding experiments on our loved ones, so why do we
Animal testing has been one of the issues that people are fighting overtime because of its moral. Even though some results of tests are successful on people, many people are still fighting for the animal’s rights. They believe that animals should have their own rights to live a free life where they belong, just like their species. In scientists point of view, animals have been one of the main subjects to test on, but a lot of them are currently looking forward to use and develop alternatives for the cruel act of animal testing.
For the food and farming industry animals are a business of more than 9.7 billion dollars a year. These animals are livestock raised. New laws are protecting this animal and when companies don’t follow the laws they get criminal charges. The use of animals has also helped in the medical field with human life. This type of animals has also been regulated by the FDA. Rats and mice are the most used animals for lab testing. If we believe that animals should not have rights because they don´t have rationality, we also have to remember that baby human don´t have rationality either. For this reason, animals have
Some people think that dog fights are okay. However, think that is it wrong and the dogs should not be put through that. It makes them aggressive and makes it to where they cannot find a home. Not finding a home for a dog can be very sad. Only because if they do not find a home they can possibly be put down. Seeing a dog get put down is really heartbreaking.
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, water pollution, habitat destruction, and other issues (Center for Biological Diversity, 2014). How could this be? This is because about 94% of the US population are meat eaters and the industry does not tell you what happens behind their closed factory doors: the industry is the leading cause in both resource consumption and global warming, their meat can cause diseases that can be prevented, and the industry abuses their animals. Converting to a vegetarian or vegan diet might sound intimidating, or sound like we might not get all of the needed nutrients but there foods that vegetarians can eat to get what they need to get. Despite not eating meat on a regular basis there
Paul McCartney once said, “if slaughterhouses had glass walls, we would all be vegetarian.” There are many different forms of animal cruelty, ranging from labs, to farms, to even circuses. People have been using animals for a long time, they have controlled them for even longer. But despite that, there have still been some positive outcomes from this otherwise dark subject. Some people support the things that are happening to these animals. But others make it their mission to stand up for the animals that are mistreated everyday. Animal cruelty can mean many things to many different people, it can be a controversial topic, with many different sides and stories to it, it has a long history, much of it being good, much of it bad.
Chapter 19: The Animal Protection Movement The meaning of animal rights is so common to us folks. Human rights need to be protected, as well as every living creature rights. While some people get every one of the advantages from animal experiments, they are once in a while worried about the pain and suffering of animal. The development of rights for our animals ought to be a successful and a conceivable concept that can legitimately be examined at.
Argument for Animal Rights The argument for animal rights assumes that animals posses their own lives and deserve to be assigned rights in order to protect their wellbeing. This view insists that animals are not merely goods utilised only to benefit mankind and they should be allowed to choose how they want to live their lives, free from the constraints of man. But if animals are given absolute rights, then surely they shouldn’t be allowed to kill each other, as this would be a violation of these rights.
Why would anyone abuse an animal? Animal abuse is rather common, you could be doing it even if you don’t think you are. There are many animals that deal with abuse or neglect, about 1,423 animals a year. That’s in the U.S. alone. Animals are living creatures, just like you, and they’re not cheap. Neglect is another version of abuse, and it can come in many forms. Neglect could be starving them, not giving them medical care, not paying attention to them, etc, etc. Animals are just like humans, I mean, sure they can’t make their own meals, and they can’t drive a car, but that doesn’t mean they have fewer rights than you do. If an animal is abused or neglected the animal will be taken and the owner should be charged. If someone abuses an
Imagine a baby tiger running around the savannah. He looks like he is having a blast, being able to roam free. Suddenly, a man comes out of nowhere and captures the tiger and puts him in a cage in the back of a van. A few days later the tiger is released into a new unfamiliar habitat with walls blocking him off from the rest of the world. That is where the tiger will spend the rest of his life. This is called animal captivity. Places like zoos, amusement parks, circuses, and aquariums capture animals from the wild so they can make money off of people that pay to see these animals. Wild animals do not belong in cages. They belong in the wild where they can’t be restricted. They deserve to run free, just like humans do.
Animal Cruelty is a problem that many ignore. People are oblivious to these animals and the negligence their owners show. Animal cruelty is an underlying problem in today’s society, and the only way to counteract these problems, is for this generation to do something about it.
For many years now the world has seen controversy over the rights of animals and if they think and feel like humans do. Many people see animals as mindless creatures or as food, while others think they have emotions and can feel pain. In other countries animal protection laws are in place that are strictly enforced and seem to work well with the system. In the United States however; some of the animal rights laws are considered to be useless and under-enforced (Animal Legal & Historical Center). More people today are beginning to see that animals should have rights and should be protected by laws and regulations (Animal Legal & Historical Center). Sadly there are many people residing in the United States who don’t take animal rights or protection laws seriously. These people abuse animals in many ways, including food industries that disobey the regulations set in place for the slaughter of animals used for consumption. Luckily for the animals there are people who fight for their rights and the enforcement of laws called animal rights activists.
Today we live in a world of opposites: animal lovers and activists who strive to make equality for all living things and people who have anthropocentric mindsets which causes them to believe that animals are undeserving of rights. Should not there be rights for all living things? Well, at least this is what I believe, and I did not come to this conclusion on my own. The way I view animal rights is tremendously influenced by my exposure to media, my personal experiences, and the values of my generation.
Many companies, like McDonalds, lie about what actually goes on at their farms. “Free range” “Cruelty free” “Killed in a humane way” Those are just some the things that consumers are told and believe everyday. Saying thank you to the animal before munching on its flesh and bones doesn’t excuse what happens to them. The abuse and torture animals go through at factory farms isn’t fair and needs to be stopped immediately.
As I walk into the Homeward Animal Shelter for my dog walking shift, I think of the reason I began my weekly volunteering. I want to give love, in any way I can, to the animals who have been left by the ones they love. These animals that I spend an hour and a half with every Sunday need to know that someone loves them. That they have not been forgotten about and that it gets better. After spending the summer with my Aunt Renae and Uncle Chris and watching their newest rescue dog open up to be after three years, I learned that. For a dog that was abandoned by his family and left on the street, bounced between the shelter and temporary homes, he has finally found permanent love in our family.
Some families go vacations, some play every sport there is, some buy their kids whatever they want some, but not my family, we show, we earn what we are given. For some showing is just something you do in the summer for a 4-H or FFA project but to me it’s much more than that. To me that’s what I work all year for. That slap on the back for that Purple ribbon, the adrenaline rush from stepping out on that fresh sawdust, the intensity from driving that animal, and that amazing feeling that washes over your whole body when the judging shakes your hand and all those long nights and early mornings finally paying off. But even beyond that there is more learned in the experiences that come from showing an animal's, than how to set the animal to look its best and get a little sweaty.