Animal rights, to eat meat or not, do we even need to eat meet? As we evolve and become more high tech we tend to lose our prospective. An avalanche is roaring down the mountain side heading for the village below. I stand in front of it to stop it. What are chances? I too was born into this great machine of farm factories which seems like there is no way to stop it. The animal rights debate has been around for many, many years. I enjoy eating meat whether it is red meat, chicken, pork or fish. Do I think of the conditions, yes at times? But what should I do? Should I stand in front of the corporate, society driven avalanche? I understand the power of one but with all the information conflicting how can I make a sound decision? The experts in the field cannot come to a conclusion. We have learned in this class that certain things have been proven by experts are known as true. So is meat bad for me or not? We also learned in class about consciousness. There is no proof that animals are aware or suffering under these inhumane conditions. They don’t know any better. Just like two dogs having sex in the front of your yard as you receive guess. I consider myself an animal lover and believe that all living things should be respected, and protected. The pendulum swings to the left, eat meat. The pendulum swings to the right, don’t eat meat. The one thing that I can say is a true fact is that extremes are bad and moderation is the key. Maybe if we did eat meet in moderation there would be no need for these farm factories. Maybe if we did not over populate the land there would be more room for these animals to be raised in better conditions. Maybe if we stop thinking in terms of “nimby” we can all get along in peace and harmony, just imagine! Ruben M.
I am not sure which way I lean more yet but, I was raised eating meat, so I like it. I do feel guilty when I think about the circumstances from time to time but again, raised as a christian I think back to the belief that they were put here for us to eat. So far in this class I have learned that one: people's identity changes multiple times througout their lifetimes, two: moral values don't have an specific true identity, you put all that together and my first thought is that we are capable of changing our ways towards animals, and part of this change includes tuning our moral views to the same channel. My second thought is that all arguments opposing the favoring of animals in the issue, are based on completely selfish points; Also what about animals eating other animals they eat each other so why shouldn't we be allow to eat them as well. You have to ask your self what do WE have to loose by giving animals at least just the same right we want as living beings of habitating on earth and living in peace without worrying about someone blowing up your house or coming to kill you and your family just because, or in their case to eat them. Also the argument about rights come with responsability and animals can't be assigned responsability is the weakest most senseless I heard so far, I don't think I need to elaborate. I am more than willing to change my ways but as everyone else is just too much work and sacrafice for the "worthless life" of an animal. Personally I am trying hard and my goal is to achieve this mental and moral level in the next 3 years so that my children wont have as much as hard time as I am currently.
I believe that we have a general obligation to the World and society in general to be kind. If an animal clearly can be identified as feeling pain, then we as human beings owe a duty to make sure that we cause as little suffering as possible. This does not mean that we cannot eat meat, chicken, pork or fish. We just have to be compassionate with our methods. This also means, in my opinion, that we as humans deserve to enjoy the things on the earth. So it is not that we kill and eat animals that is the major philosophical problem, but the fact that we use inhumane methods which cause suffering and pain. Have you ever heard a pig squeel in total agony? If you get a chance to hear it and see what is like you will start to get a sense for animal suffering. I know what you are thinking.... who cares? I care and other people care, so stop being such an abusive and thoughtless being. How about Lion Bate for the Circus animals? I did not think so.... now get a clue.
I never really had any efforts into reading information about animal cruelty or animal rights. When it comes from my perspective, i personally do not focus on these issues prior to me eating meat. I became vegetarian on March of this year. My reason for eliminating meat had nothing to do with the animals, more-so because of the shift of energy it gave me. I felt healthier and more energetic. After about 8 months of not eating meat or poultry, i started weight lifting again. Because of my constant fatigue and intense weakness, i started craving meat and chicken again. I now eat meat again, just not as often as before. Another reason i do not focus on these issues prior to me eating meat, revolves around the acceptance of eating meat since my adolescent years. Everyone in my family always celebrated birthdays with BBQs, and it always seemed to be fine considering the atmosphere is always filled with laughter and good vibes. Christmas eve till this day is still celebrated with a huge pork and beer. I don't know how i feel about giving animals rights. I feel it would be contradictory of me to say yes, give animals rights, and then me go ahead and eat meat. It's a difficult situation i'm sure to see animals all confined in an area, injected with hormones, and then served to the public because of the apparently high demand for meat. It's kind of disgraceful, but damn, i eat meat so what does that mean? I'm curious to hear feedback.
I strongly believe that animals should have rights. If a human has moral rights based on cognitive abilities, then animals should have rights as well. Animals are very self aware and coherent beings. How can we abuse something that is responsive and can react so highly to pain? Although animals cannot communicate their pain, it is pretty self-evident when they are suffering. The screams and the evidence of animals trying their hardest to fight back when they are being hurt is enough to know they are in pain. The fact that Carl Cohen believes that animals cannot have rights “because in order to have rights you must have the capacity to comprehend rules governing all” is absolutely ridiculous. Animal cruelty is a criminal act! Along with helping the environment and striving for a healthier lifestyle, animal cruelty has a lot to do with why I don’t ever eat meat, and haven’t for two years now. I really don’t believe that meat is necessary for survival, and even if it was, there is absolutely no reason for animals to be treated the way they are in factories. It is sickening to hear about the ways they are killed, and even more sickening to watch footage. People don’t realize how bad it actually is to be eating meat that comes from those factories, not only for the animals, but also for our health. The animals are living in extremely terrible and unsanitary living conditions leading them to get infected with diseases after they have already been injected with hormones. Is that an animal you want to be eating? I would hope not. If you do eat meat, opt for organic, farm-raised animals for the sake of your own health. The less you buy of the other “meat” the more likely things will start to change in the industry.
Animal cruelty and eating meat are two very different things. Animals, without a question, deserve to have rights. Sadly, even today, we are seeing acts of ruthless cruelty performed on these innocent creatures (Michael Vick most recently caught fighting pit bulls to death and farmers caught on film torturing cows in an Ohio farm) by our own generation. Many unnecessary cosmetics, paints and other products are tested, and experiments are conducted on animals in horrible conditions. Now all of THAT is WRONG and we should all have a problem with that! We need to make a clear distinction between acts of intentional cruelty, which is same or worse (because animals do not have the ability to defend themselves) as the same acts being performed on humans. However, as far as eating meat, that is part of the cycle of nature and the natural food chain. Do we blame the bear or the tiger of “animal cruelty” for hunting their pray? Humans evolved as hunters and gatherers. We became erect at the point when we started consuming meat in our diets and, despite various religious or moral beliefs, we do need animal protein in our diet to maintain optimal health. Animals raised for food do not necessary need to be treated cruelly. There are many small organic farms, where animals are grazed and raised for human consumption in a correct fashion without feeding the animals with poisonous growth hormones and stress (which inadvertently get passed to us in the meat) from mistreatment. The statement of “the holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty governing all, including themselves…” is just a sad excuse. Historically, humans have always had the tendencies to manifest cruelty on each other, the weaker, women and the animals. One would think that in such advanced age of the 21st Century, we would have risen above such cowardly acts and we would have learned to protect the weak and innocent and manifest our power in different ways.
I think animals should have rights and that there should be more laws also to protect them. I am not a vegetarian but I try to eat as less meat as I can. There are some places, like KFC, from where I will never eat because the company has no compassion when killing animals. I understand not everybody could go vegetarian and that meat is important to survival but there are ways to kill. We should be considerate toward animals. No one wants to die but if we have to die I think we all will choose a fast and death and we should do the same with animals. There are other alternatives to the cruel ways companies like KFC kill animals today. I agree with Peter Singer, there are other things behind language that can show pain. I think in most cases what is painful for humans must be painful for animals to. Despite not being able to tell us they are in pain, I think we can tell from certain behaviors when they are feeling pain. Also, there should be more laws to protect animals’ living conditions and treatment on farms and slaughterhouses.
I don't feel prepared to tackle the question of whether or not eating meat is ethically sound, for to do so, I would be questioning the generations of people before us that had no choice. In fact, It may just be necessary. Consider the nutrition of sea food. Does it make us smarter? Fish oil is proven to have significant affects on brain functioning and stress reduction. Maybe thats why their weren't any Asians in my intermediate algebra class. The bigger question hear is wether or not animals have rights. Roger Scruton's statement about rights implying obligations, is a whole ethical dilemma of its own. If rights require obligations, then autistic and crippled people should have their own brigade in the military (the lazy bastards). We're all made of the same stuff, rights to carbon based organisms are unconditional. Therefore, when Carl Cohen says "Only in a community of beings capable of self-restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked," I say how can a right possibly be incorrectly invoked, if rights DONT imply obligations.
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 do have rights, if not we don't have rights, seeing as we ourselves also qualify as animals. Theyfeel pain just like we do, they have nerve endings that cause there brain to respond to certain inflictions. Just because we cant communicate with them, and understand there mannerisms, its not excuse to treat them the way we do. Its also not neccesary for us to even eat meat. Our addiction to meet is the same as our idea of sleeping at night, it is just survival instinct pass down to us by our caveman forefathers. But nowadays the meat we eat carry nothing of the nutrients we need, and simply have addicting chemicals that keep us wanting more. Even if we do have a carnivorous need, it doesnt mean we should disrespect the animals that give us there life. They are not our playthings for manipulation purposes, just because we are higher in the food chain doesnt give us the privilege to mistreat them.
Animal rights, animal cruelty and whether we should eat meat or not i think are different topics. I believe that animals do not need to be cruelly treated. And if they are cruelly treated, it simply means that they should be treated better; it does not mean that eating meat is bad or morally wrong. To this extent I believe that animals have the right not to cruelly tortured and punished. To give animals the same rights as people does not make sense to me however. Animals are not people. Should we prevent all the lions from killing the antelope because it a violation of the antelopes rights not to be eaten? If we are all animals, like dogs and cats, and therefore all have the same rights, then how come animals cannot vote, own property and seek justice in court? And are we talking about ALL animals or only some animals? Once we go down the road of assuming that animals are the same, we encounter many unsolvable problems. I think that there is nothing wrong with eating meat, morally or ethically. Animals should be better treated and should not be wasted. Whether eating meat is bad for your health is a medical and nutritional problem, not a moral one.
In my opinion, animals should have more rights. Especially in terms of different experiments on them. But we also should consider the fact that if there will be more animal rights, there should me more place for them on the streets. Myself i have three cats, and I do love animals, and I do know when an animal is in pain or not. But for example seeing what we have on the streets right now. Homeless cats and dogs, that have different sickness, and there are lots of them out there, and trust me there is only few people that are trying to take care, by feeding them and giving different medicine. The rest of us is only looking at them and saying "o poor cat or dog", and we walk by. So imagine if we will give more rights not to home animals. Who will take care of them. Some random people for free, No. If there will be no meat production, no one will not take care of those animals. In India it is there culture, they believe that the Cow is a saint animal, Like Egyptian in Cats. But in our society we can't allowed cow's on the streets, people will just harm them and again won't take any kind of care.
do animls deserve rights? Yes animals do. ive done a lot of research on how the slaugther house treat animals and i diagree with it. i believe that naimals should be treated the way we treat one another. I mean if they only live for the amount of period you want them for they should live this time happy. not kept in cages with the exact measurements around, not giving them room for anything. They should be kept in an open field, where they are able to run, and interact with one another. They should also be killed in a beter way compared to the way they kill chicken and hang them from there legs and dump then in a hot bucket of water. Do i eat meat? Yes i do eat meat, i mean i was raised into it and apart from that im not a veggie eater so i really cant get my meat nutrients from any where else. But far most i like the taste. in addition to that i try my hardest not to think about the critical position that this animals are put threw cause sometimes i would just excuse myself from the table and not eat anymore the food.
I guess that animals deserve rights. Besides some critics the concept of animals rights arguments that animals do not have the capacity to enter into a social contract or make moral choices. The Seattle- based Great Ape Project is demanding from the NU protection of individual liberty, the prohibition of torture and bad treatment of gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobo. This is an interesting campaing favoring animal rights. dolphins, tigers, lions and others keep captives abused in circus or parks deserves it freedom. In other hand, animals who’s provide us meat like cows, chicken and pork should receive an improvement in the way they are killed to obtain meat because we need it food. Steven Wise who teaches animal rights at Harward Law School, writes that the legal arguments in favor of animal rights are "powerfully assisted by increasingly sophisticated scientific investigations into the cognitive, emotional, and social capacities of animals and by advances in genetics, neuroscience, physiology, linguistics, psychology, evolution, and ethology, many of which have demonstrated that humans and animals share a broad range of behaviours, capacities, and genetic material." Wise argues that the first serious judicial challenges to the "legal thinghood of nonhuman animals" may only be a few years away” So, if we want protect animals we should support all these campaigns. writes that the legal arguments in favor of animal rights are "powerfully assisted by increasingly sophisticated scientific investigations into the cognitive, emotional, and social capacities of animals and by advances in genetics, neuroscience, physiology, linguistics, psychology, evolution, and ethology, many of which have demonstrated that humans and animals share a broad range of behaviours, capacities, and genetic material." Wise argues that the first serious judicial challenges to the "legal thinghood of nonhuman animals" may only be a few years away. So, if we want to give animal a better treatment we should support the campaigns favoring them.
When I eat meat, of course I don’t think about any of the issues raised. However, when reading articles like these and seeing the suffering and pain these incident animals go through, makes me want to never ever touch any kind of animal product. I believe that animals should have more rights. Just because they can’t express their pain doesn’t mean they don’t have any. To some people, killing animals is how they make their living, but do you think they have other options? OF COURSE, but they CHOOSE to do those things. Pigs aren’t the only animals that suffer as we see in the clip. There are many animals that are skinned alive for their fur; I mean the list goes on and on. I think we need to open the eyes of many more people to try to make a bigger impact for animal rights or else the cycle will just continue.
Daisy Gigantana said... I believed in animal rights. Although, I can only see myself extending these rights to pets or zoo animals that are neglected or abused. But I’m somewhat conflicted in animals that are used for food production. Where slaughters houses try to implement ways on how to kill animals in a humane way for food consumption. Fortunately for me, I don’t eat red meat. But I eat mostly chicken and sometimes pork and fish. For the past month, I eat more salads for health reasons. I feel that the meat production of anything constitutes a lot of hormones in which the consumer gets the end product in the name of profit. Corporation who are in the meat industry don’t care what they do to this animals as long as they make money in the end. If feeding dead cows with virus to a livestock then turn around sell this to public that gives them profit then so be it.
Animal rights? Every since I was young I have been raised to eat meat. I cannot say that I have ever really put much thought to animal rights. I do agree that animals should be treated better in slaughter houses, and have better living conditions for health reasons. However, I do not think of these issues before eating meat, probably in the same way someone does not think about the animals their cosmetics were tested on first. In my opinion certain animals do have rights, such as pets, animals in the zoo, and animals on a reserve. These animals are protected, and treated differently then others. Instead of giving all animals rights, maybe we should concentrate on putting more strict guidelines on the slaughterhouses living conditions and treatment of animals.
Usually when I eat meat it honestly never crosses my mind of the process that it took for the meal to get my plate. I think that most of us have just always been used to eating meat that we simply dont question it. The more we educate ourselves on this issue of animal rights does to tend to move us to do better for the animals that we share our enviorment with and in turn will help ourselves. Change is critical because acording to statistics we are leading ourselves to an early death of our world as we know it. Its important that we spread the word of the effects animal cruelty.
Fortunately for me, I, no longer have to ask myself if it's appropriate to eat meat or not to eat meat. Becoming vegan didn't happen from one day to another. It took time, research, and effort. of course, there are always those common questions like "animals eat each other, why shouldn't we eat them?" or "if animals are raised to be eaten, then why not eat them?" Well the wild kill other animals out of necessity to survive. Us humans, kill other animals by choice. Research shows that a vegan diet is healthier than a diet heavy in animal products. As far as animals being raised to be eaten, about 200 hundred years ago humans raised humans as slaves never justified slavery. Therefore, raising animals to eat does not justify it. And from a religious point-of-view, some might say that God gave humans supremacy over animals but it is really hard to imagine the theology of any religion condoning the misery these food industries are causing these animals. Not only do they deny animals from anything that's natural to them, they are also tormented in ways that would horrify anyone. Also, granting animal rights does not mean we are going to see animals voting. It just means better treatment for these animals. I encourage and strongly believe that we should end our support of industries that abuse animals for profit.
Fortunately for me, I, no longer have to ask myself if it's appropriate to eat meat or not to eat meat. Becoming vegan didn't happen from one day to another. It took time, research, and effort. of course, there are always those common questions like "animals eat each other, why shouldn't we eat them?" or "if animals are raised to be eaten, then why not eat them?" Well the wild kill other animals out of necessity to survive. Us humans, kill other animals by choice. Research shows that a vegan diet is healthier than a diet heavy in animal products. As far as animals being raised to be eaten, about 200 hundred years ago humans raised humans as slaves never justified slavery. Therefore, raising animals to eat does not justify it. And from a religious point-of-view, some might say that God gave humans supremacy over animals but it is really hard to imagine the theology of any religion condoning the misery these food industries are causing these animals. Not only do they deny animals from anything that's natural to them, they are also tormented in ways that would horrify anyone. Also, granting animal rights does not mean we are going to see animals voting. It just means better treatment for these animals. I encourage and strongly believe that we should end our support of industries that abuse animals for profit.
Fortunately for me, I, no longer have to ask myself if it's appropriate to eat meat or not to eat meat. Becoming vegan didn't happen from one day to another. It took time, research, and effort. of course, there are always those common questions like "animals eat each other, why shouldn't we eat them?" or "if animals are raised to be eaten, then why not eat them?" Well the wild kill other animals out of necessity to survive. Us humans, kill other animals by choice. Research shows that a vegan diet is healthier than a diet heavy in animal products. As far as animals being raised to be eaten, about 200 hundred years ago humans raised humans as slaves never justified slavery. Therefore, raising animals to eat does not justify it. And from a religious point-of-view, some might say that God gave humans supremacy over animals but it is really hard to imagine the theology of any religion condoning the misery these food industries are causing these animals. Not only do they deny animals from anything that's natural to them, they are also tormented in ways that would horrify anyone. I strongly believe that we should end our support of industries that abuse animals for profit.
21 comments:
Animal rights, to eat meat or not, do we even need to eat meet? As we evolve and become more high tech we tend to lose our prospective. An avalanche is roaring down the mountain side heading for the village below. I stand in front of it to stop it. What are chances? I too was born into this great machine of farm factories which seems like there is no way to stop it. The animal rights debate has been around for many, many years. I enjoy eating meat whether it is red meat, chicken, pork or fish. Do I think of the conditions, yes at times? But what should I do? Should I stand in front of the corporate, society driven avalanche? I understand the power of one but with all the information conflicting how can I make a sound decision? The experts in the field cannot come to a conclusion. We have learned in this class that certain things have been proven by experts are known as true. So is meat bad for me or not? We also learned in class about consciousness. There is no proof that animals are aware or suffering under these inhumane conditions. They don’t know any better. Just like two dogs having sex in the front of your yard as you receive guess. I consider myself an animal lover and believe that all living things should be respected, and protected. The pendulum swings to the left, eat meat. The pendulum swings to the right, don’t eat meat. The one thing that I can say is a true fact is that extremes are bad and moderation is the key. Maybe if we did eat meet in moderation there would be no need for these farm factories. Maybe if we did not over populate the land there would be more room for these animals to be raised in better conditions. Maybe if we stop thinking in terms of “nimby” we can all get along in peace and harmony, just imagine! Ruben M.
I am not sure which way I lean more yet but, I was raised eating meat, so I like it. I do feel guilty when I think about the circumstances from time to time but again, raised as a christian I think back to the belief that they were put here for us to eat. So far in this class I have learned that one: people's identity changes multiple times througout their lifetimes, two: moral values don't have an specific true identity, you put all that together and my first thought is that we are capable of changing our ways towards animals, and part of this change includes tuning our moral views to the same channel. My second thought is that all arguments opposing the favoring of animals in the issue, are based on completely selfish points; Also what about animals eating other animals they eat each other so why shouldn't we be allow to eat them as well. You have to ask your self what do WE have to loose by giving animals at least just the same right we want as living beings of habitating on earth and living in peace without worrying about someone blowing up your house or coming to kill you and your family just because, or in their case to eat them. Also the argument about rights come with responsability and animals can't be assigned responsability is the weakest most senseless I heard so far, I don't think I need to elaborate. I am more than willing to change my ways but as everyone else is just too much work and sacrafice for the "worthless life" of an animal. Personally I am trying hard and my goal is to achieve this mental and moral level in the next 3 years so that my children wont have as much as hard time as I am currently.
I believe that we have a general obligation to the World and society in general to be kind. If an animal clearly can be identified as feeling pain, then we as human beings owe a duty to make sure that we cause as little suffering as possible. This does not mean that we cannot eat meat, chicken, pork or fish. We just have to be compassionate with our methods.
This also means, in my opinion, that we as humans deserve to enjoy the things on the earth. So it is not that we kill and eat animals that is the major philosophical problem, but the fact that we use inhumane methods which cause suffering and pain.
Have you ever heard a pig squeel in total agony? If you get a chance to hear it and see what is like you will start to get a sense for animal suffering. I know what you are thinking.... who cares? I care and other people care, so stop being such an abusive and thoughtless being. How about Lion Bate for the Circus animals? I did not think so.... now get a clue.
I never really had any efforts into reading information about animal cruelty or animal rights. When it comes from my perspective, i personally do not focus on these issues prior to me eating meat.
I became vegetarian on March of this year. My reason for eliminating meat had nothing to do with the animals, more-so because of the shift of energy it gave me. I felt healthier and more energetic.
After about 8 months of not eating meat or poultry, i started weight lifting again. Because of my constant fatigue and intense weakness, i started craving meat and chicken again.
I now eat meat again, just not as often as before.
Another reason i do not focus on these issues prior to me eating meat, revolves around the acceptance of eating meat since my adolescent years. Everyone in my family always celebrated birthdays with BBQs, and it always seemed to be fine considering the atmosphere is always filled with laughter and good vibes. Christmas eve till this day is still celebrated with a huge pork and beer.
I don't know how i feel about giving animals rights. I feel it would be contradictory of me to say yes, give animals rights, and then me go ahead and eat meat. It's a difficult situation i'm sure to see animals all confined in an area, injected with hormones, and then served to the public because of the apparently high demand for meat. It's kind of disgraceful, but damn, i eat meat so what does that mean? I'm curious to hear feedback.
Leandro Toledo
I strongly believe that animals should have rights. If a human has moral rights based on cognitive abilities, then animals should have rights as well. Animals are very self aware and coherent beings. How can we abuse something that is responsive and can react so highly to pain? Although animals cannot communicate their pain, it is pretty self-evident when they are suffering. The screams and the evidence of animals trying their hardest to fight back when they are being hurt is enough to know they are in pain. The fact that Carl Cohen believes that animals cannot have rights “because in order to have rights you must have the capacity to comprehend rules governing all” is absolutely ridiculous. Animal cruelty is a criminal act! Along with helping the environment and striving for a healthier lifestyle, animal cruelty has a lot to do with why I don’t ever eat meat, and haven’t for two years now. I really don’t believe that meat is necessary for survival, and even if it was, there is absolutely no reason for animals to be treated the way they are in factories. It is sickening to hear about the ways they are killed, and even more sickening to watch footage. People don’t realize how bad it actually is to be eating meat that comes from those factories, not only for the animals, but also for our health. The animals are living in extremely terrible and unsanitary living conditions leading them to get infected with diseases after they have already been injected with hormones. Is that an animal you want to be eating? I would hope not. If you do eat meat, opt for organic, farm-raised animals for the sake of your own health. The less you buy of the other “meat” the more likely things will start to change in the industry.
Animal cruelty and eating meat are two very different things. Animals, without a question, deserve to have rights. Sadly, even today, we are seeing acts of ruthless cruelty performed on these innocent creatures (Michael Vick most recently caught fighting pit bulls to death and farmers caught on film torturing cows in an Ohio farm) by our own generation. Many unnecessary cosmetics, paints and other products are tested, and experiments are conducted on animals in horrible conditions. Now all of THAT is WRONG and we should all have a problem with that!
We need to make a clear distinction between acts of intentional cruelty, which is same or worse (because animals do not have the ability to defend themselves) as the same acts being performed on humans. However, as far as eating meat, that is part of the cycle of nature and the natural food chain. Do we blame the bear or the tiger of “animal cruelty” for hunting their pray? Humans evolved as hunters and gatherers. We became erect at the point when we started consuming meat in our diets and, despite various religious or moral beliefs, we do need animal protein in our diet to maintain optimal health. Animals raised for food do not necessary need to be treated cruelly. There are many small organic farms, where animals are grazed and raised for human consumption in a correct fashion without feeding the animals with poisonous growth hormones and stress (which inadvertently get passed to us in the meat) from mistreatment.
The statement of “the holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty governing all, including themselves…” is just a sad excuse. Historically, humans have always had the tendencies to manifest cruelty on each other, the weaker, women and the animals. One would think that in such advanced age of the 21st Century, we would have risen above such cowardly acts and we would have learned to protect the weak and innocent and manifest our power in different ways.
I think animals should have rights and that there should be more laws also to protect them. I am not a vegetarian but I try to eat as less meat as I can. There are some places, like KFC, from where I will never eat because the company has no compassion when killing animals. I understand not everybody could go vegetarian and that meat is important to survival but there are ways to kill. We should be considerate toward animals. No one wants to die but if we have to die I think we all will choose a fast and death and we should do the same with animals. There are other alternatives to the cruel ways companies like KFC kill animals today. I agree with Peter Singer, there are other things behind language that can show pain. I think in most cases what is painful for humans must be painful for animals to. Despite not being able to tell us they are in pain, I think we can tell from certain behaviors when they are feeling pain. Also, there should be more laws to protect animals’ living conditions and treatment on farms and slaughterhouses.
I don't feel prepared to tackle the question of whether or not eating meat is ethically sound, for to do so, I would be questioning the generations of people before us that had no choice. In fact, It may just be necessary. Consider the nutrition of sea food. Does it make us smarter? Fish oil is proven to have significant affects on brain functioning and stress reduction. Maybe thats why their weren't any Asians in my intermediate algebra class.
The bigger question hear is wether or not animals have rights. Roger Scruton's statement about rights implying obligations, is a whole ethical dilemma of its own. If rights require obligations, then autistic and crippled people should have their own brigade in the military (the lazy bastards). We're all made of the same stuff, rights to carbon based organisms are unconditional. Therefore, when Carl Cohen says "Only in a community of beings capable of self-restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked," I say how can a right possibly be incorrectly invoked, if rights DONT imply obligations.
-Eric Lindeman
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 do have rights, if not we don't have rights, seeing as we ourselves also qualify as animals. Theyfeel pain just like we do, they have nerve endings that cause there brain to respond to certain inflictions. Just because we cant communicate with them, and understand there mannerisms, its not excuse to treat them the way we do. Its also not neccesary for us to even eat meat. Our addiction to meet is the same as our idea of sleeping at night, it is just survival instinct pass down to us by our caveman forefathers. But nowadays the meat we eat carry nothing of the nutrients we need, and simply have addicting chemicals that keep us wanting more. Even if we do have a carnivorous need, it doesnt mean we should disrespect the animals that give us there life. They are not our playthings for manipulation purposes, just because we are higher in the food chain doesnt give us the privilege to mistreat them.
Animal rights, animal cruelty and whether we should eat meat or not i think are different topics.
I believe that animals do not need to be cruelly treated. And if they are cruelly treated, it simply means that they should be treated better; it does not mean that eating meat is bad or morally wrong. To this extent I believe that animals have the right not to cruelly tortured and punished. To give animals the same rights as people does not make sense to me however. Animals are not people. Should we prevent all the lions from killing the antelope because it a violation of the antelopes rights not to be eaten? If we are all animals, like dogs and cats, and therefore all have the same rights, then how come animals cannot vote, own property and seek justice in court? And are we talking about ALL animals or only some animals? Once we go down the road of assuming that animals are the same, we encounter many unsolvable problems. I think that there is nothing wrong with eating meat, morally or ethically. Animals should be better treated and should not be wasted. Whether eating meat is bad for your health is a medical and nutritional problem, not a moral one.
In my opinion, animals should have more rights. Especially in terms of different experiments on them. But we also should consider the fact that if there will be more animal rights, there should me more place for them on the streets. Myself i have three cats, and I do love animals, and I do know when an animal is in pain or not. But for example seeing what we have on the streets right now. Homeless cats and dogs, that have different sickness, and there are lots of them out there, and trust me there is only few people that are trying to take care, by feeding them and giving different medicine. The rest of us is only looking at them and saying "o poor cat or dog", and we walk by.
So imagine if we will give more rights not to home animals. Who will take care of them. Some random people for free, No. If there will be no meat production, no one will not take care of those animals. In India it is there culture, they believe that the Cow is a saint animal, Like Egyptian in Cats. But in our society we can't allowed cow's on the streets, people will just harm them and again won't take any kind of care.
do animls deserve rights? Yes animals do. ive done a lot of research on how the slaugther house treat animals and i diagree with it. i believe that naimals should be treated the way we treat one another. I mean if they only live for the amount of period you want them for they should live this time happy. not kept in cages with the exact measurements around, not giving them room for anything. They should be kept in an open field, where they are able to run, and interact with one another. They should also be killed in a beter way compared to the way they kill chicken and hang them from there legs and dump then in a hot bucket of water.
Do i eat meat? Yes i do eat meat, i mean i was raised into it and apart from that im not a veggie eater so i really cant get my meat nutrients from any where else. But far most i like the taste.
in addition to that i try my hardest not to think about the critical position that this animals are put threw cause sometimes i would just excuse myself from the table and not eat anymore the food.
I guess that animals deserve rights. Besides some critics the concept of animals rights arguments that animals do not have the capacity to enter into a social contract or make moral choices. The Seattle- based Great Ape Project is demanding from the NU protection of individual liberty, the prohibition of torture and bad treatment of gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobo. This is an interesting campaing favoring animal rights. dolphins, tigers, lions and others keep captives abused in circus or parks deserves it freedom. In other hand, animals who’s provide us meat like cows, chicken and pork should receive an improvement in the way they are killed to obtain meat because we need it food. Steven Wise who teaches animal rights at Harward Law School, writes that the legal arguments in favor of animal rights are "powerfully assisted by increasingly sophisticated scientific investigations into the cognitive, emotional, and social capacities of animals and by advances in genetics, neuroscience, physiology, linguistics, psychology, evolution, and ethology, many of which have demonstrated that humans and animals share a broad range of behaviours, capacities, and genetic material." Wise argues that the first serious judicial challenges to the "legal thinghood of nonhuman animals" may only be a few years away”
So, if we want protect animals we should support all these campaigns. writes that the legal arguments in favor of animal rights are "powerfully assisted by increasingly sophisticated scientific investigations into the cognitive, emotional, and social capacities of animals and by advances in genetics, neuroscience, physiology, linguistics, psychology, evolution, and ethology, many of which have demonstrated that humans and animals share a broad range of behaviours, capacities, and genetic material." Wise argues that the first serious judicial challenges to the "legal thinghood of nonhuman animals" may only be a few years away. So, if we want to give animal a better treatment we should support the campaigns favoring them.
When I eat meat, of course I don’t think about any of the issues raised. However, when reading articles like these and seeing the suffering and pain these incident animals go through, makes me want to never ever touch any kind of animal product. I believe that animals should have more rights. Just because they can’t express their pain doesn’t mean they don’t have any. To some people, killing animals is how they make their living, but do you think they have other options? OF COURSE, but they CHOOSE to do those things. Pigs aren’t the only animals that suffer as we see in the clip. There are many animals that are skinned alive for their fur; I mean the list goes on and on. I think we need to open the eyes of many more people to try to make a bigger impact for animal rights or else the cycle will just continue.
Daisy Gigantana said...
I believed in animal rights. Although, I can only see myself extending these rights to pets or zoo animals that are neglected or abused. But I’m somewhat conflicted in animals that are used for food production. Where slaughters houses try to implement ways on how to kill animals in a humane way for food consumption. Fortunately for me, I don’t eat red meat. But I eat mostly chicken and sometimes pork and fish. For the past month, I eat more salads for health reasons. I feel that the meat production of anything constitutes a lot of hormones in which the consumer gets the end product in the name of profit. Corporation who are in the meat industry don’t care what they do to this animals as long as they make money in the end. If feeding dead cows with virus to a livestock then turn around sell this to public that gives them profit then so be it.
Animal rights? Every since I was young I have been raised to eat meat. I cannot say that I have ever really put much thought to animal rights. I do agree that animals should be treated better in slaughter houses, and have better living conditions for health reasons. However, I do not think of these issues before eating meat, probably in the same way someone does not think about the animals their cosmetics were tested on first. In my opinion certain animals do have rights, such as pets, animals in the zoo, and animals on a reserve. These animals are protected, and treated differently then others. Instead of giving all animals rights, maybe we should concentrate on putting more strict guidelines on the slaughterhouses living conditions and treatment of animals.
Usually when I eat meat it honestly never crosses my mind of the process that it took for the meal to get my plate. I think that most of us have just always been used to eating meat that we simply dont question it. The more we educate ourselves on this issue of animal rights does to tend to move us to do better for the animals that we share our enviorment with and in turn will help ourselves. Change is critical because acording to statistics we are leading ourselves to an early death of our world as we know it. Its important that we spread the word of the effects animal cruelty.
Fortunately for me, I, no longer have to ask myself if it's appropriate to eat meat or not to eat meat. Becoming vegan didn't happen from one day to another. It took time, research, and effort. of course, there are always those common questions like "animals eat each other, why shouldn't we eat them?" or "if animals are raised to be eaten, then why not eat them?" Well the wild kill other animals out of necessity to survive. Us humans, kill other animals by choice. Research shows that a vegan diet is healthier than a diet heavy in animal products. As far as animals being raised to be eaten, about 200 hundred years ago humans raised humans as slaves never justified slavery. Therefore, raising animals to eat does not justify it. And from a religious point-of-view, some might say that God gave humans supremacy over animals but it is really hard to imagine the theology of any religion condoning the misery these food industries are causing these animals. Not only do they deny animals from anything that's natural to them, they are also tormented in ways that would horrify anyone. Also, granting animal rights does not mean we are going to see animals voting. It just means better treatment for these animals. I encourage and strongly believe that we should end our support of industries that abuse animals for profit.
Fortunately for me, I, no longer have to ask myself if it's appropriate to eat meat or not to eat meat. Becoming vegan didn't happen from one day to another. It took time, research, and effort. of course, there are always those common questions like "animals eat each other, why shouldn't we eat them?" or "if animals are raised to be eaten, then why not eat them?" Well the wild kill other animals out of necessity to survive. Us humans, kill other animals by choice. Research shows that a vegan diet is healthier than a diet heavy in animal products. As far as animals being raised to be eaten, about 200 hundred years ago humans raised humans as slaves never justified slavery. Therefore, raising animals to eat does not justify it. And from a religious point-of-view, some might say that God gave humans supremacy over animals but it is really hard to imagine the theology of any religion condoning the misery these food industries are causing these animals. Not only do they deny animals from anything that's natural to them, they are also tormented in ways that would horrify anyone. Also, granting animal rights does not mean we are going to see animals voting. It just means better treatment for these animals. I encourage and strongly believe that we should end our support of industries that abuse animals for profit.
Fortunately for me, I, no longer have to ask myself if it's appropriate to eat meat or not to eat meat. Becoming vegan didn't happen from one day to another. It took time, research, and effort. of course, there are always those common questions like "animals eat each other, why shouldn't we eat them?" or "if animals are raised to be eaten, then why not eat them?" Well the wild kill other animals out of necessity to survive. Us humans, kill other animals by choice. Research shows that a vegan diet is healthier than a diet heavy in animal products. As far as animals being raised to be eaten, about 200 hundred years ago humans raised humans as slaves never justified slavery. Therefore, raising animals to eat does not justify it. And from a religious point-of-view, some might say that God gave humans supremacy over animals but it is really hard to imagine the theology of any religion condoning the misery these food industries are causing these animals. Not only do they deny animals from anything that's natural to them, they are also tormented in ways that would horrify anyone. I strongly believe that we should end our support of industries that abuse animals for profit.
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