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Animal Rights: The Simple Idea That Sparked a Movement
Animal rights is a revolutionary idea and social movement that requires humans to reexamine their relationship with animals, especially animals used for food.
Explainer • Policy • Reflections
Words by Hemi Kim
There are many awkward conversations you might have at family or work meetings as the singular vegan . Itâs possible to find yourself carefully describing your food choices, aware that you are on the edge of disassembling a joyous bulgogi dish into the painful experiences that were required to produce it. Talking about issues related to animal rights can be emotionally difficult especially when eating with and cooking for others is a love language; rejecting family and friendsâ cooking can be hurtful.Â
Yet animal advocates have managed to tap into common, shared values, successfully encouraging more and more people to reexamine what living their values really looks like, especially values of respect, empathy, imagination, cooperation, adaptability, and compassion for all living beings.
Do Animals Have Rights?
In the United States, many animals are defined as property and do not have rights in the same sense that humans have rights. At least 13 nations have symbolically acknowledged the dignity and personhood of nonhuman animals or the need to show compassion towards them as something other than objects in their constitutions . (These are Brazil, Germany, India, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, the Iroquois Nations, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Peopleâs Republic of China, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia.) Yet such acknowledgments remain largely lip serviceâthe animals in these thirteen nations are still treated similarly, both culturally and legally, to the animals in any other country.
Nevertheless, animal studies researchers such as Maneesha Deckha often see potential in the âshift in legal standing of nonhumans that constitutional recognition can precipitate.â
One advocacy approach seeks to translate the moral rights of animals into practical change by expanding how the law views animals: from property to personhood . Legal status as a person is something that U.S. courts have given to corporations, ships, and âentities of nature,â according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund , and it has been conferred on individual great apes outside the United States. Read more about the nuances of how advocates are trying to improve the status and legal protections of animals here .
What Are Animal Rights?
Animal rights form part of a way of thinking about nonhuman animals as off-limits for human exploitation. People that espouse this way of thinking try to direct their own and othersâ behaviors away from eating, dressing, conducting scientific experiments, and being entertained in ways that involve harm to nonhuman animals.
Animal rights is also a broad term describing animal advocacy , and the social movement focused on improving the lives of nonhuman animals. Yet the term âanimal rights activistâ can be alienating , which may be why groups prefer to use the terms âanimal protectionâ or âanimal advocates.â
When Did the Animal Rights Movement Begin in the U.S.?
The modern animal rights movement in the United States saw a major milestone in the 1970s with the publication of Peter Singerâs âAnimal Liberation,â in which he argued that it was ethically important that nonhuman animals feel pain, and that this fact demanded far more equal treatment of nonhuman animals and humans. He also popularized the term â speciesism â to describe what happens when nonhuman animals are not given the same consideration as humans. Other thinkers, writers, and activist groups have also notably furthered and developed the fabric of the animal rights movement, both before and since Singerâs book, including Tom Regan and PETA.
Singerâs text itself reportedly sits on the shoulders of at least one British author who lived about a century prior. And for many centuries European travelers to India have learned about, and been attracted to, the concept of ahimsa and care for animals. Ahimsa , documented as early as the eighth century B.C. in Indian religious textsâHindu, Jain, and Buddhistâaffirms nonviolence and the alleviation of the suffering of all beings.
From the perspectives of scholars such as Cree writer Billy Ray Belcourt, and vegan theorists such as Aph and Syl Ko, the modern divide between animals and humans works in tandem with the imposition of white supremacy: on Indigenous people whose land was stolen by settler-colonists and who were targets of genocide, and on Black and Brown people who were and often continue to be treated as less than human.
Thus the animal protection movement in the United States is limited by the legacies and habits of thought of settler colonialism and other oppressions, and the history of the movement is whitewashedâsomething that people are now trying to undo. Belcourt, for example, argued in a 2020 article that people concerned with living ethically must challenge the white supremacy underpinning many efforts to expand the rights of nonhuman animals, and instead look to Indigenous traditions that see âanimals as kin who co-produce a way of life that engenders care rather than and contra to suffering.”
What’s the Difference Between Animal Welfare and Animal Rights?
The terms âanimal welfareâ and âanimal rightsâ are similar, but animal rights is a broader idea than animal welfare. Animal welfare refers to the responsibility of humans to treat nonhuman animals well and directly care for their health, but without challenging the overall circumstances that animals find themselves in or the ways they are used in society.
For example, an animal welfare advocate may be vigilant about how animals such as bears and apes are treated in the movie industry when they are working on a set. An animal rights proponent may instead call for an end to the use of animals in films altogether.
Another example of animal welfare is when people campaign for better treatment of young chickens before they are slaughtered. Though groups that campaign for animal welfare may also support goals that are compatible with animal rights, for example when promoting the consumption of plant-based foods.
What Are Some Examples of Animal Rights?
Animal rights supporters tend to be concerned that people use animals as a means to an end, typically without the animalsâ assent to participate in an activity. In addition to the examples below, common areas of concern for animal rights include clothing, makeup, scientific experimentation, sports, and wildlife.
Animal Agriculture
Hogs are not just the source material for a good slow roast, crispy bacon, and pork belly. The pork industry also disassembles pigs for their parts to be used as ingredients in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and other scientific endeavors. People who support animal rights tend to oppose all farming of livestock and fish. The fictional film âOkjaâ is often cited as an animal rights story dealing with these issuesâone that is sympathetic to animals sent to slaughter.
Entertainment
Circuses, zoos, and aquariums have been the subject of animal rights campaigns and popular documentaries, such as âBlackfishâ , that have resulted in changes to how the entertainment industry markets animal-based entertainment.
Companionship and Working Animals
People concerned with animal rights might be more concerned with the potential for conscripting an animal into an unhealthy situation that exploits their labor than they would be about the benefits to humans of emotional support animals or land-mine-sniffing rats.
Animal Rights Arguments: Pros and Cons
The arguments of critics and supporters of animal protection can seem as diverse as the number of people who express an opinion. Below are some common reasons why people may feel pulled toward or away from animal rights causes.
Arguments in Favor of Animal Rights
In âAphro-ismâ , Syl and Aph Ko promote a view of animal rights within Black Veganism that sees animal rights as essential to ending racism. They write sensitively about the topic in a way that acknowledges how white supremacy has animalized Black people. They also draw a line from the oppression of nonhuman animals to white supremacy and convincingly argue that being antiracist is essential to animal liberation.
People allied with animal rights might also include Coast Salish activists in the Block Corporate Salmon campaign, who identify themselves as Salmon People and oppose the introduction of genetically modified fish to the local wildlife environment.
Arguments Against Animal Rights
People who oppose animal rights might see animals as property, and inferior to humans. They might argue that eating meat is a natural feature of the food chain, or that nonhuman animals exist for the benefit of humans .
Sometimes, deciding to disregard animal rights is a matter of practicality. For example, using life-saving products that were created with scientific research that relied on experimentation on nonhuman animals, as is the case with vaccines and pharmaceutical medicines.
As animal advocate, Christopher Soul Eubanks wrote in March 2021, âTo Black people and non-vegans of all races, the animal rights movement can appear as an affluent far-left group who ignore the systemic oppression they have benefited from while using that affluence to advocate for nonhumans.â Indeed, roughly 9 out of 10 people working for farmed animal protection organizations are white. In a more racially equitable world, that number would be closer to 6 in the United States.
Colonialist harms brought about by animal rights and vegan activism can be investigated: itâs something people of the global majority and others have begun.
Why Are Animal Rights Important?
âBeing labeled less-than-humanâ is a condition that most people experience, one that Black and other oppressed peoples live daily, according to Aph Ko in a chapter of âAphro-Ism.â Ko also writes in a later chapter that ââ[a]nimalâ is a category that we shove certain bodies into when we want to justify violence against them, which is why animal liberation should concern all who are minoritized, because at any moment you can become an âanimalâ and be considered disposable.â
For Ko, being a critical thinker is more important than believing popular, yet false, narratives about oneself and nonhuman animals. This desire to re-evaluate what one thinks is a launching point for Afrofuturist possibilities, or Black-centered creativity , a philosophical wellspring for Black veganism. You can read more about Black veganism here , here , and here .
Animal rights, then, is an opportunity to constantly ask tough questions. And asking questions creates spaces within which vulnerable communities can flourish. For antiracist humane educator Dana McPhall , the following questions guide her work:
âSo what would it look like to imagine a world where Iâm not defined by the racial and gender constructs imposed upon me? Where people racialized as white are no longer invested in whiteness? Where the lives of nonhuman animals are no longer circumscribed within the social construct âanimal?â Where huge swaths of our planet are not considered disposable, along with the people and wildlife who inhabit them?â
What Are the Consequences of Animal Rights?
Results of animal rights activism include the increasing popularity of vegan food products, a ban on selling fur in California, and state bans on using most animals in circuses. Keeping up with Sentient Media is one way to see these types of stories as they proliferate.
Ending Suffering Wherever It Persists
Nonhuman animalsâ rights are not so much a question of legality or illegality, especially as laws tend to treat them as property. They are rather a way of thinking about what is morally right in a given cultural context. Avoiding the suffering of animals and respecting their right to exist are basic tenets of animal protection. As a way of thinking and being in community with others, animal rights can be an invitation for learning and imagining. Animal advocates of all races can dismantle white supremacy and undo âismsâ by re-centering the experiences of Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, and other previously âless-than-humanâ people.
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How to Deal with Animal Right Essays: Quick & Simple Prompts
Table of Contents
Whether youâre a student at the Ethics, Biology, or Medicine department, you can receive an assignment to write animal right essays from time to time.
On the one hand, the task may seem simple and manageable at first glance. On the other hand, such essays (as any other type of academic work) require careful research, outlining, structuring, and writing in line with top academic standards. Thus, if youâre stuck on this task with no ideas in mind, read on to find valuable tips for this kind of essay.
Here we compiled valuable recommendations from our writing experts about:
- Finding an interesting, relevant topic.
- Composing an animal rights outline.
- Developing an effective animal rights thesis statement.
- Researching credible sources for animal right essays.
- Structuring your arguments.
- Effective editing and proofreading of the assignment.
Why It Is Important to Discuss Animal Rights
Whenever you approach writing about animal rights, this topicâs relevance always surfaces as a critical vantage point of your animal rights essays. Itâs a commonly recognized fact that throughout history, humans have been too cruel toward animals, and they have ruined much of the authentic wildlife ecosystems in the process of industrialization and urbanization. As a result, numerous species lost their habitats and were urged to seek shelter elsewhere, thus altering other natural habitats by residing in places where they shouldnât be.
Even in cities, where people and animals seem to have different lives, cruel treatment and abuse of human authority are evident.
First, pets are not always treated ethically and respectfully, mainly because of their legal status as human property.
Second, many pets are abandoned and flood the streets, where they are either killed by other street animals or are doomed to wandering the streets and surviving by eating trash and food remnants.
Third, corporate breeding animals for food (e.g., children farms and daily factories) is highly inhumane, involving cruel treatment of animals and their stay in awful conditions.
The situation with wildlife is not much better, with hunters and poachers killing wild animals for fun and entertainment. Fires and floods caused by human-made climate change also urge wild animals to seek shelter and food in human residences, which often ends in their killing or captivation.
Thus, as one can see, the problem of animal rights and human oppression of the planet’s fauna is pressing, with so many manifestations of unethical, inconsiderate, and cruel attitudes to all creatures, great and small.
Main Points to Elaborate on
Given the problems surrounding animal protection and rights today, you can approach the subject from numerous perspectives in your academic assignment:
- Legal rights of animals in your country or abroad. Comparison of legal policies towards wildlife and pet protection.
- Pet protection and a new legal status for pets.
- Legal and ethical standards for corporate farming.
- Legal and ethical standards for animal use with medical/experimental purposes.
- Wildlife protection and conservation.
- Protection of marine life from exploitative industrial practices.
How to Write Animal Rights Essay Introduction
All animal right essays should start with an impactful introduction so that your audience understands what you’re talking about, what you’re driving at, and what your key arguments are.
To achieve this goal, we recommend structuring an introduction as follows:
- First, discuss the broad context of the paper â animal rights in general, what kinds of rights they possess, and what abuses of those rights are observed globally.
- You may also boost the interest of your readers by citing some shocking stats or providing some anecdotal evidence. Anyway, this information should be relevant, pointing to the serious, pressing problem in the field of animal rights you have identified.
- Next, itâs vital to formulate the problem clearly and indicate how you will resolve/discuss it. It will be your thesis statement.
Following this structure, youâre sure to make a captivating intro that will urge your audience to read the paper until its end.
Animal Rights Essay Outline
To complete animal right essays quickly and effectively, you need to perform some pre-writing work. Composing an outline is always a helpful approach to organizing the basis for your writing process as you receive a roadmap for the further composition of your essay’s vital parts.
Here is a sample outline for a paper about pet rights and legal status. Still, you can successfully appropriate this outline for any other topic by following the instructions about each part’s content.
INTRODUCTION
Introduce your subject and give some background information. Underline the problemâs significance. State your key idea of the paper.
Pets are typically a part of the family in which they live, causing warm feelings and enjoying commitment from the people who invited them to their homes. Still, sadly, pets are considered property by law in 90% of countries, limiting the protection of cruelly treated and abandoned animals. Thus, a legal change is required to improve pet coverage by law and enable animal rights advocates to take measures against pet maltreatment.
BODY OF THE PAPER
Paragraph #1-3 â Indicate a topic sentence with each paragraphâs key idea. Support that key idea with some supporting data from credible sources. Offer your interpretation of the information in those external sources. Make a transition to the next paragraph and then to the conclusion.
Paragraph #1 â statistics on pet maltreatment. Animal abandonment and abuse.
Paragraph #2 â protective legislation. E.g., the UK Animal Welfare Act (2007), felony animal cruelty laws in the USA.
Paragraph #3 â animal rights advocacy organizations (e.g., ALDF). Actions they take to prevent and minimize pet maltreatment.
Summarize your arguments concisely and refer them back to the general argument. Clarify the argumentsâ significance for the broader subject of your research. Again, stress the importance of dwelling on this subject theoretically and with practical steps.
Pet abuse is still commonplace because of the legal status of home animals as human property. Still, numerous laws and activist organizations work to change the situation. A broader legal change is required to change petsâ status and enhance their protection.
How to Write Animal Rights Thesis Statement
The thesis statement for animal right essays should be clear and concise, communicating your central message and purpose of the paper. The thesis should not be too long or too short. It should also incorporate the central arguments youâll expand in the following sections of your text.
In this way, this statement will function as your readersâ roadmap leading them from one argument to another one and helping them follow your logic.
20 Animal Topics for Research Papers – Choose the Best Idea
Looking for some bulletproof animal topics for research papers? Here is a list you can use on all occasions to compose various academic works with ease.
- Is it realistic to protect all animal rights today?
- Is the animalsâ right to no selective breeding compatible with the human needs?
- What is the best way to protect animals from the harmful impact of humans?
- Is hunting ethical on any grounds?
- Hunting and animal species extinction â a need for a more effective protective policy.
- Is experimentation on animals generally avoidable?
- How does the human-made climate change affect the well-being of fauna?
- Is pet euthanasia a reality?
- The impact of massive fishing on biodiversity and fish species survival.
- Increasing peopling of suburbs and the loss of animal habitat â a reverse side of peopleâs flight from the vices of urbanization.
- What is the impact of invasive species on the local wildlife? Discuss with examples.
- Cruel handling of corporately farmed animals.
- Is overbreeding of pets a pressing problem? What are the far-reaching consequences of overbreeding?
- Destroying predators â a step towards human safety or an ecological crime? Discuss the fundamental role of predators in local wildlife and the adverse effects of these species’ minimization.
- Are police and military dogs given similar rights upon retirement as people who served their motherland? Discuss more extensive coverage of police/military dog health and care services.
- What kinds of experiments on animals are unavoidable to save peopleâs lives? And what are senseless and cruel?
- Animal abuse in zoos â the reverse side of human entertainment and endangered species conservation.
- Is it ethical to use animals in hard manual/agricultural labor?
- What can people do to enhance animal rights protection?
- Is it ethical to consider animals human property? The need for a legal change of pet status as a vital contribution to the more humane treatment of home pets.
With these topics, youâre sure to beat all professorsâ expectations and develop an attention-grabbing, exciting argument.
Need Professional Help?
Writing animal right essays is an exciting activity that can help you hone your writing skills and, at the same time, enhance your understanding of the topic. But what can you do if the task seems too complicated or you have too little time for composing several urgent papers?
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animal rights , moral or legal entitlements attributed to nonhuman animals, usually because of the complexity of their cognitive , emotional, and social lives or their capacity to experience physical or emotional pain or pleasure. Historically, different views of the scope of animal rights have reflected philosophical and legal developments, scientific conceptions of animal and human nature , and religious and ethical conceptions of the proper relationship between animals and human beings. Since the beginning of the modern animal rights movement , which was initiated by philosophers in the 1970s, animal rights has been a popular topic of discussion within the academic study of applied ethics , or the application of normative ethical theories to practical problems.
The proper treatment of animals is a very old question in the West. Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers debated the place of animals in human morality . The Pythagoreans (6thâ4th century bce ) and the Neoplatonists (3rdâ6th century ce ) urged respect for animalsâ interests, primarily because they believed in the transmigration of souls between human and animal bodies. In his biological writings, Aristotle (384â322 bce ) repeatedly suggested that animals lived for their own sake, but his claim in the Politics that nature made all animals for the sake of humans was unfortunately destined to become his most influential statement on the subject.
Aristotle, and later the Stoics , believed the world was populated by an infinity of beings arranged hierarchically according to their complexity and perfection, from the barely living to the merely sentient , the rational, and the wholly spiritual. In this Great Chain of Being , as it came to be known, all forms of life were represented as existing for the sake of those forms higher in the chain. Among corporeal beings, humans, by dint of their rationality, occupied the highest position. The Great Chain of Being became one of the most persistent and powerful, if utterly erroneous , ways of conceiving the universe, dominating scientific, philosophical, and religious thinking until the middle of the 19th century.
The Stoics , insisting on the irrationality of all nonhuman animals, regarded them as slaves and accordingly treated them as contemptible and beneath notice. Aggressively advocated by St. Augustine (354â430), these Stoic ideas became embedded in Christian theology. They were absorbed wholesale into Roman lawâas reflected in the treatises and codifications of Gaius (fl. 130â180) and Justinian (483â565)âtaken up by the legal glossators of Europe in the 11th century, and eventually pressed into English (and, much later, American) common law . Meanwhile, arguments that urged respect for the interests of animals nearly disappeared, and animal welfare remained a relative backwater of philosophical inquiry and legal regulation until the final decades of the 20th century.
In the 3rd or 4th century ce , the Roman jurist Hermogenianus wrote, âHominum causa omne jus constitumâ (âAll law was established for menâs sakeâ). Repeating the phrase, P.A. Fitzgeraldâs 1966 treatise Salmond on Jurisprudence declared, âThe law is made for men and allows no fellowship or bonds of obligation between them and the lower animals.â The most important consequence of this view is that animals have long been categorized as âlegal things,â not as âlegal persons.â Whereas legal persons have rights of their own, legal things do not. They exist in the law solely as the objects of the rights of legal personsâe.g., as things over which legal persons may exercise property rights . This status, however, often affords animals the indirect protection of laws intended to preserve social morality or the rights of animal owners, such as criminal anticruelty statutes or civil statutes that permit owners to obtain compensation for damages inflicted on their animals. Indeed, this sort of law presently defines the field of âanimal law,â which is much broader than animal rights because it encompasses all law that addresses the interests of nonhuman animalsâor, more commonly, the interests of the people who own them.
A legal thing can become a legal person; this happened whenever human slaves were freed. The former legal thing then possesses his own legal rights and remedies. Parallels have frequently been drawn between the legal status of animals and that of human slaves . âThe truly striking fact about slavery,â the American historian David Brion Davis has written, is the
antiquity and almost universal acceptance of the concept of the slave as a human being who is legally owned, used, sold, or otherwise disposed of as if he or she were a domestic animal. This parallel persisted in the similarity of naming slaves, branding them, and even pricing them according to their equivalent in cows , camels , pigs , and chickens .
The American jurist Roscoe Pound wrote that in ancient Rome a slave âwas a thing, and as such, like animals could be the object of rights of property,â and the British historian of Roman law Barry Nicholas has pointed out that in Rome âthe slave was a thingâŚhe himself had no rights: he was merely an object of rights, like an animal.â
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, humanitarian reformers in Britain and the United States campaigned on behalf of the weak and defenseless, protesting against child labour , debtorâs prisons, abusive punishment in public schools, and, inevitably, the cruel treatment of animals. In 1800 the most renowned abolitionist of the period, William Wilberforce , supported a bill to abolish bull- and bearbaiting, which was defeated in the House of Commons . In 1809 Baron Erskine , former lord chancellor of England, who had long been troubled by cruelty to animals , introduced a bill to prohibit cruelty to all domestic animals. Erskine declared that the bill was intended to âconsecrate, perhaps, in all nations, and in all ages, that just and eternal principle which binds the whole living world in one harmonious chain, under the dominion of enlightened man, the lord and governor of all.â Although the bill passed the House of Lords , it failed in the House of Commons. Then, in 1821, a bill âto prevent cruel and improper treatment of Cattleâ was introduced in the House of Commons, sponsored by Wilberforce and Thomas Fowell Buxton and championed by Irish member of Parliament Richard Martin. The version enacted in 1822, known as Martinâs Act, made it a crime to treat a handful of domesticated animalsâcattle, oxen, horses, and sheepâcruelly or to inflict unnecessary suffering upon them. However, it did not protect the general welfare of even these animals, much less give them legal rights, and the worst punishment available for any breach was a modest fine. Similar statutes were enacted in all the states of the United States, where there now exists a patchwork of anticruelty and animal-welfare laws. Most states today make at least some abuses of animals a felony . Laws such as the federal Animal Welfare Act (1966), for example, regulate what humans may do to animals in agriculture, biomedical research, entertainment, and other areas. But neither Martinâs Act nor many subsequent animal-protection statutes altered the traditional legal status of animals as legal things.
This situation changed in 2008, when the Spanish national parliament adopted resolutions urging the government to grant orangutans , chimpanzees , and gorillas some statutory rights previously afforded only to humans. The resolutions also called for banning the use of apes in performances, harmful research, and trading as well as in other practices that involve profiting from the animals. Although zoos would still be allowed to hold apes, they would be required to provide them with âoptimalâ living conditions.
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Full Title Name: Introduction to Animal Rights (2nd Ed)
This article explores the evolution of animal rights, specifically examining the influence of the property status of animals in the U.S.
I. Introduction
Whether at home, on the farm, or at the dinner table, animals play an important role in everyday human life. They serve as companions, a source of livelihood, entertainment, inspiration, and of course food and clothing to people all across the world. Yet animals can and do exist independent from people and, as living beings, they arguably have interests separate and apart from their utility to humanity. As such, society is increasingly faced with legal, economic, and ethical dilemmas about the proper place for animals and the extent to which their interests should be respected, even when those interests conflict with what is best for humans. Recognition of these issues has given rise to a new social movement, one that seeks to attain increased legal protections, and even the recognition of actual ârightsâ, for nonhuman animals. Not surprisingly, this push has met with a considerable amount of criticism and ridicule from those who believe that the cost of animal rights specifically, and increased protections more generally, is a corresponding reduction in human freedom.
This Article provides a sweeping overview of the issues at play in the debate over increased legal and social protections for animals. It begins with a discussion of the historical and philosophical roots of animal rights before proceeding to an overview of the current state of the law as it relates to animals. The Article then explores the various social forces both promoting and discouraging increased legal protections for animals and the justifications for each position. It concludes with a discussion of the future of animal rights, specifically the types of reforms sought by animal advocates.
In reading the pages that follow, try to keep in mind the various âcharactersâ that are involved. For example, when considering the notion of pet ownership, keep in mind not only your own dog or cat, but also the unadoptable stray to be euthanized at the local animal shelter. If contemplating the farming industryâs effects on cows, chickens, and pigs, also consider what effect reforms to the system would have on the average farmer or agricultural worker whose livelihood depends on the current system. When considering the chimpanzee subjected to medical experimentation, keep in mind the diabetic whose length and quality of life has been extended thanks to that kind of research. Finally, keep in mind the various interest groups involved in the âdebateââ the animal activists, the industry opponents, farmers, consumers, and even the average family sitting around the dinner table. Each provides an interesting and compelling perspective.
II.Historical Roots of Animal Protection
Social movements are like novels â each comes with a beginning, followed by a succession of chapters that unfold the story until, ultimately, one reaches the conclusion. The novel here is animal rights, a tale about the advancement of other species in a human-dominated world. Stepping from the shadows of other, better known causes such as the civil rights movement and blossoming from the awareness occasioned by the environmental movement, animal rights is, for the first time, becoming a serious issue for debate. Not long ago, animal rights activists were dismissed as fringe, covered in the press only for their more outlandish activities. [ i ] More recently, however, animal issues have taken a more prominent place in the national media. Suddenly, stories about animals â both good and bad, heroic and tragic [ ii ] â take a more prominent place in the evening broadcast. Major newspapers discuss the newest animal rights books [ iii ] and profile those whose legal careers center on animal advocacy. [ iv ] But in order to truly understand the contemporary situation, one must begin with the first chapter.
A. In the Beginning
Unless one is reading the Bible, most stories do not begin at the beginning. Rather, they begin just as things are about to get interesting. So it is with animal rights. While concern for animals and their well-being dates back hundreds of years [ v ] and animal rights literature extends back to the heart of the Civil Rights Era, [ vi ] to American culture the animal rights movement was born in 1975 with the publication of Peter Singerâs still-controversial Animal Liberation . [ vii ] In the book, Singer introduces the reader to issues that remain at the forefront of animal protectionism today â laboratory experimentation, factory farming, and vegetarianism. In each chapter, the author details the horrors endured by animals at societyâs cold and at times oblivious hand. Singer accuses American society of speciesism â âa prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of oneâs own species and against those of members of another species.â [ viii ] In its place, Singer argues humans should give equal consideration to the interests of animals when making any decision that affects the well-being of other species. Thus, in Singerâs world, the interests of all living beings are the same and no one, human or otherwise, should be given preferential treatment.
The irony of associating the birth of animal rights with Peter Singer is that as a utilitarian, he does not believe that ârightsâ truly exist at all or form the basis for moral or legal entitlements. As such, no one â be it man, beast, or shrub â possesses rights. [ ix ] Thus, to theorists like Singer, animals are not entitled to any fundamental, inviolable privileges or protections. But then, neither are humans. Rather, all actions should be judged based on a cost-benefit analysis. As applied by Singer, the benefits to humans that flow from the domination and perceived mistreatment of animals does not, as a practical matter, overcome the costs imposed on those other species. Animal rights advocates, as it turns out, come to the same conclusion, but based instead on the notion that there are certain rights so fundamental that they extend to other species and must be respected by human civilization.
More important than Singer or his theories, however, is the recognition that he did not actually give birth to the animal rights debate. Rather, questions about the status of animals in relation to humanity are not even a twentieth century development and instead dates all the way back to ancient Greeceâs greatest thinkers. Some, like the great mathematician Pythagorus, believed animals deserved some protections and as such chose to eat a vegetarian diet. At the other end of the philosophical spectrum, Aristotle forcefully argued that humanity was superior to all other Earth life and that such responsibility carried with it no ethical obligations towards lesser creatures. [ x ] Later philosophers, such as Rene Descartes and John Locke also considered animalsâ place in human society. [ xi ] Finally, although not speaking in the context of animal rights, Jeremy Benthan famously contended that the protection of any creature should depend not on its ability to reason, but its ability to suffer. [ xii ]
Religion and science also influenced human perception of animals. [ xiii ] While Christianity brought about many reforms in Roman society that improved the treatment of people towards one another, it did so in part by reinforcing the lesser status of other creatures and the lack of ethical obligations owed to them. [ xiv ] With a few notable exceptions, [ xv ] Western religions have generally taught that humans stand in a morally superior position to other animals [ xvi ] and have on occasion challenged scienceâs best evidence of humanityâs close relationship to other forms of life. [ xvii ] By contrast, several eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism contain tenets that recognize the need to account for all life when considering the proper bounds of ethical action. [ xviii ] Indeed, some animals are considered sacred; take for example the cow to Hindus or the cat to ancient Egyptians.
Science has played a more complicated role in societyâs treatment of animals. While vivisection â the experimentation on and dissection of animals for the advancement of scientific knowledge and human benefit â has subjected animals to untold pain and torment, the fruits of such procedures have also enabled medical breakthroughs that have lengthened and improved the quality of human life. While the continued propriety of such procedures is highly contested [ xix ] , their historical significance on human attitudes cannot be questioned. Yet science has also helped to break down the barriers between humans and other species, most notably through Charles Darwinâs theory of evolution and subsequent research that demonstrates the genetic similarity between humans and other animals.
The historical role of animals can also be viewed chronologically. As will be discussed later [ xx ] , through much of human history animals have served as a kind of commodity valuable to human enterprises, but devoid of any independent legal interests. As such, many, if not all, of the earliest laws relating to animals revolved around their proprietary value to their owners. Thus, for example, the owner of cattle might be able to sue another person for the damage that individual caused to one of his cows (his investment), but that same cattle owner could not be held liable for any harm he himself caused to that same creature. In the late nineteenth century, this purely economic vision of animals began to change with the publication of a book entitled Animal Rights , the formation of both the British and American Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the enactment of the first anti-cruelty laws. These laws for the first time recognized that animals themselves have an interest in being free from unnecessary and cruel suffering by giving the state the power to punish anyone who inflicts such pain on a non-human creature. The instigation of World War I and the conflict and uncertainty that persisted until after World War II largely stifled further advances for animal interests during this period. In post-World War II America, however, concern for animals was reborn as organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States educated the public about animal welfare and society continued its march towards increased urbanization.
Moreover, the move from the country to the city and the transition of animals from mere means of livelihood to household pets further modified the human perception of animals. As more people developed emotional bonds to animals, they consequently began to view them, or at least certain species of animals, as deserving special protections. This development and further refinement of animalsâ place in a human-centered world continues today on an ethical and legal basis.
With that historical foundation in place, the story now turns to the basic legal and social concepts fundamental to the discussion that follows.
B. Animals in Society Today
The prevalence of animals in society makes a detailed discussion of their importance unnecessary. Nonetheless, it is worth briefly summarizing some of the figures to emphasize just how important animals are to American society and the economy. According to the Census of Agriculture, in 1997 there were 98,989,244 cattle and calves used in United State agriculture, 61,206,236 hogs and pigs, 7,821,885 sheep and lambs, and over 7 billion chickens used for egg and meat production. [ xxi ] In that same year the total value of all cattle and poultry was nearly $100 billion. [ xxii ]
Agriculture is but the tip of the proverbial iceberg, however. Anyone who questions the bond between people and their pets need only look at statistics detailing the number of people who celebrate their petâs birthdays, stay home from work when a pet is sick, or greet their pet first when coming home in the evening. [ xxiii ] As detailed by the American Veterinary Medical Association:
Veterinarians in private clinical practice are responsible for the health of approximately 53 million dogs, 59 million cats. Bird ownership has risen over the past 5 years from 11 million in 1991 to approximately 13 million birds. The number of pleasure horses in the U.S. is about 4.0 million. Other pets such as rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, other rodents, turtles, snakes, lizards, other reptiles and many other animals primarily kept as companion animals. Rabbits and ferrets are owned by 2.3% of households in the U.S. with a total population of 5.7 million; 4.8 million rodents are owned by 2.3% of households and 1.5 % of households own 3.5 million reptiles. The fish population is estimated at 55.6 million owned by 6.3% of households. [ xxiv ]
Of course, animals can also be found in the laboratory. A wide variety of species are used in research and experimentation. [ xxv ] In fact, over 18 million animals are used in research and experimentation in the United States. [ xxvi ] The controversy surrounding such experimentation is beyond the scope of this Article, however, even for a superficial discussion. For such an overview of the animals in research controversy, one that is admittedly biased, see: http://www.hsus.org/ace/11366 ; http://www.hsus.org/ace/11366
C. The Definition of Rights
Thus far, the term ârightsâ has been used fairly frequently and loosely in this Article without a definition of the wordâs meaning. Similarly, society, especially American society, often lacks an understanding of the exact meaning of the term when its members use ârightsâ to describe various legally protected interests. While this is not the place for a comprehensive discussion of the meaning of âright,â a brief introduction is warranted so as to inform what is meant by âanimal rights.â
Like so many other concepts there is no single, workable definition of ârightâ. Put most succinctly, but consequently also most superficially, a right is âthat to which one is morally or legally entitled.â [ xxvii ] Then, a right can be an entitlement. One might also look for the answer in natural law, which is the source of ârightâ as embodied in the Declaration of Independence. [ xxviii ] From this perspective, a right is âthe idea that human beings have by nature . . . certain rights that governments cannot legitimately violate, and that political law must respect.â [ xxix ] A right, then, may also be something a person is born with. One could also take a more functionalist perspective, viewing rights as those principles that protect individuals from the rest of society. [ xxx ] To conceptualize, rights are thus like fences, keeping the world out of certain areas of the individualâs life. [ xxxi ] Trying to mesh these different conceptions, rights might be less a concept than a tangible entitlement some creatures are born with. They serve to protect individuals, in some cases at all costs, from the needs, wants, and prurient interests of the rest of society. Such a definition, however, fails to make a critical distinctionâthat rights can be legal or philosophical.
Legal rights are those that the government, in some fashion, provides protection for. Thus, when we talk of constitutional rights, we mean those interests that cannot be taken away by a court, government agent or action. Philosophical rights are those recognized as inherent to human civilization; those that are based on notions of basic morality. Thus, these rights do not depend on the enactment of any formal law before they will be deemed to exist. Philosophical rights are those so fundamental that human society declares their existence even where it is unlikely that they will be enforced. For example, people, we might say, have the right to be free from torture, even in countries where this right is not enforced or recognized by law. Such rights, then, may not be universally applied and may even be violated regularly in some locations, but they exist nonetheless as the ethical and moral underpinnings of civilized society.
Legal rights, by contrast, are those that will be enforced by the law and provide substantive protections for the rights-holder. They are those enforceable in a court and recognized under the law. Some come from statutes, others from a constitution (state or federal), and still more from the common law made by judges. Most are express and easy to identify, at least in principle, while others remain shrouded in the penumbras of other recognized rights waiting to be discovered. Their existence, however, is dependent upon the benevolence of the lawmaking authority to recognize and enact them. Moreover, competing legal rights must be balanced against one another to determine which should win out in any given situation wherein the two conflict. Legal rights also cannot be taken away by private individuals, though the scope of that protection is perhaps often misunderstood. The simple existence of a legal right does not make it impossible for another to take that interest from another, rather the existence of that right will provide the aggrieved person with a remedy for that invasion. To this point, however, society recognizes legal rights for only one species â humans. Therefore, in seeking to expand societyâs conception of rights, the nuances of oneâs definition matter, at least to members of the animal advocacy community. [ xxxii ] These, however, might be best thought of as characterizations of philosophical rights.
Closely related to the concept of legal rights, and equally nebulous, a legal interest is âany interest that the legal proceeding has the authority to address.â [ xxxiii ] Legal interests may better be understood in the negative â a deprivation of a legal interest equates to a cognizable injury capable of being remedied by the law. [ xxxiv ] While closely related to and important to the issue, the Supreme Court has emphasized that the determination of legal interests is separate from a question of standing (or the ability to have a court hear your case). [ xxxv ]
III. Present State of the Law
Under the law as it now stands, animals enjoy some legal protections from mistreatment, but they remain unable to enforce those entitlements themselves. Instead, the state takes it upon itself to monitor, with varying degrees of success, human society to ensure that its members do not violate the safeguards meant to protect other species. To understand the meaning of this state of affairs, a little legal background is warranted.
A. Legal Personhood
The law is full of classifications, one of the most important of which is the distinction between persons and nonpersons. While there is no rule that prevents nonpersons from holding legal rights and protections, only legal persons have the capacity to enforce and safeguard those entitlements. In reality, personhood is nothing more than a legal fiction, a term attached to certain entities that allow them to assert their rights and privileges. To the nonlawyer, it is probably no surprise that today all people are persons. It might be more surprising to learn that this was not always the case [ xxxvi ] or that entities like corporations and the government are legal persons. [ xxxvii ] Animals, however, are not persons and thus, unlike in the wild, cannot fend for themselves in a court of law to protect their interests. Moreover, this fact also limits the benefits animals can receive.
Personhood, then, for these purposes boils down to having the ability to sue. To be able to sue, a potential litigant must have standing, as referenced earlier. Standing might be thought of as the confluence of a legal person, a legal right, and a legal interest seeking to redress a legal wrong. Because animals are not persons, they cannot sue. Moreover, the standing requirements articulated by the Supreme Court make it difficult for activists to sue on behalf of animal interests because rarely can they assert a sufficient legal injury to their legal interests. As articulated in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife , to have standing a plaintiff must:
1. have suffered an injury of fact,
2. caused by the defendant,
3. and that can be remedied by the judicial forum. [ xxxviii ]
This injury âmust invade a legally protected interest which is a) concrete and particularized and b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.â [ xxxix ] Animal advocates often have trouble meeting this injury in fact test for many animals, especially those used in research because they have no personal relationship with the creature. Indeed, while courts have been willing to recognize an aesthetic injury to support a lawsuit [ xl ] they have at the same time refused to read into statutes private causes of action. [ xli ]
While it is absurd to imagine a nonhuman actually litigating a case [ xlii ] , it is less difficult to imagine a human attorney representing an animal client. That prospect, however, raises the potential for abuse by trial lawyers seeking out lawsuits. As such, any change to the personhood status of animals would require consideration not only of what types of claims could be brought âbyâ the animal, but also what human(s) should be allowed to assert those rights on the animalâs behalf. Moreover, as discussed later, there remains conflict within the animal protection community itself whether such a change should be a primary goal of the movement or simply the natural result of other substantive societal reforms. [ xliii ]
B. Property
To the law, animals are property: they are goods to be bought and sold, acquired and maintained. This principle is deeply interwoven into the law. Indeed, some of the first cases read by law students in Property class are Pierson v. Post [ xliv ] and Keeble v. Hickeringill [ xlv ] ; each of which is about the acquisition, ownership, and control of wild property â namely foxes and ducks. Treating animals as property is not strictly a matter of law, however, as it is also deeply entrenched in Western religion. The Old Testament, for instance, decrees that animals are goods over which humanity has dominion. [ xlvi ] Philosophers, too, have considered the property status of animals. John Locke, for example, wrestled with the proprietary nature of humanityâs interactions with animals. To him, animals were something common to the world, not unlike the air we breathe. [ xlvii ] How could something of that nature be legally possessed by any one individual? On the other hand, animals have the potential and perhaps purpose of serving humanity. Towards that end, animals can best benefit individuals within society by giving people the ability to possess such creatures, to be able to control othersâ access to certain animals. [ xlviii ] Thus, to the law, religion, and philosophy, animals are chattels whose destiny is rightly directed by humans. As property, they have no interests independent of those assigned by humanity. And yet, animals are not just like any other household property. [ xlix ]
C. Animal Cruelty
Unlike the household toaster, the law regulates how people treat their animals. Anti-cruelty laws prevent inhumane treatment to animals, subjecting violators to criminal sanction for causing unjustified harm to other creatures. Penalties range from misdemeanor fines in some locations to a recent trend towards making such conduct a felony. [ l ] Thus, much like criminal statutes designed to protect humans, the state has the power to penalize those who hurt animals. This sets animals apart, giving them special status within the property regime. They are entitled to certain minimum guarantees, namely that they will not be made to suffer unnecessarily.
It is important to recognize at the same time, however, that such anti-cruelty regulations do not solely have animal interests at heart. Quite apart from any benefit the animal might receive from being free from cruel treatment, such laws also help to protect human investment in property. Moreover, many who support such laws are truly concerned not with the actual harm to the animal, but with what such treatment indicates about the abuser â namely a propensity to violence that might ultimately lead to violence against humans. Given these concerns that exist independent of animal interests, it is not surprising that such laws are often vaguely written (what after all is cruel and what is unnecessary?) and are often under-enforced. [ li ]
D. Federal Laws
While animal cruelty statutes serve as the most important state laws âon the booksâ to protect animals, two federal laws seek to regulate the way that that animals are used in agriculture and science. The Federal Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act regulates how animals raised for consumption are killed. [ lii ] Similarly, the Animal Welfare Act seeks to protect animals used for scientific and medical research by limiting the procedures that can be performed on such test subjects. [ liii ] While others have written extensively on these two laws, for these purposes it is most important to recognize the driving force behind these laws. For better or worse, neither law seeks to bestow absolute protections upon the subject animals, but instead seeks to strike a balance between the human interests in research and cost efficient delivery of agriculture products and the interests of animals not to suffer âneedlessly.â
Of course, no discussion of federal law would be complete without a brief introduction to the most commonly known animal protection lawâthe Endangered Species Act . [ liv ] At base, the law operates by providing criteria for listing species threatened by extinction as âendangeredâ and then regulating and limiting human activities in areas where those animals are known to exist. The result, in addition to preserving species who might otherwise be lost to the world, is to increase the cost of development and in some cases prevent development altogether. Indeed, as originally drafted, the law was absolute in its protections, providing no exceptions from conservation of listed species, and as a result worked to temporarily stop the construction of the Tellico Dam in Tennessee because the area was the last known habitat of the Snail Darter. [ lv ] As a result, the law was amended to provide for exceptions to strict conservation.
E. Damages to Animals
Unlike harm caused to humans there is rarely a private cause of action to redress injuries inflicted upon animals. Surely, an animal owner can recover for the lost value of the animal, but in the case of a dog or cat such sums are usually insufficient to justify filing suit. No court under the current legal regime would award an animal damages for injury to its being. Moreover, most courts deny animal owners the ability to sue for the damages they incur to their person, in the form of emotional damage, when their animals are injured or killed. [ lvi ]
Several jurisdictions in recent years have considered changes to this rule. In 2003, several Colorado state legislators sponsored a bill that would have allowed pet owners to receive up to $100,000 in emotional damages for injuries inflicted upon their pets. [ lvii ] The sponsors withdrew the bill, however, before any votes were taken after popular skepticism led several other legislators to ridicule the bill. Tennessee in 2000 went substantially further and actually enacted legislation allowing animal owners to recover emotional damages for injuries inflicted upon their pets. [ lviii ]
For a more thorough discussion of this issue, please see http://animallaw.info/topics/spuspetdamages.htm .
IV. Animals in Human Society
Thus far, the âstoryâ of animal rights has been confined to the background historical and legal concepts necessary to understand the material that follows. No one would dispute that animals play an important, perhaps even vital, role in human society. Nonhumans provide the backbone to economies, to the advancement of science, and even to some peopleâs emotional and physical well being. In considering and evaluating the materials to follow, add the following to the more general list of characters already introduced.
Consider first animals that exhibit human characteristics, or how people attribute animal characteristics to some animals. For example, Alex is a parrot in Massachusetts that can speak. Unlike the pet store parrot, however, Alex does more than mimic sounds. He recognizes and can identify colors. He can count. Researchers at MIT are debating whether he can communicate. It is there that he lives in his cage, along with several other birds, subject to the close scrutiny and tests of scientists trying to ascertain the limits of his linguistic capabilities. [ lix ]
Renowned scholar Martha Nussbaum begins her critique of Professor Wiseâs previous book with Floâs story:
Flo, a female chimpanzee, died of old age by the side of a stream. Flint, her son, stayed by her corpse, grabbing one of her arms and trying to pull her up by the hand. He slept near her body all night, and in the morning he showed signs of depression. In the days following, no matter where he wandered off, he always returned to his mother's body, trying to remove the maggots from it. Eventually, attacked by the maggots himself, he stopped coming back, but he stayed fifty yards away and would not move. In ten days he lost about a third of his body weight. Finally, after his mother's corpse had been removed for burial, Flint sat down on a rock near where she had lain down, and died. The post mortem failed to show the cause of death. Primatologist Jane Goodall concludes that the major cause of death had to be grief: "His whole world had revolved around Flo, and with her gone life was hollow and meaningless. [ lx ]
Next, consider the new ways in which society finds to utilize animals for their benefit. In South Dakota there is a cow named Yoon. She looks and probably acts line any other bovine, but she is not. Unlike other livestock, her âpurposeâ is not to provide meat or milk to society. Yoon, like an ever-increasing number of animals, was genetically engineered by human scientists. Unlike some clones, designed for the novelty of science or for food production, Yoon and her siblings were created to save lives. Each produce human antibodies, antibodies the cowsâ creators hope will someday do everything from treat ear infections to guard against bio-terror weapons like anthrax and smallpox. [ lxi ]
Such miracles might become a reality by infecting the animals with various bacteria and viruses. The antibodiesâ response could be used to treat and prevent illness in the same way we now use gamma globulin to combat hepatitis. Other animals are similarly being used. Research is underway, for instance into producing pigs whose hearts could be used for human transplants and who might better produce human insulin for diabetics.
Finally, consider a dog. Luke was a yellow Labrador Retriever and a family pet. Over the course of his ten year life, he became a dear member of the family who was much loved. As often happens with our human loved ones as they age, Lukeâs health began failing as he got older. His veterinarian prescribed special diet food for him to go along with his multiple, daily medications. He also had to have several surgeries and costly diagnostic tests from time to time. Unlike a human family member, Lukeâs family always had an alternative to treating his ailmentsâeuthanasia. Thus, when Luke blew out his knee like a football player, his family was given three choices: surgery, leaving it be and controlling pain with medication, and putting him down. Ultimately, when Luke came down with something he could not recover from, his family did not wait for the end to come on its own and instead âput him to sleepâ to cut short his suffering. All along the way, these life choices were not, and perhaps could not be, made by Luke.
A. Differing Perspectives on Animals
Not everyone will react to the above biographies above in the same way. Thus, for instance, some might consider the use of Yoon a travesty, while others a necessary cost of promoting human health, and still others yet another creative way to make an otherwise dumb animal useful. For purposes of simplicity, this article assumes only two general groups of peopleâthose in favor of increasing legal protections afforded to all animals and those opposed to all such attempts. The discussion, then, is one of pure theory that intentionally omits the considerations of the great many people who find themselves in the middle of this ideological spectrum. This drastic approach is taken not with the illusion that it represents reality, but rather with the hope that by contrasting these radically divergent viewpoints the reader can begin to place him/herself along that spectrum.
1. Rights versus Welfare
Even within the animal protection movement there is disagreement about the goals that should be sought on behalf of other species. Roughly, there are three competing philosophies: traditional welfare theory, animal rights, and ânew welfarism.â While each seeks to advance the protections afforded animals under the law, they differ in approach and the ends sought to be attained.
Briefly, one might understand welfare and rights to lie at opposite ends of the protectionist spectrum. Animal welfare advocates support the types of reforms long sought on behalf of animals â increased penalties for unjustifiable harsh treatment, in other words. Welfarists accept the legal status of other species as property, even condoning such a classification. Moreover, they acknowledge that animals always will be, and perhaps to some extent should be, used as resources for humanity. The limit, however, is that animals should not suffer unnecessarily at the hands of people. [lxii] In short, then, welfare advocates seek a benevolent dominion over animals that expressly reaffirms humanityâs superiority to other species.
Many of the contemporary gains made on behalf of animals are welfare-based in nature. For instance, at the federal level, statutes such as the Animal Welfare Act [ lxiii ] and the Humane Slaughter Method Act [ lxiv ] seek to ensure that animals used in industry are treated appropriately. State anti-cruelty laws aim to proscribe the mistreatment of animals by private citizens, in other words setting the bounds for the treatment of dogs, cats, birds, and the like. [ lxv ]
Take note that the goal is to regulate unnecessary pain and suffering, not all suffering. This means that it is all right to eat animals, to use them for some experimentation, to domesticate them, and in some circumstances to kill them. Moreover, the effectiveness of welfarism in protecting animals depends on how broadly or narrowly a society chooses to define âunnecessaryâ in various circumstances. [ lxvi ] Thus, welfarists seek no fundamental change in the legal order, only increased protections within the current regime.
On the other end of the protectionist spectrum lie animal rights advocates. Rights advocates seek to first change the fundamental legal status of animals away from mere property towards something closer to personhood. Such a change would open the door to more expansive reforms down the line. At base, rights advocates believe that all animals, human and otherwise, possess some inalienable rights that deserve recognition and protection. To the law, these might be characterized as fundamental rights that must never be abridged except in the most dire of circumstances. The number and scope of such rights do not come in one size, but rather are unique based on the intellect and capabilities of each species. [ lxvii ] Therefore, rights advocates do not seek to equate human rights with those of animals, but rather recognition that some animal rights do exist. [ lxviii ]
Thus, rights advocates do not accept the property status of animals nor the wisdom of subjecting them to human domination. Animal experimentation in laboratories, even if helpful to humans, is unjustified. Factory farming, and perhaps the meat industry itself, is immoral. Indeed, one must be careful not to eat produce sprayed with pesticides that cost insects their lives. [ lxix ] Even the concept of pet ownership is suspect under the rights framework. [ lxx ] Acceptance of this rights position requires a rejection of American law as it currently stands. [ lxxi ]
Such seemingly radical reforms make rights advances hard to come by. As such, those dissatisfied by both extremes may look for an alternative approach. Lying between the rights and welfare points on the spectrum exists what Professor Francione calls ânew welfarism.â [ lxxii ] At its most fundamental level, new welfarism represents a sort of compromise between rights and welfare whereby animal advocates accept traditional welfare gains in the hope that they will eventually amount to a recognition of animal rights. The new welfarist is identified by several characteristics. First, she rejects the notion that animals are merely tools for humanity. [ lxxiii ] Second, is a rejection of the traditional animal rights framework as too radical to effect real change. [ lxxiv ] Third, the strategies they instead employ tend to mimic those of traditional welfare-based groups. [ lxxv ] To rights activists, the effect of such an approach is to substantially reinforce the human dominance over animals they claim to reject. [ lxxvi ] In so doing, they perceive no âmoral or logical inconsistency in promoting measures that explicitly endorse or reinforce [a] ⌠view of animals [as instrumentalities of humanity] and at the same time articulating a long-term philosophy of animal rights.â [ lxxvii ] In a more sympathetic light, new welfarists might be thought of as realistic rights advocates â taking what they can get now and hoping for more expansive reforms in the future.
2. The Anti-Animal Rights Position
Animal rights opponents object to both the concept of rights for nonhumans and its practical implications. On a philosophical level, animal rights would devalue humans by putting them on par with other, perhaps all other, life on the planet. Even if one were to accept that the differences between people and animals are subtle, it is the accumulation of these differences that makes civilization possible. [ lxxviii ] To equate humans to animals, to really believe we are the same, one must dismiss âinnate human characteristics, the ability to express reason, to recognize moral principles, to make subtle distinctions, and to intellectualize.â [ lxxix ] In other words, one must dismiss a lot about humans to equate them with other species. Moreover, such objections do not encompass the many religious objections to animal rights. Many religions teach that it is the existence of a soul that makes human life so sacred and only humans possess souls. Finally, one should not overlook the biblical grant of dominion over animals given to man.
In a similar but distinct vein, rights are something intrinsically unique to humans. Rights are simply a term we attach to the special significance given to human life. The existence of rights, and the extension thereof, is a human debate; one in which, by definition, animals cannot have a voice. [ lxxx ] This principle has broader implications. Peter Singer is famous for his accusation that humanity is âspeciesist,â or heavily favors its own kind. Others mean the same thing when they call humans homocentric or narcissistic. [ lxxxi ] They complain people always put people first. But is that so wrong? Why shouldnât a species care most for its own, even if that means exploiting another? Put another way, this is how the animal kingdom works. A mother bear does not care what effect her actions have on the rest of the animals in the forest, only on her cubs. The coyote, when he devours livestock, does not consider the impact such a taking will have on the rancherâs livelihood, must less the well-being of the cattle.
Moreover, the rights opponents contend, society always has and still does reject any notion of rights for animals. As Steven Wise, one of the leading animal rights advocates in the country, notes, people have long treated animals as âthings.â [ lxxxii ] Animals are things, like trees and oil, which we use for our own benefit. This is a reality recognized by the courts. Take for example the United States Supreme Courtâs opinion in Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah . In that case, a Florida city passed an ordinance aimed at prohibiting the animal sacrifices performed by members of the Santeria religion. The law was challenged in court on First Amendment free exercise of religion grounds. As part of its defense, the city claimed the law was intended to safeguard animals from unnecessary suffering. The Court rejected this argument almost out of hand, making numerous references to the cruelty humanity inflicts on animals all the time, conduct not regulated by the statute. [ lxxxiii ]
In speaking about the anti-animal rights position, it is important to note that many such people do not draw the same distinction between rights and welfare as done by animal advocates. More importantly, few would classify themselves as against true animal welfareâsome sort of philosophical position that seeks to inflict truly unnecessary harm on animals. Quite to the contrary, most such people believe instead that there are already adequate animal protection laws on the books and that any additional laws can only be intended by the animal protection movement as a prelude to future more controversial reforms.
B. Forces Inhibiting Change
Apart from competing philosophies, there are external forces at work that discourage greater gains for animal protection.
1. Economics (domestic and international)
Money as they say, talks. Animals are, for lack of a better description, big business in America and elsewhere. A look around the average house demonstrates the important role that animals play in the economy. Household use of animal products extends far beyond leather shoes and the food in the refrigerator, however. As Professor Wise points out:
the blood of a slaughtered cow is used to manufacture plywood adhesives, fertilizer, fire extinguisher foam, and dyes. Her fat helps make plastic, tires, crayons, cosmetics, lubricants, soaps, detergents, cough syrup, contraceptive jellies and creams, ink, shaving cream, fabric softeners, synthetic rubber, jet engine lubricants, textiles, corrosion inhibitors, and metal-machining lubricants. Her collagen is found in pie crusts, yogurts, matches, bank notes, paper, and cardboard glue; her intestines are used in strings for musical instruments and racquets; her bones in charcoal ash for refining sugar, in ceramics, and cleaning and polishing compounds. [ lxxxiv ]
The family pet is likely a product of the dog breeding industry. Factory farming techniques helped put meat, cheese, and eggs on the table at a reasonable price. Dog racing, horse racing, and hunting provide both entertainment and income to millions across the country. The list is nearly infinite, but the point is that the current status and treatment of animals is deeply interwoven into the American capitalist system. It must therefore be considered what effect a change to the legal status of animals would have on the national labor market and cost of goods. Any change to the law that significantly alters the relationship between humanity and this lucrative property line would have deep repercussions within the economy.
International economics also discourage significant changes to the legal status of animals. With increasing globalization and the emergence of a worldwide marketplace has also come the proverbial ârace to the bottomâ in regulatory practices. Thus, as a result of the comprehensive American laws meant to provide protection to the average employee, companies have moved many jobs to other countries where there is less workplace regulation and the cost of labor is far less expensive. [ lxxxv ] Similarly, it seems likely that if the United States were to create more substantive protections for animals, thereby increasing the cost of delivering animal products to consumers, corporate farms and ranches would simply move their facilities to another country where animals do not enjoy similar protections. In so doing, they would be able to provide a comparable product at prices far less than could domestic producers who would in turn be forced out of business. The result, though âfeel goodâ for animal advocates, might net only negligible gains for animal welfare. In a world, then, where anything that has to be there overnight can be, animal advocates must propose not only legislation in their home, but also seek international change as well.
2. Culture and Tradition
Perhaps more important than money, human culture encourages a continuance of societyâs current treatment of animals. The use, and some might say abuse, of animals is well established. While one might feel sympathy for the needs of his or her own dog or perhaps even the stray on the corner, that same concern probably does not extend to the turkey at Thanksgiving. Indeed, the recognition of animal rights might well mean the end of many cherished items and traditions, such as leather seats, shoes, and baseballs.
Similarly, there are hobbies and sports dependent on the treatment of animals as something less than legal individuals. Animal rights opponents quite rightly point out that both hunting and fishing might well come to an end if animal protections are allowed to advance too far, not to mention other sports such as dog and horse racing. Moreover, people have become used to viewing animals as things, as exhibits at the zoo or entertainers in the circus ring. Indeed, these human perceptions and customs are so self-evident they need no further elaboration.
Taken as a whole, then, one sees that animal advocates, whether noble activists or misguided fanatics, face an uphill battle in winning over society and the legal system.
V. Looking to the Future
To this point, we have examined the historical and legal background of the âanimal rightsâ debate, met the characters and players involved, and considered the various conflicting factors that affect the potential for and desirability of legal change. What remains, then, is a discussion about the actual goals sough by animal rights advocates.
A. Rights goals
There are many initial, intermediate, and ultimate goals that the average animal rights advocate would like to achieve. To some, the ultimate goal is simply more equitable treatment for animals, with no real more tangible meaning than that conceptual hope. Others have real tangible goals that include an end to animal experimentation, the consumption of animals by people, and perhaps an end to the domestication of different species. Still others who consider themselves animal advocates are really only concerned about the interests of some subset of animalsâanimals like their dog for instance. Thus, there is no end to the types of gains one might seek. For a survey of such possibilities, there are countless excellent books on the subject. For purposes of introduction, however, it seems far wiser to stick with a single, fundamental and yet highly controversial goal of the animal protection movementâlegal personhood.
Rights advocates, as discussed above, recognize that to achieve any novel gains for animals requires a change in their legal classification â away from property and towards legal personhood. Personhood would give animals standing in court to assert their rights, both those that may exist currently under the laws in the form of anti-cruelty statutes and those that may evolve under the common law. [ lxxxvi ]
One way to abrogate the property status of animals, thereby conferring some aspect of personhood, without totally dismantling the current system of animal ownership would be to divide that ownership into its legal and equitable components. Such a division is common in title to real property and the ownership interests of trusts. At its most fundamental level, the legal interest holder is the person with legal title to the property â the record owner with the ability and responsibility to control the property. Common examples of legal owners are the grantor of a life estate with a reversion or the trustee of a trust. Conversely, the equitable title holder â the holder of the life estate or the beneficiary of the trust â is the person deriving benefit from the property without having control over the propertyâs disposition.
Such a division allows the ownership interest in property to be held by multiple people in different capacities. In the context of animal rights, recognizing animalsâ equitable interest in themselves â equitable self-ownership â could transform them from pure legal property into pseudo-persons capable of enjoying greater legal protections and more importantly holding legal interests that they could enforce in a court of law. Humans, on the other hand, would then retain legal title to the animals, leaving that person both the ability to use that animal and the responsibility for its care.
The creation of this new legal classification of animals could resolve the standing obstacles to the enforcement of current laws â giving Yoon, Alex, or even Luke the ability to sue for their mistreatment â as well as pave the way for more innovative and progressive protectionist laws. At the same time, it is a far less radical step than completely dismantling the current legal status of other species and works as a balancing tool between the competing interests of man and beast. [ lxxxvii ]
Such a subtle approach is, in a very real way, a form of new welfarism. More importantly, one could view recent changes to the law as a sign of such subtle change. Several years ago, Boulder, Coloradoâlocally known as ten square miles surrounded by realityâenacted a local ordinance to change the legal title of pet âownerâ to pet âguardianâ to reflect the special status of animals as property. [ lxxxviii ] Though Boulder faced significant ridicule and scrutiny, its lead has subsequently been followed by several other municipalities. [ lxxxix ] While such changes have not resulted in a substantive change in the legal classification or treatment of animals, it would be overly simplistic to call such reforms nothing more than semantics. Similarly, trust law increasingly recognizes the interests of pets whose owners wish for them to be cared for after death. The uniform probate code as well as the probate codes of several states expressly recognize âpet trustsâ, under which Spike or Fido or Luke can be the beneficiary of a trust. More importantly, appointed third persons, humans naturally, can enforce the terms of the trust to ensure that the trustee actually administers the trust in the best interests of the animal. [ xc ] The Uniform Trust Code, recently drafted and being considered in many states, goes a step further and grants pet beneficiaries the classification of legal person for the limited purpose of serving as a beneficiary under a trust. [ xci ]
B. International perspectives
Because of the origin of the author of this article, the preceding pages have concentrated on American society and American law. It would be a mistake, however, to consider animal protection a strictly American dilemma. Indeed, other countries have been more willing to embrace some notion of animal rights. New Zealand, for example, enacted the Great Ape Project several years ago. That law worked a fundamental shift in the countryâs legal system by extending basic rights to humanityâs closest evolutionary relatives. Now, under New Zealand law, these animals now possess three basic guarantees: the right not to be deprived of life, not to suffer cruel treatment, and not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation. Notice that each right is a negative one, a right to be free from something, rather than any positive rights. The worldâs reaction to the law was decidedly mixed, but to date no other countries have enacted similar laws. Moreover, New Zealand has not expanded these animal rights any further.
Germany, by contrast, recently wrote a very broad promise of animal rights into its constitution, though the real significance of the amendment is unclear. After years of debate, both chambers of the German parliament agreed to include mention of animal rights in the countryâs governing instrument. There is no specific language explaining what this means. However, shortly after its passage in the lower house of the German parliament, a BBC article speculated that âThe addendum is expected to lead to new legislation limiting the testing on animals of products like cosmetics and mild pain relievers.â [ xcii ] Perhaps ironically, after years of debate, the measure passed after a court decision strikingly similar to the City of Hialeah case decided by the United States Supreme Court. [ xciii ] speculated that âThus, what effect such language will have on the daily lives of German animals remains to be seen. How will fundamental protections for animals mesh in a country known for its meat products? Similarly, Switzerland several years ago declared animals were no longer property. Despite this assertion, the practical status of animals within the country remains substantially the same.
The European Union, too, has gotten into the act. Many European countries have signed onto the âpet protection treatyâ, the basic tenets of which are that:
1) Nobody shall cause a pet animal unnecessary pain, suffering or distress; and
2) Nobody shall abandon a pet animal. [ xciv ]
While mostly aspirational in seeking to elevate the welfare of animals, it does provide some substantive regulations, such as prohibiting the sale of an animal to anyone under sixteen years of age. [ xcv ] Similarly, the Convention for the Protection of Animals during International Transport and the more recent Directive on the Protection of Animals during Transport seek to establish minimum safeguards for animals transported in Europe. [ xcvi ] Indeed, across Europe animal rights is a burgeoning topic for social debate. In Slovakia, â Sloboda Zvieratâ was formed in 1992. [ xcvii ] In Poland, animal advocates have âFundacji Viva!â, a Polish version of the VivaUSA!. [ xcviii ]
Asia, too, has sought to increase protections for animals. India provides an example of a country with a longstanding tension like that potentially building in Germany. India is the birthplace of some of the most animal-friendly religions in the world. Indeed, Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism all contain important threads teaching respect and protection for all animal life. To these religions, humanity is just a link in a much greater chain of existence. Ghandi, known for his work and compassion for humans, was also a quiet but dedicated animal advocate. Indeed, these philosophies have, in part, carried through into Indian law with several important protectionist laws. The Indian constitution itself specifically protects animal life. Yet, even here, these protections fall short of conferring real rights upon animals. More importantly, the Indian ideal falls well sort of its goal and may in fact be in retreat. Home to significant animal exploitation and exportation, including the mistreatment of cows â sacred creatures to the Hindu religion â the country is also being inundated by Western culture and its attendant treatment of animals. Even some Buddhists, known for their vegetarianism, have repudiated their tradition for a meatier diet. Moreover, just recently the highest court in Israel banned the production of fois gras (goose liver) by forced feeding as being violative of the countryâs laws against cruelty to animals. [ xcix ]
Of course not all foreign countries are so generous to animals. In many countries both man and beast are treated far worse than in the United States. The point to be made, however, is that the animal protection question is a global one not localized to any state, region, or country. More importantly, as alluded to in the discussion of international economics, changes made by one country to its animal laws will likely affect the well-being of animals in other countries. [ c ]
C. Public Awareness
One might consider an important objective of the animal rights movement already achievedâincreased public awareness. Animal rights organizations have helped prompt reforms at several fast food companies and recently a national grocery store announced plans for new minimum humane treatment standards for all of the meat it sells. [ ci ] In addition, major corporations are taking positions on animal issues [ cii ] and major educational institutions are working towards developing alternatives to animal testing. [ ciii ]
VI. Conclusion
Just as introductions rarely represent true beginnings, neither do conclusions represent the end of the story. Rather than providing closure, conclusions are often, looked at in another way, simply introductions to another story. Such is the case here. While animal rights as theory already has a significant history, animal rights as a vehicle for legal change is just taking root. In countries around the world changes in the legal status of other animals is already underway and several localities in the United States are beginning the slow process of fundamental change. The question is no longer whether it makes sense to debate the place of animals in our society. Rather, the issue has already been raised. The question now is how that debate should be conducted and how the questions raised should be resolved.
[xxv] A list of such species can be found at the Humane Society of the United Statesâ website: http://www.hsus.org/ace/11428
[xxvi] Huntington Life Sciences, http://www.huntingdon.com/hls/EthicalIssues/AnimalNumbers.html .
[xxvii] The New Lexicon Websterâs Dictionary of the English Language (1989).
[xxxii] Gary L. Francione, Animal Rights and Animal Welfare 46 Rutgers L. Rev. 397, 405 (1996).
[xxxiii] Donald N. Duquette, Legal Representation for Children in Protection Proceedings: Two Distinct Lawyer Roles are Required , 34 Fam. L.Q. 441, 453 (2000).
[xxxix] Note, Standing Upright: The Moral and Legal Standing of Humans and Other Apes , 54 Stan. L. Rev. 163, 193 (2001); see also Defenders of Wildlife , 504 U.S. at 560; Note, Standing on Shaky Ground: The Supreme Court Curbs Standing for Environmental Plaintiffs in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 38 St. Louis U. L.J. 199 (1993).
[xl] See , e.g. , Animal Legal Defense Fund, Inc. v. Glickman, 154 F.3d 426 (D.C. Cir. 1998) .
[xli] International Primate Protection League v. Administrators of Tulane Ed. Fund, 500 U.S. 72 (1991) .
[xliii] See discussion under âRights Goals.â
[xliv] 2 Am. Dec. 264 (N.Y. 1805).
[xlv] 103 Eng. Rep. 1127 (Q.B. 1707).
[xlvi] See King James Bible, Book of Genesis 1:20â25.
[xlvii] Gary L. Francione, Animals, Property and Legal Welfarism: âUnnecessaryâ Suffering and the âHumaneâ Treatment of Animals , 46 Rutgers L. Rev. 721, 733 (1994).
[xlviii] Id .
[xlix] For a more detailed discussion of animals status as property, see Gary L. Francione, Animals, Property and the Law (1995); see also Steven M. Wise, The Legal Thinghood of Nonhuman Animals , 23 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 471 (1996).
[l] E.g. Colo.Rev.Stat. § 18-9-202 (providing both misdemeanor and felony penalties for cruelty to animals).
[ci] Bruce Horovitz, Whole Foods Pledges to be More Humane , USA Today, available at : http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-10-21-wholefood_x.htm .
[ciii] E.g. , the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, http://caat.jhsph.edu/ .
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Animal Rights Essay: Topics, Outline, & Writing Tips
- đ Animal Rights Essay: the Basics
- đĄ Animal Rights Essay Topics
- đ Outlining Your Essay
- âď¸ Sample Essay (200 Words)
đ References
đ animal rights essay: what is it about.
Animal rights supporters advocate for the idea that animals should have the same freedom to live as they wish, just as humans do. They should not be exploited or used in meat , fur, and other production. At long last, we should distinguish animals from inanimate objects and resources like coal, timber, or oil.
Interdisciplinary research has shown that animals are emotional and sensitive, just like we are.
Their array of emotions includes joy, happiness, embarrassment, resentment, jealousy, anger, love, compassion, respect, disgust, despair, and even grief.
However, animal rights legislation does not extend human rights to animals. It establishes their right to have their fundamental needs and interests respected while people decide how to treat them. This right changes the status of animals from being property to being legal entities.
The statement may sound strange until we recall that churches , banks, and universities are also legal entities. Their interests are legally protected by law. Then why do we disregard the feelings of animals , which are not inanimate institutions? Several federal laws protect them from human interference.
But the following statements are only some of the rules that could one day protect animal rights in full:
- Animals should not be killed by hunting.
- Animalsâ habitats should allow them to live in freedom.
- Animals should not be bred for sale or any other purpose.
- Animals should not be used for food by industries or households.
Most arguments against the adoption of similar laws are linked to money concerns. Animal exploitation has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry. The lives of many private farmers depend on meat production, and most people prefer not to change the comfortable status quo.
Animal Rights Argumentative Essay
An animal rights argumentative essay should tackle a problematic issue that people have widely discussed. While choosing ideas for the assignment, opt for the most debatable topics.
Here is a brief list of argumentative essay prompts on animal rights:
- The pros and cons of animal rights.
- Can humanity exist without meat production?
- Do animals have souls?
- Should society become vegan to protect animal rights?
As you see, these questions could raise controversy between interlocutors. Your purpose is to take a side and give several arguments in its support. Then youâll have to state a counterargument to your opinion and explain why it is incorrect.
Animal Rights Persuasive Essay
An animal rights persuasive essay should clearly state your opinion on the topic without analyzing different points of view. Still, the purpose of your article is to persuade the reader that your position is not only reasonable but the only correct one. For this purpose, select topics relating to your opinion or formulated in questionary form.
For example:
- What is your idea about wearing fur?
- Do you think people would ever ban animal exploitation?
- Is having pets a harmful practice?
- Animal factories hinder the development of civilization .
đĄ 53 Animal Rights Essay Topics
- Animal rights have been suppressed for ages because people disregard their mental abilities .
- Cosmetic and medical animal testing .
- Laws preventing unnecessary suffering of animals mean that there is some necessary suffering.
- Red fluorescent protein transgenic dogs experiment.
- Do you believe animals should have legal rights?
- Genetically modified animals and implications.
- Why is animal welfare important?
- Neutering animals to prevent overpopulation: Pros and cons.
- Animal testing: Arguments for and against.
- What is our impact on marine life?
- Some animals cannot stay wild.
- Animal testing for medical purposes .
- We are not the ones to choose which species to preserve.
- Pavlovâs dog experiment .
- Keeping dogs chained outdoors is animal neglect.
- The use of animals for research .
- Animal dissection as a learning tool: Alternatives?
- More people beat their pets than we think.
- Duties to non-human animals.
- If we do not control the population of some animals, they will control ours.
- Animals in entertainment: Not entertaining at all.
- Animals in research, education, and teaching.
- Which non-animal production endangers the species?
- Is animal testing really needed?
- Why do some people think that buying a new pet is cheaper than paying for medical treatment of the old one?
- Animal experiments: benefits, ethics, and defenders.
- Can people still be carnivorous if they stop eating animals?
- Animal testing role.
- Marine aquariums and zoos are animal prisons.
- Animal experimentation: justification arguments .
- What would happen if we replace animals in circuses with people, keeping the same living conditions?
- The ethics of animal use in scientific research .
- Animal sports: Relics of the past.
- Animal testing ban: counterargument and rebuttal .
- Denial to purchase animal-tested cosmetics will not change anything.
- Animal research, its ineffectiveness and amorality.
- Animal rights protection based on their intellect level: It tells a lot about humanity.
- Debates of using animals in scientific analysis .
- How can we ban tests on rats and kill them in our homes at the same time?
- Animal testing in experiments .
- What is the level of tissue engineering development in leather and meat production?
- Equal consideration of interests to non-human animals .
- Animals should not have to be our servants.
- Zoos as an example of humansâ immorality.
- We should feed wild animals to help them survive.
- Animal testing in biomedical research.
- Abolitionism: The right not to be owned.
- Do you support the Prima facie rights theory?
- Psychologist perspective on research involving animal and human subjects.
- Ecofeminism: What is the link between animalsâ and womenâs rights?
- No philosophy could rationalize cruelty against animals.
- Qualities that humans and animals share.
- Ancient Buddhist societies and vegetarianism: A research paper.
Need more ideas? You are welcome to use our free research topic generator !
đ Animal Rights Essay Outline
An animal rights essay should be constructed as a standard 5-paragraph essay (if not required otherwise in the assignment). The three following sections provide a comprehensive outline.
Animal Rights Essay: Introduction
An introduction consists of:
- Background information,
- A thesis statement .
In other words, here you need to explain why you decided to write about the given topic and which position you will take. The background part should comprise a couple of sentences highlighting the topicality of the issue. The thesis statement expresses your plans in the essay.
For example: In this essay, I will explain why animal-based production harms the ecology.
Animal Rights Essay: Main Body
The main body is a place for you to argue your position . One paragraph equals one argument. In informative essays, replace argumentation with facts.
Start each section with a topical sentence consisting of a general truth. Then give some explanation and more specific points. By the way, at the end of this article, youâll find a bonus! It is a priceless selection of statistics and facts about animal rights.
Animal Rights Essay: Conclusion
A conclusion restates your central ideas and thesis statement. Approach it as a summary of your essay, avoid providing new facts or arguments.
âď¸ Animal Rights Essay Example (200 Words)
Why is animal welfare important? The term âanimal welfareâ evokes the pictures of happy cows from a milk advertisement. But the reality has nothing to do with these bright videos. Humane treatment of animals is a relative concept. This essay explains why animal welfare is important, despite that it does not prevent farms from killing or confining animals.
The best way to approach animal welfare is by thinking of it as a temporary measure. We all agree that the current state of the economy does not allow humanity to abandon animal-based production. Moreover, such quick decisions could make farm animals suffer even more. But ensuring the minimum possible pain is the best solution as of the moment.
The current legislation on animal welfare is far from perfect. The Animal Welfare Act of 1966 prevents cruelty against animals in labs and zoos. Meanwhile, the majority of suffering animals do not fall under its purview. For example, it says nothing about the vivisection of rats and mice for educational and research purposes, although the procedure is extremely painful for the creature. Neither does it protect farm animals.
Unfortunately, the principles of animal welfare leave too much room for interpretation. Animals should be free from fear and stress, but how can we measure that? They should be allowed to engage in natural behaviors, but no confined space would let them do so. Thus, the legislation is imprecise.
The problem of animal welfare is almost unresolvable because it is a temporary measure to prevent any suffering of domesticated animals. It has its drawbacks but allows us to ensure at least some comfort for those we unjustifiably use for food. They have the same right to live on this planet as we do, and animal farming will be stopped one day.
đ Bonus: Statistics & Facts for Your Animal Rights Essay Introduction
Improve the quality of your essay on animal rights by working in the following statistics and facts about animals.
- According to USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service , about 4.6 billion animals â including hogs, sheep, cattle, chickens, ducks, lambs, and turkey â were killed and used for food in the United States last year (2015).
- People in the U.S. kill over 100 million animals for laboratory experiments every year, according to PETA .
- More than 40 million animals are killed for fur worldwide every year. About 30 million animals are raised and killed on fur farms, and nearly 10 million wild animals are hunted and killed for the same reasons â for their valuable fur.
- According to a report by In Defense of Animals , hunters kill more than 200 million animals in the United States yearly.
- The Humane Society of the United States notes that a huge number of cats and dogs â between 3 and 4 million each year â are killed in the countryâs animal shelters. Sadly, this number does not include dogs or cats killed in animal cruelty cases.
- According to the ASPCA , about 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters in the United States yearly. Of this number, 3.9 Mil of dogs, and 3.4 Mil of cats.
- About 2.7 million animals are euthanized in shelters every year (1.4 million cats and 1.2 million dogs).
- About 2.7 million shelter animals are adopted every year (1.3 million cats and 1.4 million dogs).
- In total, there are approximately 70-80 million dogs and 74-96 million cats living as pets in the United States.
- Itâs impossible to determine the exact number of stray cats and dogs living in the United States, but the number of cats is estimated to be up to 70 million.
- Many stray cats and dogs were once family pets â but they were not kept securely indoors or provided with proper identification.
Each essay on animals rights makes humanity closer to a better and more civilized world. Please share any thoughts and experience in creating such texts in the comments below. And if you would like to hear how your essay would sound in someoneâs mind, use our Text-To-Speech tool .
- Why Animal Rights? | PETA
- Animal Rights – Encyclopedia Britannica
- Animal ethics: Animal rights – BBC
- Animal Health and Welfare – National Agricultural Library
- The Top 10 Animal Rights Issues – Treehugger
- Animal welfare – European Commission
Research Paper Analysis: How to Analyze a Research Article + Example
Film analysis: example, format, and outline + topics & prompts.
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Animal Rights: Ashgate International Library of Essays on Rights. Edited collection. 582p.
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Introduction: What Are Animal Rights?
- Published: November 2005
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This introductory chapter explores the concept of animal rights. It shows the range of possible positions concerning the animal rights issue and explores what issues, of theory or fact, separate reasonable people. The chapter claims that in at least some sense, almost everyone believes in animal rights, and that the real question is about what the phrase âanimal rightsâ actually means. It discusses the provisions of some state laws concerning animal rights, and the difference between animal rights and animal welfare. The introduction also explains the objectives of this book, which are to bring some new clarity to the animal rights debate, and to chart some new directions for both practice and theory.
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- Sample Essays
Animal Rights Essay
This IELTS animal rights essay discusses the exploitation of animals by humans.
People who believe in animal rights think that they should not be treated cruelly, for example in experiments or for sport.
'To exploit' means to benefit from something in an unfair way. Take a look at the question:
A growing number of people feel that animals should not be exploited by people and that they should have the same rights as humans, while others argue that humans must employ animals to satisfy their various needs, including uses for food and research.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Discussing 'Two Opinions'
Animals should not be exploited by people and they should have the same rights as humans. Humans must employ animals to satisfy their various needs, including uses for food and research.
In this essay you are being given two opposing opinions to discuss.
This is the first opinion:
- Animals should not be exploited by people and they should have the same rights as humans.
This is the second opinion:
- Humans must employ animals to satisfy their various needs, including uses for food and research.
In this type of essay, you must look at both sides. In other words you need to discuss the arguments FOR animal rights and AGAINST .
You must also ensure you give YOUR opinion.
Organising the Essay
One way to organize an essay like this is to consider both opinions, then give your opinion in a final paragraph ( see this example ) or dedicate a whole final paragraph to your opinion ( see this example ).
Another way to write an essay like this is to also make one of the 'for' or 'against' opinions your opinion as well.
Look at the model animal rights essay below. The second body paragraph discusses the first opinion, but the topic sentence makes it clear that this paragraph is also representing the writers opinion as well:
However, I do not believe these arguments stand up to scrutiny.
This now means that in two body paragraphs you have covered all three parts of the question from the animal rights essay:
1. First opinion 2. Second opinion 3. Your opinion
The advantage of doing it this way rather than having a separate paragraph is that you do not need to come up with new ideas for a new paragraph.
If you have a separate paragraph with your opinion you may find you cannot think of any new ideas or you may end up repeating the same things as in your previous paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Example
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.
Write at least 250 words.
Animal Rights Essay - Model Answer
Animals have always been used by humans in some form to satisfy their needs. However, while some people believe that animals should be treated in the same way humans are and have similar rights, others think that it is more important to use them as we desire for food and medical research.
With regard to the exploitation of animals, people believe it is acceptable for several reasons. Firstly, they think that humans are the most important beings on the planet, and everything must be done to ensure human survival. If this means experimenting on animals so that we can fight and find cures for diseases, then this takes priority over animal suffering. Furthermore, it is believed by some that animals do not feel pain or loss as humans do, so if we have to kill animals for food or other uses, then this is morally acceptable.
However, I do not believe these arguments stand up to scrutiny. To begin, it has been shown on numerous occasions by secret filming in laboratories via animal rights groups that animals feel as much pain as humans do, and they suffer when they are kept in cages for long periods. In addition, a substantial amount of animal research is done for cosmetics, not to find cures for diseases, so this is unnecessary. Finally, it has also been proven that humans can get all the nutrients and vitamins that they need from green vegetables and fruit. Therefore, again, having to kill animals for food is not an adequate argument.
To sum up, although some people argue killing animals for research and food is ethical, I would argue there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that this is not the case, and, therefore, steps must be taken to improve the rights of animals.
(Words 290)
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Donating Money to Charity Essay: IELTS model answer to an essay on the topic of giving locally or to national and international charities.
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Influence of Scientists or Politicians Essay- Model answer for IELTS. Who has had the most influence on our world? In this essay you have to discuss both sides.
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Childcare Essay: In the essay you have to discuss two sides of an argument. The first is that it is better if pre-school children are looked after at home with relatives such as grandparents. The second opinion is that children should be looked after at childcare centres.
IELTS Essay Becoming Independent
This IELTS essay discussed whether people are becoming more independent than they were in the past. This is a question that has come up a few times in the test. This is discussion type essay as you have to discuss both sides of an argument and come to a conclusion.
IELTS Writing Example: What are the aims of a university education?
IELTS writing example essays. This is an essay on the aims of university education. In this essay, two opposing opinions need to be discussed. It is important to understand how to answer this type of question in the IELTS exam.
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IELTS essays online with comments by an IELTS instructor - A writing sample on the topic of reducing crime.
Child Development Essay: What factors influence a child's development?
Child Development Essay for IELTS. The essay is about the factors that affect the way that children develop. It provides you with a model answer and comments on the response to help you know how to improve your band score.
Sources for Stories Essay: Should parents read to their children?
This sources for stories essay asks for your opinion on the best way for children to get stories. Is it from parents reading to them or other ways?
Diet and Health Essay: Who is responsible for diet and health?
Diet and Health Essay for IELTS: This model examines the extent to which individuals or governments should be responsible for health. Read a model answer and useful comments about the essay which will help you to improve your IELTS Score.
Zoo Essay: Are zoos cruel or do they protect animals?
This is a recent zoo essay question from the IELTS test (June 2018). Essay about zoos have come up a few times in the IELTS test so it's worth studying same sample questions and sample essays about the topic.
Extraterrestrial Life Essay: Should we look for life on other planets?
This extraterrestrial life essay is an IELTS opinion essay where you have to discuss both sides of an issue then give your own opinion.
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Writing any academic assignment requires rigorous preparation, and animal rights essay is not an exception. The issue of animal rights is considered to be one of the most topical nowadays. Of course, you have your own opinion about this topic, and it can be different from what you can find in other essays about animals on the Internet when searching for some materials. Don't worry – you have to understand that the purpose of writing this particular assignment is to describe your perception of this issue. You can compare opposing views, give examples of researches performed by other people, but your thesis statement and ideas should definitely be unique. The same thing is about the conclusion in which you briefly summarize all the major turning points as well as provide the new approach to the issue under investigation. Animal rights became a widely debated topic over the last century. The number of activist groups fighting for animal rights is growing as well as the number of cases when people exploit animals. So, while working on this academic topic, you will face two opposite views on this problem. However, it is up to you how to develop this topic. Now, you need to know where to start and how to move in the process of your writing to ensure that every single aspect of excellent academic writing is addressed. If you want to know more tips on how to do this when working on essays on animal testing, keep reading this article, and you will find a lot of useful pieces of advice to prepare the best assignment!
Animal testing essay
Animal testing essay is one of the most popular topics for consideration and research in universities across the world. With the ongoing heated debate about whether it’s appropriate to perform animal testing of various kinds, you can find an extensive list of evidence suggesting quite opposing variables.
Where do we start to work on this assignment? There are tons of information on this topic in libraries and online sources. It could take ages to study all of them. In order not to get lost in this amount of information, you need to formulate your animal testing thesis statement succinctly. What is your approach and your personal opinion about animal rights and animal testing in particular? Write down all the ideas that come to your mind because otherwise, you can forget something essential. Writing animal testing persuasive speech requires conducting an extensive research. You need to know the most popular and the latest studies, be aware of possible objections, and be sure of how you would cover them. Make sure you employ all the basic principles of logic when arguing your point, and don’t forget about the importance of critical thinking that you’ve been taught as a freshman. Yes, we know this can sound like a too obvious kind of advice, but you are never going to believe how many students fail to provide the convincing proof simply because they forget or neglect the common list of logical fallacies. So, as soon as you remember the proper structure that every academic essay should have and are aware of the formatting rules of your university, you need to get clear with what type of essay you will be writing. Is it a persuasive or argumentative essay? Or maybe, it’s a research paper? All of these types have slightly different principles of writing, and you have to understand them correctly to write a decent paper. Let’s look at each of them in more detail.
Animal testing argumentative essay
The essay structure mostly depends on the type of paper that you are writing. In the case of an animal testing argumentative essay, your main task is to defend a point that you propose as your thesis statement. For better understanding, we are going to explain some of the most common types of claims, with the help of which you can formulate an appropriate statement worth a professional academic assignment.
The first one is answering a question about whether some idea is true or not. In an argumentative essay on animal testing, for example, you can answer the question if animal testing indeed harmful for any animal or some of them still remain useful for humanity and relatively safe for animals.
The next claim that you can use in your essay could be this: what do some definitions that you choose mean? In an essay like this, you can examine animal testing in laboratories for cosmetic or for pharmaceutical companies. What do they do with animals? How ethical is that?
Another type of thesis statement claim focuses on value. You can highlight it in your argumentative essay against animal testing. It literally answers the question of how important this topic is. Animal rights have become quite a burning issue over the past few decades because, according to ASPCA, a significant level of testing of medications that appeared to be safe for animals, caused a harmful effect on humans, or in better cases were just ineffective. In this regard, another burning question is the following: is animal testing relevant for further investigations in the field of the pharmaceutical industry? The same goes for an argumentative article on animal testing. At that point, you can also claim that according to the applicable law, a medical drug, to be approved for national and worldwide selling, has to be tested on no less than 10,000 humans.
It is useful to write your ideas on little pieces of paper when preparing to formulate an animal testing argumentative essay outline and rearrange them on the table until you have perfect logical order. For example, by showing the proper facts, data, statistics, and references from authoritative sources, you can lead to the point that animal testing in too many cases results in false conclusions about the safety measures of medicine constituents.
Another type of argument is focusing on policy. After proposing the thesis statement of an essay on using animals in research, you can lead to the point of assuming what strategies could be applied to resolve the problems revealed as a part of researches using animals for the experiments. In many of these types of claims, you can use the deployment of the subject throughout history to make your evidence even more showing. For example, if you are writing an argumentative essay on animals being used for research, you can start with a notion that, in Middle Ages, for example, people widely exploited animals because this was the only way to survive, and they didn’t really care neither about animal rights nor about the excessive number of humans dying from diseases as a result of the lack of hygiene and means of security. However, centuries have passed, and our civilization has chosen another way of development. The first recorded organization that had an intention to fight for animal rights was the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in England, established in 1824. If you live in the USA, you can also examine the current laws that are applicable to the issue of animal testing, and that would be the Animal Welfare Act passed by Congress in 1966, with an amendment in 1986, which you can view as a law that needs revising again, as the 21st century gains traction. It is also useful to prepare animal rights debate questions in advance in case if you have to defend your point in front of the class and your professor. Don’t forget to prepare the most persuasive answers to possible questions and memorize or at least write them on small pieces of paper. The structure of an animal cruelty argumentative essay doesn’t differ from most of the other types of essays. What’s important here is to keep the debate going. This method is also widely used for another kind of essay, which could be called animal testing debate essay, and it would focus mainly on the debate of two opposing points of view rather than on proving your statement based on other scholars’ conclusions. After formulating your thesis statement, it is time to create an outline and to start writing the first part of your paper – the introduction. Ideally, it should contain a so-called hook statement. This idea should be slightly different from the clear and persuasive thesis statement that indicated directly what you mean and why you think it should be considered credible. An animal testing essay hook must immediately draw the attention of your prospective reader so that they want to immerse in reading your essay till the very end. This could be a witty rhetorical question that sets the scene for the main statement before you address it, or it could be a timely quote to think about or an intriguing idea that, most likely, no one has thought about the way you propose it until now.
Animal rights essay introduction and body
When writing an animal rights essay introduction, you have to present the information in such a way that your audience will be interested in continuing reading your paper. Besides, this section should gradually lead your reader to the thesis statement, which has to be relevant and to the point. Remember that you shouldn’t use valuable arguments that you have collected before body paragraphs of your animal testing controversy essay. Your main task in this part is still presenting a good thesis statement, which you will have to reinforce with arguments in the body of your essay.
The next thing you have to think about is body paragraphs. A conventional academic essay typically consists of three to five body paragraphs. Each of them should have a traditional structure, which is simple to follow step by step, whether you are writing why should animals have rights essay or any other type of argument related to this topic. Any body paragraph starts with a topic sentence. These sentences represent the main idea of this part and act as a transition from one argument to another. After this, you have to introduce the sub-argument that you planned to discuss in this section when creating an essay outline. After the topic sentence and the following section are introduced, you can develop your argument further on.
The next thing to do in an academic assignment like animal experimentation essay is to reinforce your argument by using some evidence and examples. Supportive evidence like facts, statistics, and references from authoritative literature pieces might all be used for proving that your point of view is valid. Finally, at the very end of your body paragraph, it’s time to summarize everything that you have written in this section. At this point, you need to strengthen your defendable claim and supporting evidence stated above with a persuasive final statement. In other words, try to answer the question: why was this point so important and relevant?
Animal testing essay conclusion
After you are done writing all of your body paragraphs, it’s finally time to write the last part, which is the animal testing essay conclusion. With this final point, you can either prove your thesis statement is right or fail with it, so we recommend you to be exceptionally patient when working on this part. Note that basic principles of how to write an essay conclusion can be applied to practically all types of papers, including animal rights argumentative essay. You can divide your conclusion into some parts. In the first sentence, you have to rephrase the central message – your thesis statement. The difference between this sentence and your thesis statement in an introduction is that now you are completely sure that the presented idea is true because you have just proved your rightness. In the following few sentences, you can briefly repeat all the sub-arguments that you have stated before. In the end, the best way to finish your essay is to add the concluding thesis about animal testing. This one can represent some universal truth, hold an interesting idea, or give some food for thought to your readers.
Persuasive essay on animal testing
When deciding on what approach to focus on when writing an animal testing persuasive essay, you are probably wondering how a persuasive essay is different from the argumentative one. In this case, you have to remember that writing a persuasive essay, you employ principles of morality and emotional influence to argue the stated point of view. In this type of assignment, you have a chance to appeal to your reader’s emotions and not to eliminate your own for the sake of a rational viewpoint. Your purpose, in this case, is to influence people through their emotional reactions and feelings. Even though, don’t forget that you are still writing an academic assignment and your essay or your persuasive speech on animal testing should remain perfectly logical, contain strong evidence as well as opposing views. Keep in mind that any persuasive speech should contain a call to action. Social messages like stop animals abuse make an excellent topic for such speech. Your ultimate goal to achieve when writing a persuasive essay on animal testing is to convince your readers that your point is valid and to encourage people to take action towards resolving the problem that you highlight. Imagine yourself being a lawyer or a head of an animal rights activist organization. What line of reasoning would you choose to attract random people to join your movement? It is also important to picture a portrait of your readers because the whole structure of an assignment like animal cruelty persuasive speech depends on them. So determine your target audience and don’t forget to maintain awareness of their possible biases; that would help you to structure a perfect counter-argument to any probable objections. So as you can see, writing animal cruelty persuasive essay is quite a challenging task, so do your best to come up with a high-quality text that can really change people’s attitudes. Just make sure that your arguments are strong enough to persuade even the biggest skeptics. Before you start writing, we recommend you to look through persuasive essay topics about animals that your professor had provided or to find them on the Internet. You will be surprised how well-developed this subject is. Of course, you need to find a particular topic of animal abuse persuasive essay that will appeal to you. By doing that, you will be able not only to stay motivated and finish the essay way before deadlines but also to choose the right audience unmistakably. Useful advice is to look for the emotional link that connects you and your audience. For example, this could be the fact that you are a pet owner, or one of your older relatives was treated by a medicine, which was tested on animals, and it was proved to be ineffective. There are thousands of stories like this, and almost anyone can find them relatable. You should also think about the strong opening phrase that will help you to grasp the attention of your reader. The easiest way to come up with an idea for the part that is called ‘the attention grabber’ is to be familiar with the subject and to care about this problem. For example, in the should animals be kept in zoos persuasive essay, you are encouraged to appeal to people’s emotions, as we remember from the explanations above, but you also should not forget about morality and logical reasoning of the question that you want to discuss. As a result, you can start with a memory of your childhood when you went to the zoo. How animals looked there? What did they do? How visitors reacted to them and how they reacted in return? Did animals look happy and healthy? The answers to all of these questions might not appear positive. Use these memories to picture the life of the animals in captivity. You can also highlight your ideas with the extensive research that you have performed. Some students prefer to write an outline after they jot down the first draft of their essay, especially if it’s a relatively short three-paragraph assignment. Some of them even look for animal testing essay titles after they finish working on the text of the essay. However, it is up to you to decide on which stage to write an outline or a title, and there is no solely successful formula. Moreover, you can even add the introduction and the conclusion at the very end of your writing, but if you feel inspired by the topic that you have chosen, it will be quite effective to write an introduction right from the start, before you write your actual animal abuse assignment.
Animal rights research paper
Writing an animal rights research paper might not be the most challenging assignment during your studies because this subject has become a touchy topic for recent years. Almost all the people inevitably love animals; that’s why it is essential to question out morality norms in terms of our actions towards innocent creatures whose lives sometimes fully depend on us. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said — ‘You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.’ Animal rights movement research paper has a very traditional structure similar to those we described earlier in sections about persuasive and argumentative essays. By the way, you can either choose an argumentative or analytical paper to write. The main difference between them lies in the ultimate goal of your writing. The argumentative paper focuses on some very controversial topic, and it looks much like a debate between two opposing points of view. At the same time, an analytical research paper has a more rational than persuasive approach. In a paper like the latter, you are allowed to gather as many references as you want, and they don’t have to oppose each other. You may compare them, but your main goal in this essay would be searching for the truth. When writing assignments like a research paper on animal abuse, the research itself becomes the most important part of your work. There can be multiple sources of information about animal testing, animal rights, animals bred in captivity, etc. You can go the traditional way and collect valuable and authoritative information to make your strongest points with it. The sources could be academic databases that can be found online. You can also visit the library at your university.
Of course, the Internet search is boundless, and you can also find valid sources from any location in the world, which expands your perspectives for writing a persuasive animal cruelty research paper a lot. You will find various articles, blog posts, news posts, encyclopedias, historical documents, web pages, books, and interviews. However, make sure you use no less than five authoritative sources in your research paper. When looking through the non-scholarly sources of information like blog posts, videos, and web articles, check whether they are unbiased and trustworthy.
After you collected the information, it might seem daunting to sort it all out and write a perfect academic paper. Don’t worry, you can do it! Just divide your work into easy steps. For example, the first thing to do after your research is to organize the sources of your animal abuse research paper. For example, use small colored slips of paper to recognize different kinds of sources. It is also useful to stick to each of them little papers with notes of what you find important in this reference and why, what idea you want to develop on the basis of this document, etc. Don’t forget to construct a bibliography list for your paper. It is exceptionally quick and easy to do if you have organized your references the way that is described here. Now you can also come up with a good title for animal testing essay. Your title should be intriguing but at the same time informative for your readers.
Now it’s time to take a few more steps of preparation for the actual writing of your paper. The next thing to do is to develop your animal testing research paper outline. When you have all your notes organized, you won’t spend much time and effort on this stage. Just remember to familiarize yourself with formatting guidelines that you are required to follow. Most of the types of formats are used for specific fields of study, so make sure that the norms and rules that you want to use are approved by your university or school. Only after you know how you should format your paper, you can create a relevant outline and move on. After this, it’s time to formulate an animal testing essay thesis. Make sure it clearly represents your idea without stating any references yet. A good way to shape your thesis statement is to pose it as a question or as a persuasion. For example, it could sound like ‘Should animal testing be prohibited in the USA?’ or ‘Animal testing should be prohibited.’ Both options are right; you just have to show the argument in a necessary light since all of your sub-arguments and counter-arguments throughout the whole paper will revolve around your thesis about animal testing. Before getting down to writing body paragraphs, you can make it easier for you and highlight the most important turning points that you will be discussing. Note that one pivotal point should not be necessarily deployed in a single paragraph. You can complete your idea in one section, but you can also develop it through a few paragraphs. Just make sure to keep the thesis statement as the ultimate point of your paper. Even if you are writing controversial animal rights vs medical research paper, which is simple to follow because you are only describing two of the contradictory views in relation to each other, keep in mind that you should maintain your focus straightly on the essay topic. Keep an eye on your animal rights essay outline, and don’t let your thoughts wander, especially if you’ve collected a lot of evidence and sources. It might be a good idea to spend some time relaxing. After this, you can reread what you have already written and get some fresh ideas. Surprisingly, you might suddenly find that some points need further elaboration, whereas some of them have to be cut down or eliminated. You might also want to make your language sound more professional and academic, even if you’ve chosen a very modern and up-to-date topic like the research paper on animals in zoos. In this case, we recommend you to swap some of simple, casual words into brainier ones! Also, it’s important to make your direct quotes as concise as possible. Even if the piece that you found seems over the top relevant in your given context, it will look more professional if you avoid inserting too long citations. When writing an animal testing should be banned essay, don’t forget to save your witty thoughts for transitional sentences between the paragraphs, because they should link the two separate sections together and make your animal protection essay look more cohesive and logically explained.
Now, the best way to emphasize the importance of your findings is to write a strong conclusion for your animal rights assignment like an essay on animals for research purposes. When writing a conclusion, you need to restate the thesis statement with more confidence and to briefly remind the reader of all the major turning points that you covered throughout the whole essay. It’s a good idea to write an essay conclusion right after you finish the body paragraphs because your evidence remains clear in your mind. Ultimately, at the end of an assignment, when you have already proved your thesis statement against animal testing, try to answer the question ‘So, what?’ to create memorable and convincing final sentence.
Animals in captivity essay
An ongoing debate about breeding and keeping animals in enclosed spaces like zoos and circuses intensifies each day. That is why writing animals in captivity essay is extremely in demand right now as it is interesting both for knowledgeable and general audience. The trick with this theme is that there is no actual right or false statement. Both kinds of arguments, let’s say, for and against keeping animals in zoos, sound realistic and to the point. Let’s discover some of the most popular statements on this topic. Animal rights activists view zoos and circuses like hell for animals. They rely on the emotional state, questioning what would you feel if you have been trapped in the cage for a lifetime and used for entertainment. Such an approach that appeals more to people’s feelings on this subject is more appropriate to adopt for should zoos be banned essay. Moreover, activists keep saying that wild animals suffer in enclosed spaces because they cannot do what’s natural for them like hunting for food. If you are writing should animals be kept in zoos argumentative essay, you should focus on more objective evidence both for and against keeping animals in captivity, which we will continue discussing further on in this section. Another argument against zoos is that by watching animals living in zoos, we can’t learn anything about their life in the wild. When writing a zoos ethical essay, you can use this argument as an opposing viewpoint to the one that suggests that zoos are created for educational purposes. Furthermore, a piece of supportive evidence against zoos could be the fact that only 2% of the world’s 6000+ endangered species are breading in the enclosure. This means that zoos are functioning mainly for making money, and they don't help threatened species to stay alive in safer conditions than in the wilderness. Most zoos also provide improper care like cramped spaces and faulty diet for animals. An opposing idea on this topic for an argumentative essay on zoos lies in the fact that its proponents view the problem from a totally different perspective. Those who support animals being in captivity insist that zoos are the safest places for breeding and keeping animals that could be endangered otherwise. In the wilderness, the small population of some species could be fully exterminated because other animals would eat them. Another case is that lots of people keep hunting wild animals, killing them for food, fur, skin, and horns. Animals should not be kept in zoos argumentative essay could also be supplemented by the idea that smaller animal exhibitors like roadside zoos and petting zoos keep animals in improper conditions. Sometimes a lion lives his whole life in a barren of concrete with metal bars on the sides or in a small cage. But even if the conditions of accredited zoos create a space for lions and bears that resembles their natural habitat, animal activists question if mankind has a right to confine animals for science, education, and entertainment. Finally, we are going to discuss the most popular and widespread opposing arguments that support keeping animals in the zoos, which will help you to collect the solid evidence for your cruelty against animals essay, to formulate an appropriate thesis statement and to build a strong line of reasoning around it. As we have already mentioned before, keeping animals in zoos helps people develop an appreciation for animals and become educated more about wildlife. As a result, by watching how they live, children and adults gain the understanding that it is immoral to kill these animals for fur and food, and it is much better to help them grow and live in peace. Furthermore, if you watch people who are working in zoos, you can see how much effort they put into keeping animals healthy. It requires bringing them the food they like, cleaning and nursing them, helping to bring up babies, and sometimes even doing surgeries. Moreover, large zoos also deploy programs of rescuing the endangered species by looking after them in a safe environment free from predators and starvation. They also have specific breeding programs that help to grow the number of threatened species. However, to support this argument when writing an assignment about animals in captivity, you should perform extensive research to prove that these programs really function and that they help to save species. It is great if you can bring some statistics on the number or percentage of saved animals due to these programs. You can also choose are circuses immoral essay to explore the question of keeping animals in circuses for entertainment. The largest organization fighting for animal rights PETA suggests that circus shows are the cruelest on Earth, mentioning the UniverSoul circus in particular. They say that lots of species there have to suffer from transportation as well as forced training and performances. The trainers whip lions if they don't obey their commands. These people train elephants to perform uncomfortable tricks like standing on their heads, and if they fail to do this, they get beaten by sharp metal billhooks until they bleed. Besides, these animals have to live in small cages. During transportation, they have to wait in small trailers for days. An elephant Heather at King Royal Circus even died in one of such trucks from heat exhaustion. While animals are isolated from everything natural for them like playing, running, breeding, searching for food, and defending their territory, they develop abnormal behaviors like head-bobbing and constant pacing. Some of them attempt to run away, mutilating people and damaging property. For example, an elephant named Tyke was killed when she ran away from Circus International of Honolulu, Hawaii. We strongly recommend adding this argument in your why animals should not be used for entertainment essay.
So now you know how to approach a paper on such a controversial and sore topic. Just remember that when writing an essay like this, try not to get overwhelmed with emotions, be logical and perfectly rational until the very end to defend your point and propose the right solution to the problem.
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Home â Essay Samples â Environment â Animal Ethics â Persuasive Animal Rights And The Importance Of Treating Animals With Respect
Persuasive Animal Rights and The Importance of Treating Animals with Respect
- Categories: Animal Cruelty Animal Ethics
About this sample
Words: 1394 |
Published: Jan 28, 2021
Words: 1394 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read
Table of contents
Introduction, works cited.
- American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). (n.d.). Animal cruelty laws in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/canada
- Animal Equality. (n.d.). Animal testing. Retrieved from https://www.animalequality.org/issues/animal-testing
- Animal Welfare Act. (1966). 7 U.S.C. § 2131 et seq.
- Bekoff, M. (2013). The emotional lives of animals: A leading scientist explores animal joy, sorrow, and empathy â and why they matter. New World Library.
- Cartmill, M. (1996). A view to a death in the morning: Hunting and nature through history. Harvard University Press.
- Dawkins, M. S. (2006). Through our eyes only? The search for animal consciousness. Oxford University Press.
- Francione, G. L. (1995). Animals, property, and the law. Temple University Press.
- Herzing, D. L. (2010). Dolphin communication: A window into the complexity of human language. In S. M. Reader & K. Laland (Eds.), Animal social complexity: Intelligence, culture, and individualized societies (pp. 293-311). Harvard University Press.
- Regan, T. (1983). The case for animal rights. University of California Press.
- Singer, P. (2009). Animal liberation. Harper Perennial.
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Animal Welfare vs. Rights: Compare and Contrast Essay
- To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writerâs block
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Introduction
Works cited.
Despite being used interchangeably, the terms animal welfare and animal rights are different. One can state that the term animal rights refers to the privileges that animals should enjoy ( Welfare vs. Rights) . Scholars that support this school of thought argue that animals should have the same privileges as human beings ( Welfare vs. Rights) . On the other hand, animal welfare refers mainly to the human responsibility to ensure that all aspects of animal well-being are upheld ( Welfare vs. Rights ). This essay compares the two concepts in relation to animal research in medical science.
Apart from the definition, animal welfare is different from animal rights as it supports the ethical and responsible use of animals for the benefit of man ( Animal Research ). According to the Animal Research web page, animals are an essential part of medical research. Individuals that debate using animal rights are often against the use of animals for experimental biological studies. To convince them, I would mention some of the ground-breaking researches and studies that have been realized due to animal research. For instance, it is the use of cows in the search for a vaccine for smallpox that eradicated the disease ( Animal Testing and Research ).
While comparing animal rights and welfare, one also has to consider the fact that animals cannot have the same rights as human beings as the former (animal rights) recommends. Manâs complex brain has ensured their position at the apex.
Whereas human beings can reason and know what is right and wrong, animals depend purely on their instincts for survival. It is this reason that allows human beings to keep animals as pets. A person who suggests that animals should have similar rights to human beings should also not keep pets as it can be deemed ‘slavery’. Additionally, one can argue that supporters of animal rights should also be completely vegans.
Whereas one can argue that animals cannot have the same rights as humans, it is important to also point out that animal welfare ensures that animals are treated well at all times. One can state that whereas animals do not have the same complex brain as humans, they can feel pain, love, and other emotions (1). The fact that animals have feelings creates an ethical conundrum in regard to medical research. However, animal welfare ensures that the animals used in medical studies are as comfortable as possible (Butterworth 13). Many of these animals do not suffer during these experiments.
Despite the stated differences and the fact that I support animal research, it is prudent to note that scientists and researchers have a prominent responsibility towards animals. Indeed, animal research can be done on all types of animals that can enhance medical and biological research. Towards this end, scientists have to ensure that there are adequate policies to assure the dignified and ethical use of animals for medical research.
In conclusion, both animal rights and animal welfare aim to improve human interaction with animals for the benefit of both. However, animal welfare encourages the fact that human beings are more superior to animals. It is this superiority that should ensure that animals are not mistreated. Indeed, the use of animals in medical research has led to ground-breaking realizations. Despite this, it is important that all scientists involved in animal research adhere to policies that also protect the welfare of said animals.
Animal Research . AMP, 2019. Web.
Animal Testing and Research . Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2019. Web.
Butterworth, Andrew. Animal Welfare in a Changing World . CABI, 2018.
Welfare vs. Rights . Animal Welfare Council, 2019. Web.
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- Companion Animals as Property of Humans
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IvyPanda. (2021, June 7). Animal Welfare vs. Rights: Compare and Contrast. https://ivypanda.com/essays/animal-welfare-vs-rights-compare-and-contrast/
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Animal Right Essay | Essay on Animal Right for Students and Children in English
Animal Rights Essay: Animal Rights is the thought or idea that says that some or all animals are entitled to their basic rights such as possession of their life, and other crucial needs to survive.
It is the idea that all animals are born free like humans, and we should not subject them to exploitation for our needs. Animal rights aim to give animals the same rights as humans in which they are not killed or tortured at the hands of people.
Long and Short Essays on Animal Right for Students and Kids in English
We provide children and students with essay samples on an extended essay of 500 words and a short piece of 150 words on the topic “Animal Rights” for reference.
Long Essay on Animal Rights 500 Words in English
Long Essay on Animal Rights is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Is it unjust to kill animals to feed ourselves? If you are a vegetarian or an animal lover, you might find killing animals to feed ourselves as unethical. There are various views on the subject, and continuous debates and articles try to resolve the matter.
Animal rights are the thought process that all animals have basic rights like all human beings, and they do not deserve to be killed at our hands or made to suffer. It is best not to view animals as our commodities. It is wrong to view them as our resources. If we can accept the fact that animals are not born to be killed or exploited at our hands, we can approach a human view of treating animals and can then genuinely discuss the rights of animals.
We wrongly believe that animals are the commodities that we use. If we adopt this thought, our actions towards them will be unethical and regrettable. If we think that animals have no moral status, we will be extremely apathetic, which is diametric to human nature. The wrong thought process can hamper the understanding and reasoning of everything in our life.
Animals are living creatures, and so are we. They too feel pain and suffering. Hence, it is not illogical to consider the topic of animals having rights.
Believing that animals have rights does not necessarily mean that eating meat is wrong or unethical. People of different backgrounds and religions follow different diets and have different eating habits. Some of them include non-vegetarian diets, and some of them don’t.
Eating meat is a lifestyle for some people, and others should respect it. But, eating meat is not the only question that comes to mind when we think about animal rights. Thousands of animals are kept in farms and slaughterhouses. They are brought up in extremely inhospitable environments and are ultimately killed. Many of them are brought and stored in labs, and people perform all sorts of heinous and inexplicable experiments on them.
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Humans torture millions of animals every year in labs. They burn, cut or starve animals in the name of research that does not always bear results. Most drugs that work on animals might not work for humans or not have the same efficiency. Hence, it is barbaric to meaninglessly kill animals and think that they do not have any rights.
People should never believe that animals are useless, dumb creatures. They too have a soul and can feel. Their emotions might not be as complex as humans, but they deserve to be acknowledged.
Humans are different than other animals. We have a moral compass and try to justify the events around us. Hence, when we think about any living creature being hurt, it makes us sad.
If you see an abused animal or an injured animal, you could walk past it. You could also report the animal abuse if it is a domestic animal, or take it to the vet for treatment. We should have realized that it is more peaceful to care for animals contently, than kill or capture them. Animals are soulful creatures like us and magnificent creation. We should respect them, and they do have rights.
Short Essay on Animal Rights 150 Words in English
Short Essay on Animal Rights is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
The animal right is the thought that all animals have birthrights like humans. It is the liberal thought process where we consider all animals to have basic rights that would protect them from being subjected to torture, starvation, slaughtering, etc. for our benefits.
There are a lot of disagreements regarding animals having rights. Some people argue that animal rights should be protected, while others argue that there is no need for animal rights.
People who say that animals have no rights, think it to be true because they view animals as commodities that we can exploit whenever required. Some people think that animals are created for our pleasure and our needs since we are at the top of the food chain. These people are largely mistaken.
All animals have souls and are living beings just like us. They have sensations and can feel everything around them just like humans can. Hence, we are morally obliged to acknowledge the rights of animals and not harvest them.
10 Lines on Animal Rights Essay in English
1. Animal rights are the concept that animals have similar rights as human. 2. Many people support animal rights, and many people don’t. 3. Many believe that animal rights should be established to protect the basic needs of all animals. 4. Others believe that animals don’t require any rights, and are present to satisfy the needs of humans. 5. It is a wrong thought that animals are commodities for humans, and can be used as objects. 6. Animals are projected to cruel treatments in places like animal farms, animal testing labs, etc. 7. The animal rights issue is a hotly debated topic. 8. All animals are living organisms and can feel like us. Hence, we should treat them as such. 9. Humans are superior to other animals in terms of evolutions, but we belong to the animal kingdom as well. 10. Humans have morals, unlike other animals. We should use it to support the cause of animal rights.
FAQ’s on Animal Rights Essay
Question 1. What are animal rights?
Answer: Animal right is the idea that animals deserve similar rights like a human. People who are supporters of animal rights believe that all animals have fundamental rights, such as the right to live and not tortured.
Question 2. What is animal testing?
Answer: Animal testing is the method of using animals as test-subjects for testing drugs and products on animals.
Question 3. Why is animal right relevant?
Answer: We use animals as a commodity and use them as we will. As human beings who have morals, we can think about considering the rights of animals too.
Question 4. Why should we give rights to animals?
Answer: Like human beings, animals also are living being who can feel what goes on around them. Hence, animals should have the basic right to survive.
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Essay on Animal Protection
Students are often asked to write an essay on Animal Protection in their schools and colleges. And if youâre also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.
Letâs take a lookâŚ
100 Words Essay on Animal Protection
Why animal protection matters.
Animal protection is important because animals are living beings and deserve respect. They maintain ecological balance and contribute to human survival. If we donât protect them, many species may become extinct.
Threats to Animals
Animals face many threats such as habitat loss, climate change, and hunting. These threats are often caused by human activities. We must reduce these threats to protect animals.
Ways to Protect Animals
We can protect animals by preserving their habitats, reducing pollution, and promoting laws against animal cruelty. Every small action counts, and together, we can make a big difference.
250 Words Essay on Animal Protection
Introduction.
Animal protection is a significant issue that calls for immediate attention. It involves safeguarding animal rights and promoting their welfare, particularly for species that are endangered or threatened.
The Importance of Animal Protection
Current scenario.
Despite various laws and regulations, animal cruelty is still prevalent. Illegal poaching, habitat destruction, and climate change are leading to the rapid decline of many species. This calls for stricter enforcement of laws and more substantial penalties for violators.
Role of Society
Society plays a pivotal role in animal protection. Educating the public about animal rights, encouraging responsible pet ownership, and promoting veganism are some ways society can contribute. Moreover, supporting animal welfare organizations can make a significant difference.
Animal protection is a collective responsibility that requires concerted efforts from individuals, governments, and organizations. By prioritizing animal welfare, we can ensure a healthier ecosystem and a more compassionate world.
500 Words Essay on Animal Protection
As we delve into the 21st century, the issue of animal protection has become increasingly significant. The interdependence of life on Earth is a complex web, where each species, regardless of its size or perceived importance, plays a critical role. This essay aims to shed light on the importance of animal protection, the threats faced by animals, and the potential solutions for these issues.
Animal protection is not merely a matter of ethical consideration but a necessity for the survival and well-being of our planet. Animals contribute to the balance of nature and biodiversity, maintaining the intricate ecological equilibrium. They assist in pollination, pest control, decomposition, and nutrient cycling, among other ecological functions. Moreover, they are integral to our food chains and webs, with their extinction leading to potentially catastrophic consequences.
Threats to Animal Life
Additionally, illegal hunting and poaching for fur, ivory, or supposed medicinal properties have led to the drastic decline of numerous species. Pollution, particularly plastic waste, also poses a significant threat, leading to injuries, suffocation, or starvation for many marine and terrestrial creatures.
Legal Frameworks and Their Limitations
In response to these threats, several legal frameworks have been established at national and international levels to protect animals. These include the Endangered Species Act, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and various wildlife protection acts. However, these laws often face challenges in enforcement due to lack of resources, corruption, and the vastness of areas that need to be monitored.
Proposed Solutions
Secondly, habitat conservation and restoration efforts are vital. This could involve the establishment of more protected areas, reforestation efforts, and policies to limit urban sprawl.
Thirdly, public education is crucial. Many people are unaware of the threats faced by animals or the importance of biodiversity. By raising awareness, we can foster a culture of respect and care for animals.
In conclusion, animal protection is a critical issue that demands our immediate attention and action. By strengthening legal frameworks, conserving habitats, educating the public, and leveraging technology, we can ensure the survival and well-being of our planetâs diverse animal life. The future of our planet and its biodiversity lies in our hands; it is our responsibility to protect it.
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Animal Rights Essay. Research Paper on Animal Rights
Published by gudwriter on January 4, 2021 January 4, 2021
This sample animal rights essay features an outline, 1000+ words, and a list of credible references. If you would like to write a high quality research paper, ideas from this sample will give you a head start and the much needed inspiration. Animals are entitled to rights also that’s why MBA essay writers from Gudwriter are experts in writing such kind of essays for you.
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Animal Rights Argumentative Essay Outline
Introduction.
Animals are entitled to fundamental rights.
Paragraph 1:
Animals have an inherent worth just like human beings and this value is completely separate from their usefulness to humans.
- They should enjoy the right to freedom from suffering and pain.
- It wrong for society to view them as existing solely for human use
- They have emotions
- Animals have rights just like human being rights .
Paragraph 2:
Denying animals their rights is based on no meaningful argument but prejudice that is conducted by humans.
- It is only prejudice that makes humans to deny others the rights that they expect to have for themselves
- Prejudice is morally unacceptable in the society whether it is based on species, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or race.
Paragraph 3:
Animals are sentient just like the human species and it is only speciesism of animals that makes humans treating them differently.
- Speciesism is the assumption of human superiority leading to the exploitation of nonhuman animals
- Speciesism is wrong because animals suffer when they are tortured
Paragraph 4:
Human rights opponents may argue that animals do not deserve rights because rights should be accompanied by responsibilities.
- This is wrong because animal rights are essentially about allowing animals to live freely
- This is a fundamental right that any creature should naturally enjoy by virtue of being a living being
Paragraph 5:
Opponents may contend that animals do not have the capacity to make free moral judgment
- However, some animals such as chimpanzees at times show behaviors that are truly altruistic
- Moreover, humans do not always make moral judgments
- Animals should have rights because they are living beings with the right to live freely
- They have an inherent value that cannot be separated from them just like humans
- There is no moral ground upon which humans should deny them their rights
Essay, term paper, research paper: Animal Rights
Almost everybody grew up going to zoos and circuses, wearing leather, and eating meat. People also visited pet shops and bought and kept their beloved âpetsâ and even went fishing and wore clothes made from silk and wool. Well, it turns out that while people did not care to find out the effects of all these activities on animals, they were going against animal rights. The debate about whether non-human animals have rights still rages on with some people saying they do while others saying they are non-human and thus do not. This debate is however irrelevant because animals, just like humans, are entitled to fundamental rights.
Animals have an inherent worth just like human beings and this value is completely separate from how they might be seen as being useful to humans. Every being that has a will to live should be able to enjoy the right to freedom from suffering and pain. It is thus wrong for society to view nonhuman animals as existing solely for human use. When it comes to such emotions as fear, loneliness, joy, love, and pain, the same feeling a human being has is the one an animal has. Each attaches immense value to their life and fights to keep it and that is why animals too try to avoid harm as much as they can (Smith, 2012). It is surprising that humans see no wrong in snatching this freedom from animals. Moreover, determining whether a living being has rights or not should not rest on whether it can reason or talk but on whether it has the capacity to suffer. Thus, humans should consider the extent of harm or suffering they would expose animals to before subjecting them to certain acts. This is because the capacity to suffer has more sensitivity and significance as compared to other characteristics such as the capacity to think, talk, or worship. Animals undergo suffering when exposed to harm just like humans do, and can also succumb to pain. They can feel pressure, frustration, and motherly love as well.
Denying animals their rights is based on no meaningful argument but prejudice that is conducted by humans. This is because it is only prejudice that makes humans to deny others, including animals, the rights that they expect to have for themselves (Smith, 2012). Prejudice is morally unacceptable in society whether it is based on species, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or race. It is this prejudice that makes humans to think of some animals as food and others as companions or pets. If a dog should be kept at home for security purposes, why should a cow for instance be butchered for its meat? Society should give similar levels of attention it gives to different forms of prejudices against humans to prejudices against animals because they are not justifiable.
Animals are sentient just like the human species and it is only speciesism that sends humans into treating them differently. Cochrane (2012) defines speciesism as the assumption of human superiority leading to the exploitation of nonhuman animals. Out of this assumption, humans have developed an incorrect belief that they are the only species among all species that deserve to be treated morally. Speciesism is wrong because when animals such as chickens, pigs, and cows are slaughtered, tortured, or confined for their meat, they suffer. Such sufferance is unjustified because morally, there is no reason that creates a distinction between nonhuman animals and humans. The reason for which people have rights, which is to prevent unjust suffering, is the same reason why animals should have rights.
Animal rights opponents may argue that animals do not deserve rights because rights should be accompanied by responsibilities. They may say that humans are granted rights and are at the same time expected to be responsible by for instance abiding by universal laws. Since animals may not be in a position to exercise such responsibility, the opponents feel they should not be entitled to any rights (Cavalieri, 2004). People promoting such an argument are however forgetting that animal rights are essentially about allowing animals to live freely, free from human exploitation and use. This is a fundamental right that any creature should naturally enjoy by virtue of being a living being. It is not like animal rights involve animals coming to scramble for economic, social or political opportunities with humans or compete with them in any manner.
Opponents may also contend that animals do not have the capacity to make free moral judgment and thus deserve no moral treatment. It is for example often argued that animals are selfish in their behavior and are only interested in their own wellbeing and not of other beings. The argument goes on that on the other hand; humans will always offer a helping hand to others even if it means getting disadvantaged in the process. This argument fails to recognize that some animals such as chimpanzees at times show behaviors that are truly altruistic (Isacat, 2014). Moreover, it is not true that humans will always help fellow humans since there are situations in which a person would actually rejoice when another person is experiencing difficulties.
Animals should have rights because they are living beings with the right to live freely as long as they have the will to. Humans are not in a position to determine when an animal should die or what its life should be like. Animals have an inherent value that cannot be separated from them just like humans. They value their lives very much and are sentient and this is why they try to avoid any harm that may come their way. There is no moral ground upon which humans should deny them their rights. Moreover, granting them their rights will take nothing away from humans.
Cavalieri, P. (2004). The animal question: why nonhuman animals deserve human rights . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Cochrane, A. (2012). Animal rights without liberation: applied ethics and human obligations . New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Isacat, B. (2014). How to do animal rights . Raleigh, NC: Lulu.
Smith, W. J. (2012). A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy: the human cost of the animal rights movement . New York, NY: Encounter Books.
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Animal Rights: Definition, Issues, and Examples. THL. Jul 08, 2022 (Originally Published: Dec 17, 2020) Animal rights advocates believe that non-human animals should be free to live as they wish, without being used, exploited, or otherwise interfered with by humans. T he idea of giving rights to animals has long been contentious, but a deeper ...
The modern animal rights movement in the United States saw a major milestone in the 1970s with the publication of Peter Singer's "Animal Liberation," in which he argued that it was ethically important that nonhuman animals feel pain, and that this fact demanded far more equal treatment of nonhuman animals and humans. He also popularized the term "speciesism" to describe what happens ...
All animal right essays should start with an impactful introduction so that your audience understands what you're talking about, what you're driving at, and what your key arguments are. To achieve this goal, we recommend structuring an introduction as follows: First, discuss the broad context of the paper - animal rights in general, what ...
animal rights, moral or legal entitlements attributed to nonhuman animals, usually because of the complexity of their cognitive, emotional, and social lives or their capacity to experience physical or emotional pain or pleasure. Historically, different views of the scope of animal rights have reflected philosophical and legal developments ...
Abstract. Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction explores the implications for how we should treat animals in connection with our diet, zoos, and research. Most people are opposed to cruelty and sense that animals have moral significance. At the same time, traditional views that sanction animal use with few constraints have heavily influenced beliefs and everyday practices.
I. Introduction. Whether at home, on the farm, or at the dinner table, animals play an important role in everyday human life. They serve as companions, a source of livelihood, entertainment, inspiration, and of course food and clothing to people all across the world. Yet animals can and do exist independent from people and, as living beings ...
đ Animal Rights Essay Outline Our Experts can deliver a custom essay for a mere 11.00 9.35/page Learn more. An animal rights essay should be constructed as a standard 5-paragraph essay (if not required otherwise in the assignment). The three following sections provide a comprehensive outline. Animal Rights Essay: Introduction. An ...
1. Introduction: The Need for Legal Animal Rights Theory. Legal animal rights are on the horizon, and there is a need for a legal theory of animal rightsâthat is, a theory of animal rights as legal rights. While there is a diverse body of moral and political theories of animal rights, 1 the nature and conceptual foundations of legal animal rights remain remarkably underexplored.
Get a custom essay on The Importance of Animal Rights. First of all, animals significantly impact human lives since many species contribute to the world economy by producing fur, food, and other essential products. Blattner argues that animals are people's co-workers, which is a common opinion among researchers and farmers (33).
Sagoff's notorious essay pulls animal rights and environmentalism apart: although it should, perhaps, be read in the context of Jamieson's essay (Chapter 12) since the two have quite different readings of what rights for wild animals might mean. ... DeGrazia, David (2002), Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University ...
It discusses the provisions of some state laws concerning animal rights, and the difference between animal rights and animal welfare. The introduction also explains the objectives of this book, which are to bring some new clarity to the animal rights debate, and to chart some new directions for both practice and theory.
In this essay you are being given two opposing opinions to discuss. This is the first opinion: Animals should not be exploited by people and they should have the same rights as humans. This is the second opinion: Humans must employ animals to satisfy their various needs, including uses for food and research. In this type of essay, you must look ...
Animal rights essay introduction and body. When writing an animal rights essay introduction, you have to present the information in such a way that your audience will be interested in continuing reading your paper. Besides, this section should gradually lead your reader to the thesis statement, which has to be relevant and to the point. ...
They killed many of them and some of them extinct many people often argue in that humans need help and are ignored in our country to even pay attention to animal rights and welfare which is viewed as a secondary and lower issue and some even mock the idea of animal rights humans have a voice to speak their minds and that humans cause the ...
Animal Rights History in the USA Essay introduction: the american society for the preclusion of cruelty to animals (aspca) defines animal cruelty as of violence
Animal Rights "Nearly as many, 68 percent, were concerned or very concerned about the well-being of animals used in 'sports' or contests as well as animals in laboratories (67 percent) (Kretzer, 1).". Many people question whether an animal is capable of thought and emotions. Others feel as though animals are the equivalent of humans and ...
Introduction. Despite being used interchangeably, the terms animal welfare and animal rights are different. One can state that the term animal rights refers to the privileges that animals should enjoy (Welfare vs. Rights).Scholars that support this school of thought argue that animals should have the same privileges as human beings (Welfare vs. Rights).
Animal Rights Introduction to the ESA According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law (1996) the Endangered Species Act (ESA) obligated the government to protect all animal and plant life threatened with extinction. Included in this category are endangered species, which is defined as any species "which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range."
7. The animal rights issue is a hotly debated topic. 8. All animals are living organisms and can feel like us. Hence, we should treat them as such. 9. Humans are superior to other animals in terms of evolutions, but we belong to the animal kingdom as well. 10. Humans have morals, unlike other animals.
Animal Rights Essay Outline. Introduction. Thesis: People should consider giving animals the same rights as human beings because they deserve it. Body. Paragraph 1: Animals should be granted the same rights as humans first because just like humans, they have the capacity to suffer.
It involves safeguarding animal rights and promoting their welfare, particularly for species that are endangered or threatened. ... 500 Words Essay on Animal Protection Introduction. As we delve into the 21st century, the issue of animal protection has become increasingly significant. The interdependence of life on Earth is a complex web, where ...
This sample animal rights essay features an outline, 1000+ words, and a list of credible references. ... Essay, term paper, research paper: Animal Rights Introduction. Almost everybody grew up going to zoos and circuses, wearing leather, and eating meat. People also visited pet shops and bought and kept their beloved "pets" and even went ...
Give some statistics to shock the reader. For example you can write about the wales committing suicide due to the environmental pollution. In this way, you can emphasis on the importance of animal rights. There are two different kinds of animal testing; Final position paper- Animal Rights [NEW] ~ 2008 - Research Papers.