Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
MWF 9am
23 comments:
greter
said...
Unfortunately, I must admit that Iam no vegean. For as long as I can remember, all of my family has always ate meat, however, I often do think of such issues mentioned and I find myself not even finishing my steak. I believe animals were put on Earth for us to feed on them, but not to indulge the way we are doing it. Iam completely against animal cruelty of any type. It might sound a bit contradicting, but feed and don't over-indulge. Kill fast and not slowly, much less for the simple act of taking out ones anger and so on... I know this sounds somewhat wrong too, but can we really stop the addiction? Iam willing to trade meat for a supplementary, but how about everyone else? Not everyone thinks alike. All we can do is do our part in protecting these defenseless animals that don't have a way of doing it themselves and trying to pass laws in favor of animal rights. Yes, that would mean ownership, yet there would be the laws against cruelty. Most often the beast is the one holding the leash.
I understand and somewhat agree with this post. Animals do deserve rights. Even though animals are here for us to feed on, they don’t deserve to be abused. I’ve eaten meat my whole life and have always loved it. I don’t think I could ever become a vegetarian. On the contrary, I am extremely against bullfighting for example. I think it is a cruel “sport”. I don’t see anything fun in torturing bulls. It is sad how they have to go hours suffering when they did not do anything to deserve it. We don’t need animals to use language for us to know they are suffering. So to some extent I do think animal rights will reduce this cruelty.
Animal suffrage for medical advancements (product testing) is an atrocious practice & should not be necessary for scientists to use. Basically “no language no rights”, since these animals have no say in what they want or cannot adequately express their pain humans take advantage of them “as means to an end” that really does not exist. However, scientist and product testers are not the only ones at fault for the inevitability of an animal’s end. We as meat eaters are not lessening the issue; we are reinforcing it (this is not to say STOP EATING MEAT! No, I myself am a meat eater and understand I am eating something that was once alive). Eating animals is not the entirety of the problem it’s excessive meat eating and the corporations endorsing that ideal with “all you can eat food by the pound, the bigger the better”.
Hypocritically speaking I sometimes ponder these issues while eating meat, yet have done nothing to stop. There’s the answer to the situation, there are so many people involuntary at fault that the problem will most likely not get resolved. Nonetheless, with better eating habits (vegetables), less fast food, more protests and actual laws to protect the over negligence of animal killing and testing maybe we can still save natures creatures.
Even though, I am called an animal lover for having 3 chihuahuas, 1 turtle and 1 ferret that recently died, I do not think about any of these issues when I am eating meat. I eat 4 times a week without realizing how many cow’s, chickens, porks lives die weekly because of “my nutritional habit”. I bet the most of us feel ashamed because of it. We contribute for the killing of these innocent animals. I have seen videos of movies and videos documentaries that how humans tortured animals for games such as roaster’s fights or dog’s fights. If you had the chance to see the video “Faces of Death” you will see the way how in an Asian’s restaurant monkeys are beaten to death on their head, so after it died they open the monkey’s skull to eat their brains. By watching things like that, are we should be called “rational animals”? I agree the animals deserved rights; because they are not able to communicate it does not mean they can not feel pain. Most of us grew up with a dog, cat, or a different pet and we provided love, affection, caring, and time, so when they leave us we feel like we lost “a family member” and it hard to forget the “empty space” and old the anecdotes and good times. There is a difference between pork’s life and dog’s life? Humans become less sensitive to animal’s pain as technology goes on. For example: how many animals die in a daily basis from our “Labs” it could justifiable for trying to discover cures and medicines against any dangerous pathogens or bacteria, but not for virus to destroy human lives. We became more “irrationals” than animals in certain ways. What I can do personally to stop feeling guilty about it is to eat less meat weekly or at least once a week. I hope you can do the same and to contribute to make the difference…
While I believe that we should treat animals with more respect, I wouldn't go as far as to abolish animal ownership. I eat meat, but I always eat meat from grass fed, humanly treated animals or from wild animals. Meat is an important part of our diets, containing many essential proteins and amino acids that we can't find in plants. let us not forget that many animals in nature are carnivores who eat other animals, some not as humanly as we would like. We are in this category, wether anyone likes it or not. This is not, however, an excuse to confine animals to tight places for all of there lives and then kill them in inhumane manners. This treatment of animals was instituded by greedy people looking to make money with no regards to the animals they raise. The same goes for animal testing. Yes, we can find cures to many diseases and disabilities through animal testing, but we have to maintain our ethics and use testing as a last resort. We as humanity need to put ourselves above animals, but we also need to recognize the lesser forms of life, being part of the miracle of life.
Maureen Auguste I believe that no entity of life should be put through torture whether it's for a "good" cause or not. I also think that everything, that's alive, should have a right to life even though it may not be able to communicate in a language that we could understand. But again, we do need food. Now they're saying that even plants can feel pain, in which I don't know how scientist detect that, so for me to say that I wouldn't condone a certain amount of animals to be inflicted with pain(atleast for an instant) because those are the animals that I wind up eating as a meal almost everyday. I was always taught(and later on embraced for myself) to never waste food so if these animals that are being deprived of their lives are getting killed out of greed, then I disagree. We have to treat animals as an end in itself, meaning we should only take what we need.
Animal studies of their emotional reactions to the suffering and death of those close to them indicate that they not only have empathy, they are capable of so-called remote sensing because they are cognitively linked, for example when a dog looses one of her pups, she shows signs of depression. Who are we to say that animals don't have feeling. I've always eaten meat but its sad to know that we are being cruel with animals that we eat. There is many secrets hidden from everyone and we are always blinded by the truth, we are told everyday about how cruel we treat the animals we eat, and still nobody seems to do anything, including me. The reason being is that we have no control but what should happen is put laws out to protect some of the animals we eat and set basic standards in how we can kill are animals. The government should put more jobs out there as inspectors to search and investigate how companies are processing are food. Animals have feeling and they can feel pain, why should we put them through so much pain.
As philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote, “There is only one untruthful creature on earth, and that is man. All others are honest and upright in that they openly declare their nature and do not simulate emotions they do not have.”
The improvement in the treatment of animals, will never come through reason alone, but through a combination of sound science,facts and genuine feeling, concern and commitment.
Animal cruelty seems to be something Americans hear about and choose to be indifferent about its issues. We know that the meat we eat comes from farm factories where animals have been mistreated and live in poor conditions. This added stress and added hormones to these animals creates none other than cheap, processed dead carcass. Is that idea nope repulsing? I am a vegetarian for two reasons: first, I hate to know that animals have to die and be cruelly handled throughout their short life time and second, it is much healthier to leave meat do to its poor conditions. Now to the question if animals should have rights, I would answer yes. Have you ever heard a lobster cry as it is being hauled into a boiling pot of water? Have you ever heard a pig squeal knowing that it headed towards slaughter? There just isn’t something natural and pleasant if you have witnessed this. There is no doubt that these animals can feel. They may not be able to speech in any human language but they truly speech through their cries and even through their behavior. A baby and an animal are two complete separate beings yet they both cannot speak and they both need care to mature in a healthy way. If we want the quality of meat to be well, the animal has to be treated with care which means animal rights. This idea will help us to be more sensitive to compassion, as well as, sympathy to our fellow neighbors which include animals.
Should animals have rights? Is there anything that demands they be treated well? Could it be that because these animals exist, that existence gives them enough right to live despite their inability to reason? If this were the argument one could say that aren’t there also many decisions people make that show little reason such as in our overall treatment of the environment, each other, ect. Does this mean that our rights too must be removed? It’s something interesting to consider. Peter Singer states that since animals feel pain they should have rights. But scientist argues that it is impossible to be sure whether an animal is really in pain. Unlike humans, animals are primarily governed by instinct, could it be that they won’t pretend to feel pain as a person could? Could it be that problematizing whether animals experience pain or experience any feelings is poorly supported? Science has shown that certain behaviors in animals demonstrate that there is some understanding. However, even if there wasn’t any understand could a whine, shivering, or whimpering show a type of mental state? Then we have to think, if animals are entitled to rights, where do their rights start and end because the truth is that humans will determine what these rights are. Should they? Most likely the concern would be how to allow meat consumption on living things that have rights (that is, if rights are given to them). Eating meat is not essential to survival at least not in the United States. When observing animal behavior, we can see that carnivores and omnivores only kill what they need to survive. But when eating meat or animal byproducts animal rights aren’t ever entering our mind. We would rather feel detached so we can continue consuming how much and whatever we want.
Victor.Mustelier001 said… The argument of animal abuse is in some cases subjective to the individuals making the observation. However, that we cannot know if an animal is feeling pain because of them not being able to communicate it through a language is irrelevant. To begin with you know when an animal is feeling pain, some species do make noises when hurt (the idea of a language) and by all means all of the physical reactions are considered communication. Legal ownership could reduce animal suffering but only for domestic purposes. Technically owning a pig farm, much like the ones where pigs are abused, is having ownership of animals. It is the interest for success that makes people turn into Machiavellians even though they are dealing with lives. Meat is a much better source of protein, amino acids and Iron in comparison with most other resources such as plants, so I could not see myself anytime soon letting go of eating meat. One step towards halting animal abuse is to consume meats that have had a good upbringing.
I honestly do believe that animals do deserve rights. Leaving animals without right would be like the whole issue of female circumcision, how these poor girls dont have a choise, they are just mutilated from birth. The same way i feel about animals. I am not going to lie, i am no saint myself i do eat meat all the time, but when it comes down to experimenting on them and drugging them and doing all these sorts of things that are unnecessary i am strongly against it. I feel we have done so wrong , we have treated nature so wrong and everything that nature has to offer as well. Eventually we will all pay for the those things we have done, i just hope that the animal testing centers and all of those brutal things stop for good. animals dont harm us, they do nothing to us, all they do is try to survive at their best, and here we are destroying them for selfish purposes. I would like to see how would it feel if animals tested on us, if the roles were reversed, how would we like that? there is no fair way to say that but humanity, we as humans are completely garbage, we harm things for the purpose of money, for the purpose of that green paper that makes us all evil and brutaly stupid.
There is a fine line between animal suffrage and animal consumption for survival and unfortunately many people often tend cross the boundaries. I myself admit to eating meat but I disagree with the cruelty of animals. On earth I believe it's about survival of the fittest so of course animals will be consumed for our survival but at the same time animals must be respected. Every living,breathing creature should be honored and in the end if it comes down to killing the animal for consumption it should be quick and painless like the kosher process. In conclusion animals should not be abused nor tortured and animal rights should be enforced stronger to help defenseless animals.
Is reasonable to think that having a certain rights requires obligations, but wouldn’t that sound greedy? I mean, we humans, have the capacity to talk and communicate fluently or not, but we do understand each other. I don’t think that we should be that rational on animals and expect them do have obligations. In my opinion animals do deserve rights, or in other words, we as human should set a list of rules for us to follow on how to treat them as well when exposing them to death. Is not them the main problem here, is us, who keep on exploiting the weak.
I don't agree with using animals for medical testing. I don't agree with any animal testing, period. Animals do deserve rights. Not the same exact rights as humans, but they do deserve something. Like for instance, animal neglect, physical animal abuse-either a hose hold pet or a farm animal should be illegal everywhere. Just because an animal can't speak or express itself the way we can, doesn't mean it feels no pain. Things like bullfighting, rooster and dog fighting should also be illegal. I know dog fighting is looked down on, but things like bullfighting should be too. I eat meat. I always have and I always will. In high school, I saw documentaries of how animals are treated for their meat. It did make me want to change my eating habits, and I did. I haven't stopped eating meat all together. I did however, change the amount of meat I consume. I try not to think what the meat on my plate had to go through to end up where it did. It's just so sad. Plus it'll make me lose my appetite. Anais Franco
Animals can feel pain. Animals are as emotional as human beings .We should protect them and treat them with respect and attentions. Usually, animals such as cats and dogs make good pets. Tom Regan was wrong to call the animals “subjects-of-a-life,” and not to give any rights to the animals. Also, Carl Cohen was right for not admitting personhood for the animals. Animals should have rights. We should care for them. We should protect them. We should cherish them and we should take care of the animals but the animals shouldn’t be equal to humans. We have more capacity to understand things and to act behalf our rights. On the other hand, Animals can’t follow rules correctly. We can educate the animals to act in a certain way but the animals can’t control themselves. The animals are ruled by their emotions
When I eat meat I do think of these things and more. When I lived in Colombia I lived in a farm and we had pigs and I remember watching the people that worked in the farm kill the pigs without even flinching. I could never understand how they could not flinch when they were killing a living creature, not just that the pigs would not go silently you could hear their suffering it was painful to hear them almost like if they were killing a human being who was screaming for help. But I still till this day eat meat I just keep it to a minimum and I refuse to eat certain meats, I will not eat chicken because in the farm we also had chickens and I will only eat pork in the holidays but I do feel terrible before I take the first bite. I would like to express certain things that run through my mind when I see someone eat meat or I see the way animals are mistreated. I love animals and I do believe they have rights just like we do the only difference is that humans are at the top of the food chain the same way a whale will play with its food and kill it to eat it we “play” with our food and then eat it. When I say play I mean we experiment and find the most effective way to produce the most out of these animals. Like we will put pigs in a small space because it consumes less space, problem is infection because they are basically living in their own feces but we have a solution to that we just stuff the pigs with antibiotics. As humans we have lost our connection to nature and we have always seen ourselves as superior beings of this planet. Another thought that occurs to me is that religion definitely plays a role in morphing the way we humans think of ourselves. In most stories you hear about how life started we see that it begins with humans and we hear how animals were put here to allow man to hunt them and feed from them. I remember the last time I went to church I had actually objected to something our priest had said, he said that we were superior to animals because that was the way god himself had intended it to be, he said the sole purpose of animals was to provided man with food. When he said this I wasn’t happy because it reminded of the people who believe that the only purpose man has in this planet is to make babies. Point being many people in the church agreed with the priest and I was taken back by this because I couldn’t believe the amount of people who actually had a mind set that animal have no other purpose but to be our food source. In my mind I ask myself if that is the purpose of all animals then why the same people that believe this have a problem understanding how in other cultures dogs are eaten or snakes. Animals have rights but as humans have evolved with technology we have lost our ability to understand what suffering is and that it is not only a human thing, it is something that animals can feel as well. There is proof of this but we believe we are so much better than these animals just because we have put ourselves at the top that we cease to allow our true feelings to surface to the top because we have come up in a society where we know this is happening but people believe nothing can be done and that if it is being done then it is being done for a good reason, but its not the reasons to taking animals rights away from them is as selfish as the way a whale plays with its food until it dies and then eats it.
When I eat meat I do think of these things and more. When I lived in Colombia I lived in a farm and we had pigs and I remember watching the people that worked in the farm kill the pigs without even flinching. I could never understand how they could not flinch when they were killing a living creature, not just that the pigs would not go silently you could hear their suffering it was painful to hear them almost like if they were killing a human being who was screaming for help. But I still till this day eat meat I just keep it to a minimum and I refuse to eat certain meats, I will not eat chicken because in the farm we also had chickens and I will only eat pork in the holidays but I do feel terrible before I take the first bite. I would like to express certain things that run through my mind when I see someone eat meat or I see the way animals are mistreated. I love animals and I do believe they have rights just like we do the only difference is that humans are at the top of the food chain the same way a whale will play with its food and kill it to eat it we “play” with our food and then eat it. When I say play I mean we experiment and find the most effective way to produce the most out of these animals. Like we will put pigs in a small space because it consumes less space, problem is infection because they are basically living in their own feces but we have a solution to that we just stuff the pigs with antibiotics. As humans we have lost our connection to nature and we have always seen ourselves as superior beings of this planet. Another thought that occurs to me is that religion definitely plays a role in morphing the way we humans think of ourselves. In most stories you hear about how life started we see that it begins with humans and we hear how animals were put here to allow man to hunt them and feed from them. I remember the last time I went to church I had actually objected to something our priest had said, he said that we were superior to animals because that was the way god himself had intended it to be, he said the sole purpose of animals was to provided man with food. When he said this I wasn’t happy because it reminded of the people who believe that the only purpose man has in this planet is to make babies. Point being many people in the church agreed with the priest and I was taken back by this because I couldn’t believe the amount of people who actually had a mind set that animal have no other purpose but to be our food source. In my mind I ask myself if that is the purpose of all animals then why the same people that believe this have a problem understanding how in other cultures dogs are eaten or snakes. Animals have rights but as humans have evolved with technology we have lost our ability to understand what suffering is and that it is not only a human thing, it is something that animals can feel as well. There is proof of this but we believe we are so much better than these animals just because we have put ourselves at the top that we cease to allow our true feelings to surface to the top because we have come up in a society where we know this is happening but people believe nothing can be done and that if it is being done then it is being done for a good reason, but its not the reasons to taking animals rights away from them is as selfish as the way a whale plays with its food until it dies and then eats it.
Since I was little, I have always defended animals. They were and still are my best friends. I used find homeless animals with disabilities and take care of them. My favorite was a cat named Max that was completely blind. He use to fall when he didn’t know there was another step to walk down. It was the saddest thing, he was scared and unable to defend himself. That made me love him more, because he was a fighter. Everyday he survived was a victory . Anyone that has looked into the eyes of abused animals could tell they feel pain. All living things feel pain. That animals don’t speak or communicate thats bull, just because we don’t hear it or understand it doesn’t mean its not happening. I wish with all my heart I could be a full fledge vegetarian. But sadly if I did I would die of starvation since I cant eat vegetables with out throwing up. I completely defend organizations like P.E.T.A and animal rights . One day soon I know killing animals for food will be illegal and that day will be the day we grow as human beings. I never had watched how animals are killed or prepared for slaughter until watching the movie “Food. INC”. I didn’t eat beef or chicken for a week. I even had nightmares from hearing the animals scream in terror. Just now thinking about it makes me want to cry. How many animals are dieing to feed me or you? The bigger question is, “Is it worth it“?
As a pet owner I think it’s unethical to treat animals the way we do rather it’s a cow, pig, or a chicken. I personally think that an animal should have rights to be protected from cruel and brutal death because animals practically have the same sense we have the sight, touch, feel, and taste; one of the things they don’t have in common with humans is language. They don’t have the word or voice to speak on there be half. In regards to the way they are being treated; the cruelty and the pain that we cause upon there body just to satisfy our needs, although animal provide our body with proteins. I think we can get proteins from other sources not only animal unparticular. For example, beans, peas.
I regret to say that I do not ever think of what really goes into what I consume. I must bring up the fact of being in America, not to excuse myself or anyone however, where we do not always have the luxury of time but a plethora of quick options that in nearly all instances is a bad choice. Unfortunately there is not enough awareness to keep us in touch with what really goes on, there is however plenty of advertising and reasons to choice big company’s product. Ultimately people are going to do what they want even with the knowledge of what it takes to get it.
I firmly believe that animals should have rights, but at the same time understand the conflict which this issue faces. I am a proud parent of three cats which I rescued, brought back to health and welcomed into my home. At the same time I love a nice med-rare skirt steak. I believe as humans we are all morally responsible as all of the arguments do, as our culture does consume large amounts of meat from live stock, I believe that there should be a set standards in executing livestock for consumption. As in terms of other animals I believe that we have a duty to, as moral people believing in their respective faiths, not do harm to others. Emotions can defiantly be felt by animals as well as they can be taught right from wrong. Any study of any animal can attest to various achievements discovered. They also communicate with us, although as stated, not through an identifiable language, audible sounds and behavioral observations can most certainly convey an array of emotions. Who’s to say a dogs bark, cat’s meow, pigs snort, cows mooo, isn’t a language? Anyone speak dog? Cat? Pig? Cow? If this is not considered it would be to say as disabled persons who are unable to speak and are mentally unfortunate cannot communicate with us. I can honestly admit that I cannot recall anytime which I was enjoying a nicely grilled steak and thought about animal rights. Anyone which doubts the emotional and mental capacity and ability of animals should simply put, spend more time with them.
I believe that animals do feel pain and that they should have rights. I admit that I haven’t given animals much thought when it comes down to their rights. I eat meat and probably always will. I think that some animals are meant to be eaten like fish and chicken for example. Though what I don’t agree on is the way in which many of these edible animals are treated. I think that scientist shouldn’t experiment on animals and use other means for science. I personally don’t think twice about the life an animal has when I’m eating meat because if I did I’ll probably loose my appetite. Like mostly anything else, nothing is going to change unless people get together to stop this injustice.
I had never really thought about this issue before. I have been eating meat since a very young age and I’m so used to it that I don’t see myself stopping. Yet, now that I’m analyzing it I feel that as human being with moral and judgment the way we treat animals in some ways is disgusting. I do believe that animals were put on earth to our advantage and to feed us but I notice that nowadays we completely took advantage of it. The way we treat animals whether to feed ourselves or entertain us is abuse. I do condemn cruelty and if I had to stop my meat loving addiction to stop it I would but that would be only if supplements and replacements were offered. I think abuse of animals like dog fighting, killings of whales and sharks for no reason is what to be stopped.
23 comments:
Unfortunately, I must admit that Iam no vegean. For as long as I can remember, all of my family has always ate meat, however, I often do think of such issues mentioned and I find myself not even finishing my steak. I believe animals were put on Earth for us to feed on them, but not to indulge the way we are doing it. Iam completely against animal cruelty of any type. It might sound a bit contradicting, but feed and don't over-indulge. Kill fast and not slowly, much less for the simple act of taking out ones anger and so on... I know this sounds somewhat wrong too, but can we really stop the addiction? Iam willing to trade meat for a supplementary, but how about everyone else? Not everyone thinks alike. All we can do is do our part in protecting these defenseless animals that don't have a way of doing it themselves and trying to pass laws in favor of animal rights. Yes, that would mean ownership, yet there would be the laws against cruelty. Most often the beast is the one holding the leash.
I understand and somewhat agree with this post. Animals do deserve rights. Even though animals are here for us to feed on, they don’t deserve to be abused. I’ve eaten meat my whole life and have always loved it. I don’t think I could ever become a vegetarian. On the contrary, I am extremely against bullfighting for example. I think it is a cruel “sport”. I don’t see anything fun in torturing bulls. It is sad how they have to go hours suffering when they did not do anything to deserve it. We don’t need animals to use language for us to know they are suffering. So to some extent I do think animal rights will reduce this cruelty.
Animal suffrage for medical advancements (product testing) is an atrocious practice & should not be necessary for scientists to use. Basically “no language no rights”, since these animals have no say in what they want or cannot adequately express their pain humans take advantage of them “as means to an end” that really does not exist. However, scientist and product testers are not the only ones at fault for the inevitability of an animal’s end. We as meat eaters are not lessening the issue; we are reinforcing it (this is not to say STOP EATING MEAT! No, I myself am a meat eater and understand I am eating something that was once alive). Eating animals is not the entirety of the problem it’s excessive meat eating and the corporations endorsing that ideal with “all you can eat food by the pound, the bigger the better”.
Hypocritically speaking I sometimes ponder these issues while eating meat, yet have done nothing to stop. There’s the answer to the situation, there are so many people involuntary at fault that the problem will most likely not get resolved. Nonetheless, with better eating habits (vegetables), less fast food, more protests and actual laws to protect the over negligence of animal killing and testing maybe we can still save natures creatures.
- Oscar Garay MWF 9AM
Even though, I am called an animal lover for having 3 chihuahuas, 1 turtle and 1 ferret that recently died, I do not think about any of these issues when I am eating meat. I eat 4 times a week without realizing how many cow’s, chickens, porks lives die weekly because of “my nutritional habit”. I bet the most of us feel ashamed because of it. We contribute for the killing of these innocent animals. I have seen videos of movies and videos documentaries that how humans tortured animals for games such as roaster’s fights or dog’s fights. If you had the chance to see the video “Faces of Death” you will see the way how in an Asian’s restaurant monkeys are beaten to death on their head, so after it died they open the monkey’s skull to eat their brains. By watching things like that, are we should be called “rational animals”?
I agree the animals deserved rights; because they are not able to communicate it does not mean they can not feel pain. Most of us grew up with a dog, cat, or a different pet and we provided love, affection, caring, and time, so when they leave us we feel like we lost “a family member” and it hard to forget the “empty space” and old the anecdotes and good times. There is a difference between pork’s life and dog’s life? Humans become less sensitive to animal’s pain as technology goes on. For example: how many animals die in a daily basis from our “Labs” it could justifiable for trying to discover cures and medicines against any dangerous pathogens or bacteria, but not for virus to destroy human lives. We became more “irrationals” than animals in certain ways. What I can do personally to stop feeling guilty about it is to eat less meat weekly or at least once a week. I hope you can do the same and to contribute to make the difference…
While I believe that we should treat animals with more respect, I wouldn't go as far as to abolish animal ownership. I eat meat, but I always eat meat from grass fed, humanly treated animals or from wild animals.
Meat is an important part of our diets, containing many essential proteins and amino acids that we can't find in plants. let us not forget that many animals in nature are carnivores who eat other animals, some not as humanly as we would like. We are in this category, wether anyone likes it or not.
This is not, however, an excuse to confine animals to tight places for all of there lives and then kill them in inhumane manners. This treatment of animals was instituded by greedy people looking to make money with no regards to the animals they raise.
The same goes for animal testing. Yes, we can find cures to many diseases and disabilities through animal testing, but we have to maintain our ethics and use testing as a last resort. We as humanity need to put ourselves above animals, but we also need to recognize the lesser forms of life, being part of the miracle of life.
Maureen Auguste
I believe that no entity of life should be put through torture whether it's for a "good" cause or not. I also think that everything, that's alive, should have a right to life even though it may not be able to communicate in a language that we could understand. But again, we do need food. Now they're saying that even plants can feel pain, in which I don't know how scientist detect that, so for me to say that I wouldn't condone a certain amount of animals to be inflicted with pain(atleast for an instant) because those are the animals that I wind up eating as a meal almost everyday. I was always taught(and later on embraced for myself) to never waste food so if these animals that are being deprived of their lives are getting killed out of greed, then I disagree. We have to treat animals as an end in itself, meaning we should only take what we need.
Animal studies of their emotional reactions to the suffering and death of those close to them indicate that they not only have empathy, they are capable of so-called remote sensing because they are cognitively linked, for example when a dog looses one of her pups, she shows signs of depression. Who are we to say that animals don't have feeling. I've always eaten meat but its sad to know that we are being cruel with animals that we eat. There is many secrets hidden from everyone and we are always blinded by the truth, we are told everyday about how cruel we treat the animals we eat, and still nobody seems to do anything, including me. The reason being is that we have no control but what should happen is put laws out to protect some of the animals we eat and set basic standards in how we can kill are animals. The government should put more jobs out there as inspectors to search and investigate how companies are processing are food. Animals have feeling and they can feel pain, why should we put them through so much pain.
As philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote, “There is only one untruthful creature on earth, and that is man. All others are honest and upright in that they openly declare their nature and do not simulate emotions they do not have.”
The improvement in the treatment of animals, will never come through reason alone, but through a combination of sound science,facts and genuine feeling, concern and commitment.
Animal cruelty seems to be something Americans hear about and choose to be indifferent about its issues. We know that the meat we eat comes from farm factories where animals have been mistreated and live in poor conditions. This added stress and added hormones to these animals creates none other than cheap, processed dead carcass. Is that idea nope repulsing? I am a vegetarian for two reasons: first, I hate to know that animals have to die and be cruelly handled throughout their short life time and second, it is much healthier to leave meat do to its poor conditions. Now to the question if animals should have rights, I would answer yes. Have you ever heard a lobster cry as it is being hauled into a boiling pot of water? Have you ever heard a pig squeal knowing that it headed towards slaughter? There just isn’t something natural and pleasant if you have witnessed this. There is no doubt that these animals can feel. They may not be able to speech in any human language but they truly speech through their cries and even through their behavior. A baby and an animal are two complete separate beings yet they both cannot speak and they both need care to mature in a healthy way. If we want the quality of meat to be well, the animal has to be treated with care which means animal rights. This idea will help us to be more sensitive to compassion, as well as, sympathy to our fellow neighbors which include animals.
Should animals have rights? Is there anything that demands they be treated well? Could it be that because these animals exist, that existence gives them enough right to live despite their inability to reason? If this were the argument one could say that aren’t there also many decisions people make that show little reason such as in our overall treatment of the environment, each other, ect. Does this mean that our rights too must be removed? It’s something interesting to consider. Peter Singer states that since animals feel pain they should have rights. But scientist argues that it is impossible to be sure whether an animal is really in pain. Unlike humans, animals are primarily governed by instinct, could it be that they won’t pretend to feel pain as a person could? Could it be that problematizing whether animals experience pain or experience any feelings is poorly supported? Science has shown that certain behaviors in animals demonstrate that there is some understanding. However, even if there wasn’t any understand could a whine, shivering, or whimpering show a type of mental state?
Then we have to think, if animals are entitled to rights, where do their rights start and end because the truth is that humans will determine what these rights are. Should they? Most likely the concern would be how to allow meat consumption on living things that have rights (that is, if rights are given to them). Eating meat is not essential to survival at least not in the United States. When observing animal behavior, we can see that carnivores and omnivores only kill what they need to survive. But when eating meat or animal byproducts animal rights aren’t ever entering our mind. We would rather feel detached so we can continue consuming how much and whatever we want.
Victor.Mustelier001 said…
The argument of animal abuse is in some cases subjective to the individuals making the observation. However, that we cannot know if an animal is feeling pain because of them not being able to communicate it through a language is irrelevant. To begin with you know when an animal is feeling pain, some species do make noises when hurt (the idea of a language) and by all means all of the physical reactions are considered communication. Legal ownership could reduce animal suffering but only for domestic purposes. Technically owning a pig farm, much like the ones where pigs are abused, is having ownership of animals. It is the interest for success that makes people turn into Machiavellians even though they are dealing with lives. Meat is a much better source of protein, amino acids and Iron in comparison with most other resources such as plants, so I could not see myself anytime soon letting go of eating meat. One step towards halting animal abuse is to consume meats that have had a good upbringing.
ALFREDO GONZALEZ.. MWF 9.00 AM CLASS
I honestly do believe that animals do deserve rights. Leaving animals without right would be like the whole issue of female circumcision, how these poor girls dont have a choise, they are just mutilated from birth. The same way i feel about animals. I am not going to lie, i am no saint myself i do eat meat all the time, but when it comes down to experimenting on them and drugging them and doing all these sorts of things that are unnecessary i am strongly against it. I feel we have done so wrong , we have treated nature so wrong and everything that nature has to offer as well. Eventually we will all pay for the those things we have done, i just hope that the animal testing centers and all of those brutal things stop for good. animals dont harm us, they do nothing to us, all they do is try to survive at their best, and here we are destroying them for selfish purposes. I would like to see how would it feel if animals tested on us, if the roles were reversed, how would we like that? there is no fair way to say that but humanity, we as humans are completely garbage, we harm things for the purpose of money, for the purpose of that green paper that makes us all evil and brutaly stupid.
ALFREDO GONZALEZ.. MWF 9.00 AM CLASS
There is a fine line between animal suffrage and animal consumption for survival and unfortunately many people often tend cross the boundaries. I myself admit to eating meat but I disagree with the cruelty of animals. On earth I believe it's about survival of the fittest so of course animals will be consumed for our survival but at the same time animals must be respected. Every living,breathing creature should be honored and in the end if it comes down to killing the animal for consumption it should be quick and painless like the kosher process. In conclusion animals should not be abused nor tortured and animal rights should be enforced stronger to help defenseless animals.
Is reasonable to think that having a certain rights requires obligations, but wouldn’t that sound greedy? I mean, we humans, have the capacity to talk and communicate fluently or not, but we do understand each other. I don’t think that we should be that rational on animals and expect them do have obligations. In my opinion animals do deserve rights, or in other words, we as human should set a list of rules for us to follow on how to treat them as well when exposing them to death. Is not them the main problem here, is us, who keep on exploiting the weak.
I don't agree with using animals for medical testing. I don't agree with any animal testing, period. Animals do deserve rights. Not the same exact rights as humans, but they do deserve something. Like for instance, animal neglect, physical animal abuse-either a hose hold pet or a farm animal should be illegal everywhere. Just because an animal can't speak or express itself the way we can, doesn't mean it feels no pain. Things like bullfighting, rooster and dog fighting should also be illegal. I know dog fighting is looked down on, but things like bullfighting should be too. I eat meat. I always have and I always will. In high school, I saw documentaries of how animals are treated for their meat. It did make me want to change my eating habits, and I did. I haven't stopped eating meat all together. I did however, change the amount of meat I consume. I try not to think what the meat on my plate had to go through to end up where it did. It's just so sad. Plus it'll make me lose my appetite.
Anais Franco
Animals can feel pain. Animals are as emotional as human beings .We should protect them and treat them with respect and attentions. Usually, animals such as cats and dogs make good pets. Tom Regan was wrong to call the animals “subjects-of-a-life,” and not to give any rights to the animals. Also, Carl Cohen was right for not admitting personhood for the animals. Animals should have rights. We should care for them. We should protect them. We should cherish them and we should take care of the animals but the animals shouldn’t be equal to humans. We have more capacity to understand things and to act behalf our rights. On the other hand, Animals can’t follow rules correctly. We can educate the animals to act in a certain way but the animals can’t control themselves. The animals are ruled by their emotions
When I eat meat I do think of these things and more. When I lived in Colombia I lived in a farm and we had pigs and I remember watching the people that worked in the farm kill the pigs without even flinching. I could never understand how they could not flinch when they were killing a living creature, not just that the pigs would not go silently you could hear their suffering it was painful to hear them almost like if they were killing a human being who was screaming for help. But I still till this day eat meat I just keep it to a minimum and I refuse to eat certain meats, I will not eat chicken because in the farm we also had chickens and I will only eat pork in the holidays but I do feel terrible before I take the first bite.
I would like to express certain things that run through my mind when I see someone eat meat or I see the way animals are mistreated. I love animals and I do believe they have rights just like we do the only difference is that humans are at the top of the food chain the same way a whale will play with its food and kill it to eat it we “play” with our food and then eat it. When I say play I mean we experiment and find the most effective way to produce the most out of these animals. Like we will put pigs in a small space because it consumes less space, problem is infection because they are basically living in their own feces but we have a solution to that we just stuff the pigs with antibiotics. As humans we have lost our connection to nature and we have always seen ourselves as superior beings of this planet.
Another thought that occurs to me is that religion definitely plays a role in morphing the way we humans think of ourselves. In most stories you hear about how life started we see that it begins with humans and we hear how animals were put here to allow man to hunt them and feed from them. I remember the last time I went to church I had actually objected to something our priest had said, he said that we were superior to animals because that was the way god himself had intended it to be, he said the sole purpose of animals was to provided man with food. When he said this I wasn’t happy because it reminded of the people who believe that the only purpose man has in this planet is to make babies. Point being many people in the church agreed with the priest and I was taken back by this because I couldn’t believe the amount of people who actually had a mind set that animal have no other purpose but to be our food source. In my mind I ask myself if that is the purpose of all animals then why the same people that believe this have a problem understanding how in other cultures dogs are eaten or snakes.
Animals have rights but as humans have evolved with technology we have lost our ability to understand what suffering is and that it is not only a human thing, it is something that animals can feel as well. There is proof of this but we believe we are so much better than these animals just because we have put ourselves at the top that we cease to allow our true feelings to surface to the top because we have come up in a society where we know this is happening but people believe nothing can be done and that if it is being done then it is being done for a good reason, but its not the reasons to taking animals rights away from them is as selfish as the way a whale plays with its food until it dies and then eats it.
When I eat meat I do think of these things and more. When I lived in Colombia I lived in a farm and we had pigs and I remember watching the people that worked in the farm kill the pigs without even flinching. I could never understand how they could not flinch when they were killing a living creature, not just that the pigs would not go silently you could hear their suffering it was painful to hear them almost like if they were killing a human being who was screaming for help. But I still till this day eat meat I just keep it to a minimum and I refuse to eat certain meats, I will not eat chicken because in the farm we also had chickens and I will only eat pork in the holidays but I do feel terrible before I take the first bite.
I would like to express certain things that run through my mind when I see someone eat meat or I see the way animals are mistreated. I love animals and I do believe they have rights just like we do the only difference is that humans are at the top of the food chain the same way a whale will play with its food and kill it to eat it we “play” with our food and then eat it. When I say play I mean we experiment and find the most effective way to produce the most out of these animals. Like we will put pigs in a small space because it consumes less space, problem is infection because they are basically living in their own feces but we have a solution to that we just stuff the pigs with antibiotics. As humans we have lost our connection to nature and we have always seen ourselves as superior beings of this planet.
Another thought that occurs to me is that religion definitely plays a role in morphing the way we humans think of ourselves. In most stories you hear about how life started we see that it begins with humans and we hear how animals were put here to allow man to hunt them and feed from them. I remember the last time I went to church I had actually objected to something our priest had said, he said that we were superior to animals because that was the way god himself had intended it to be, he said the sole purpose of animals was to provided man with food. When he said this I wasn’t happy because it reminded of the people who believe that the only purpose man has in this planet is to make babies. Point being many people in the church agreed with the priest and I was taken back by this because I couldn’t believe the amount of people who actually had a mind set that animal have no other purpose but to be our food source. In my mind I ask myself if that is the purpose of all animals then why the same people that believe this have a problem understanding how in other cultures dogs are eaten or snakes.
Animals have rights but as humans have evolved with technology we have lost our ability to understand what suffering is and that it is not only a human thing, it is something that animals can feel as well. There is proof of this but we believe we are so much better than these animals just because we have put ourselves at the top that we cease to allow our true feelings to surface to the top because we have come up in a society where we know this is happening but people believe nothing can be done and that if it is being done then it is being done for a good reason, but its not the reasons to taking animals rights away from them is as selfish as the way a whale plays with its food until it dies and then eats it.
Since I was little, I have always defended animals. They were and still are my best friends. I used find homeless animals with disabilities and take care of them. My favorite was a cat named Max that was completely blind. He use to fall when he didn’t know there was another step to walk down. It was the saddest thing, he was scared and unable to defend himself. That made me love him more, because he was a fighter. Everyday he survived was a victory . Anyone that has looked into the eyes of abused animals could tell they feel pain. All living things feel pain. That animals don’t speak or communicate thats bull, just because we don’t hear it or understand it doesn’t mean its not happening. I wish with all my heart I could be a full fledge vegetarian. But sadly if I did I would die of starvation since I cant eat vegetables with out throwing up. I completely defend organizations like P.E.T.A and animal rights . One day soon I know killing animals for food will be illegal and that day will be the day we grow as human beings. I never had watched how animals are killed or prepared for slaughter until watching the movie “Food. INC”. I didn’t eat beef or chicken for a week. I even had nightmares from hearing the animals scream in terror. Just now thinking about it makes me want to cry. How many animals are dieing to feed me or you? The bigger question is, “Is it worth it“?
As a pet owner I think it’s unethical to treat animals the way we do rather it’s a cow, pig, or a chicken. I personally think that an animal should have rights to be protected from cruel and brutal death because animals practically have the same sense we have the sight, touch, feel, and taste; one of the things they don’t have in common with humans is language. They don’t have the word or voice to speak on there be half. In regards to the way they are being treated; the cruelty and the pain that we cause upon there body just to satisfy our needs, although animal provide our body with proteins. I think we can get proteins from other sources not only animal unparticular. For example, beans, peas.
I regret to say that I do not ever think of what really goes into what I consume. I must bring up the fact of being in America, not to excuse myself or anyone however, where we do not always have the luxury of time but a plethora of quick options that in nearly all instances is a bad choice. Unfortunately there is not enough awareness to keep us in touch with what really goes on, there is however plenty of advertising and reasons to choice big company’s product. Ultimately people are going to do what they want even with the knowledge of what it takes to get it.
I firmly believe that animals should have rights, but at the same time understand the conflict which this issue faces. I am a proud parent of three cats which I rescued, brought back to health and welcomed into my home. At the same time I love a nice med-rare skirt steak. I believe as humans we are all morally responsible as all of the arguments do, as our culture does consume large amounts of meat from live stock, I believe that there should be a set standards in executing livestock for consumption. As in terms of other animals I believe that we have a duty to, as moral people believing in their respective faiths, not do harm to others. Emotions can defiantly be felt by animals as well as they can be taught right from wrong. Any study of any animal can attest to various achievements discovered. They also communicate with us, although as stated, not through an identifiable language, audible sounds and behavioral observations can most certainly convey an array of emotions. Who’s to say a dogs bark, cat’s meow, pigs snort, cows mooo, isn’t a language? Anyone speak dog? Cat? Pig? Cow? If this is not considered it would be to say as disabled persons who are unable to speak and are mentally unfortunate cannot communicate with us. I can honestly admit that I cannot recall anytime which I was enjoying a nicely grilled steak and thought about animal rights. Anyone which doubts the emotional and mental capacity and ability of animals should simply put, spend more time with them.
I believe that animals do feel pain and that they should have rights. I admit that I haven’t given animals much thought when it comes down to their rights. I eat meat and probably always will. I think that some animals are meant to be eaten like fish and chicken for example. Though what I don’t agree on is the way in which many of these edible animals are treated. I think that scientist shouldn’t experiment on animals and use other means for science. I personally don’t think twice about the life an animal has when I’m eating meat because if I did I’ll probably loose my appetite. Like mostly anything else, nothing is going to change unless people get together to stop this injustice.
I had never really thought about this issue before. I have been eating meat since a very young age and I’m so used to it that I don’t see myself stopping. Yet, now that I’m analyzing it I feel that as human being with moral and judgment the way we treat animals in some ways is disgusting. I do believe that animals were put on earth to our advantage and to feed us but I notice that nowadays we completely took advantage of it. The way we treat animals whether to feed ourselves or entertain us is abuse. I do condemn cruelty and if I had to stop my meat loving addiction to stop it I would but that would be only if supplements and replacements were offered. I think abuse of animals like dog fighting, killings of whales and sharks for no reason is what to be stopped.
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