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The basic principle of the Animal Rights movement is that nonhuman animals deserve to live according to their own natures, free from harm, abuse, and exploitation. Advocates of animal rights try to extend the human circle beyond our species to include other animals, which are also capable of feeling pain, fear, hunger, thirst, loneliness, and kinship. These people firmly believe in life for anything with any senses.
Not only do activist acknowledge the suffering of nonhumans and attempts to reduce them suffering through “humane” treatment, but they also have a goal to eliminate the use and exploitation of animals which defers the two- Animal Welfare movement, and the Animal Rights movement. Animals have no rights; they are basically property, until humans become involved. The rights they have earned aren’t for their own sake; it’s merely for our own.
Lisa Yount states in Animal Rights that “Laws have protected animals only in order to benefit humans, for instance that meat is fresh and therefore is likely safe to eat” (9). The concern of animals rights began shortly after World War II when farming and medical research needed the use of animals to complete these tasks. During the rest of the 20th century and beginning of 21st century people began to question the basic morals for animals after treatment from agriculture, entertainment, wildlife and science.
Rather than using animals for entertainment, scientific testing, or hunting (food), animal rights activist fight to end the title of ‘property’. Animal welfare activists practice just the opposite. The commotion that has stirred upon these two approaches is the beating and neglect that has been going on upon these animals. Animals are being used for entertainment purposes. When you’re in the stand watching a circus or rodeo these animals are being abused to perform for the public, then confined in uncomfortable cages with no room to roam.
These circus animals are being whipped, and shocked by electric prods only to learn performances for a show. Although Sara the Tiger Whisperer, a performer with Ringling Bros. and Barnum ; Bailey circus told the Journal of Consciousness Studies, that, ” I have an awesome relationship with my tigers, and when we spend lots of time together even when we’re not preforming . I do everything I can to make their lives comfy as possible. ” Zoos may have a better reputation than circuses but the public eye is giving them plenty of justice.
Although they get attendance by veterinarians and keepers with endless care, the denial of movement and freedom goes against their natural behavior which can cause anger in wild animals such as polar bears, elephants, and lions. Another form of entertainment that harms animals would be rodeos. Yount states in Animal Rights that, “In roping contests calves, or even full grown steers are brought to a sudden halt and then thrown to the ground sometimes breaking bones or dislocating hips”(57).
But The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) claims that injury too these animals are uncommon in modern rodeos. Not Tested on Animals; a sentence read on most bottles in the United States. Animal testing is another form of cruelty among animals. A group of animal activist targeted Revlon by placing a full-page advertisement in the New York Times showing a rabbit with bandaged eyes asking, “How Many Rabbits Does Revlon Blind for Beauty’s Sake? Revlon, one of the leading companies in the cosmetic industry, used irritancy tests called Draize tests to determine signs of irritation. The test was conducted by restraining the rabbits from touching their heads and placing the testing material in their eyes, then examined for redness, irritation, or blistering. This process was criticized unjust because rabbits don’t have tear ducts like humans do to produce fluid to wash out the irritating substances. Finally, animals are suffering in slaughterhouses from animal cruelty.
Slaughterhouses are facilities where animals are killed for consumption as food products. Not only are activists mad about to killing, but are outraged in how they are killed. The common technique for killing animals is by electrical current, but often is inefficient, leaving animals conscious for the kill. Nathan Winograd states in Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill revolution in America that, “Over 95 percent of U. S. land animals killed for food are birds, yet there is no federal law requiring they be handled humanely” (149).
Birds are sometimes thrown into baths of scalding water to remove their feathers, and some animals are pushed, or dragged into the houses to where they can’t even use them because they are so mangled and mistreated. Although many animals are killed and tortured everyday there are still people who care to help out animals in need and fight for their rights. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is the largest animal rights movements in the world, has alone 3. 1 million members. PETA gets their message through by public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, egislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns. PETA focuses on issues in factory farms, clothing trade, animal testing, and in the entertainment industry. David M. Haugen the author of Animal Experimentation, in 2007, called the groups tactics “forceful, persistent, and attention getting” (30). Another organization is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) incorporated in 1866, works to rescue animals from abuse, pass humane laws and share resources with shelters nationwide.
Some other ways of alternatives for protecting animals rights are the “three R’s” used by Winograd in Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill revolution in America, saying people need to ” Replace-substitute tests and experiments using such things as cultured cells or computer simulations for tests and experiments on whole animals; reduce-redesign tests and experiments so that they can be performed on smaller numbers of animals; and refine-redesign tests or experiments to cause less pain and distress to animals” (78).
But the most common and successful way to prevent any harm to animals is to become vegan, like most of the activist loyal to both of these groups. As the half the world continues to kill the other half will find reason not to. As of myself, I will continue to fight for the rights of animals. I believe in anything with feelings should not be harmed in anyway. Both opposing viewpoints on animal rights will disagree but hopefully they can both come together to understand each other better one day to agree to make each other happy .
Yount the author of Animal Rights said, “The way human beings treat the other creatures with whom they share the planet, as a reflection of the way they treat the planet itself, may be what determines their own survival” (79). Work Cited Aaltola, Elisa. “The Philosophy Behind The Movement: Animal Studies Versus Animal Rights. ” New York Times 19. 4 (2011): 393-406. Academic Search Complete. Web. Bateson, Patrick. “Ethical Debates About Animal Suffering And The Use Of Animals In Research. Journal Of Consciousness Studies 18. 9/10 (2011): 186-208. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2011 Haugen, David M. “Animal Experimentation. ” Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Print. Winograd, Nathan. “Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the no Kill Revolution in America. ” United States of America: Almaden Press, 2009. Print. Yount, Lisa. “Animal Rights. ” New York, NY: Infobase Press, 2008. Print.