Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Phi 2010 MWF 11am
32 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I believe that animals should deserve rights. I mean why not? They can do almost anything a human can so why not......as long as you have a brain, you deserve rights.
I believe that animals deserve rights. When I eat meat, I eat it to live and to survive. In the Bible people did the same. But at the same time, one of the reasons Jesus died was to end animal sacrifice, he himself even said that “I am the ultimate sacrifice.” If you think about it Animals are just like humans, because we share the same characteristics. For example, in a pride of lions mothers hunt to feed their cubs and the members of their pride, male lions protect the pride. In certain tribes in Native American History and African tribes they did the same thing; mothers would gather and cook food, while men would hunt and protect their tribes. So it doesn’t make sense when we kill Deers or elephants for fun. But it does make sense when we kill chickens, pigs, and cows because it is for our survival. But at the same time we should only sacrifice them for food not just for the hell of it. Every living thing in the world that eats, drinks, and sleep share the same characteristics. Whether it is humans, ducks or dolphins; because no mother human, mother duck, or mother dolphin will let harm come to their offspring without a fight. So it doesn’t make sense when humans cause harm to animals because in a way their causing harm to living beings that are just like them. Another thing that I would like to point out is that humans are ignorant. If something doesn’t look like them or speak the same language as them, they feel as if their superior and like to inflict pain on them. We are so ignorant that we even did it to our selves. One of the reasons why Early Europeans would enslave Africans is because they didn’t look, speak, or dress like them. Early Europeans would also note they enslaved them because they felt their way of living and their society was far advanced then the blacks, so they felt they should be enslaved. They treated them like animals. It’s human ignorance that causes pain to animals and to each other.
If animals are to have "rights",then plants should have rights,and man should just lie down and die.Don'tget me wrong, I'm not advocating animal cruelty or the like but likewise,I'm not ready to give up eating meat. I don,t agree with trophy hunting and like Roussau, believe that animals are sentient beings.Personally,if I;m not going to eat it I won't kill it,as long as it isn't trying to kill me. Alan Lopez
I do not believe that animals deserve an actual set of rights. Agreeing with Alan i feel that if animals were given rights then other lesser life should receive rights as well, and bluntly put this country has more important things to do than deal with rights of lesser beings. As heartless as it sounds the facts are unshaken: animals are lesser beings inferior to humans. Although it has been proven that primates, our closest relatives have a cognitive capacity that allows them to excel in the wild as well as complete task that other animals couldn't do, they are still primates at the end of the day. When it comes to blatant disrespect and disregard for animal life i am a strong advocate fighting for justice for animals, but justice to a limit.i feel that offenders should be punished by monetary means and forced to attend awareness courses for a designated amount of time. Using professional football player MIchael Vick as an example, Vick was implicated in an interstate dog fighting ring, pleading guilty to felony charges Vick spent nearly two years in jail, losing his spot on the team, in addition to losing millions of dollars in endorsements. As a result or being apart of dog fighting i find the consequences excessive. Felons convicted of manslaughter have been released from jail in two years. In my mind i simply can not rationalize holding the life of an animal to the same regard as i do my own, or the life of another human being. In my opinion only true vegan and vegetarians can honestly and whole heartedly fight for animals rights. Those who eat meat and advocate for the longevity of animal life seem like nothing less than Hippocrates. Some argue that when they eat meat they do so to live and survive, but living in todays society there are many supplements and alternatives to meat and one could live a full prosperous life without the digestions of meat.
Of course animals deserve rights. I believe every single creature inhabiting this world (or others), deserve rights; no matter if you are a rabbit, a dog, a plant, a human being, or an alien you should have rights. I believe so for the simplest reason of them all, we were granted the right to life, and that should be enough to respect every single species sharing this universe, no matter if X creature is smarter than other, if A is able to communicate better than B, if W serves humans better than K, or so on and so forth. I believe a set of universal rights should be adopted, where every country should be the regulator, and make sure creatures are being trated in a fair way under these set of “decent living rules”. Let’s say some of the rules could be: the right to clean water,to a healthy environment, to live and reproduce freely without the interference of the external world, etc. But, if us, humans, don’t even respect our own(human) rights, how are we expected to believe that animal rights will be respected? Jeronimo Gilardoni
"More than 100 million animals every year suffer and die in cruel chemical, drug, food and cosmetic tests, biology lessons, medical training exercises, and curiosity-driven medical experiments"(1). It is said that we have to love everything that comes from the earth, from God for those who believe. However, there seems to be a big contradiction. How come we fight for animal rights, those suffering in laboratories being tortured and killed. People make laws and fight to protect them that parenthetically are only few. More than 95 percent of animals used in experiments are mice, rats, birds, and cold blooded animals. These are not counted, therefore not covered by even the minimal protections of the Animal Welfare Act. Going back to the question, people are fighting to save them from cruelty and making campaigns to persuade in buying cruelty-free products that I totally agree. However, we are still eating meet. Every 10 billion land animals and about 18 billion marine animals are killed and not for survival but for habit, tradition, convenience and taste. “Specienism”, says Gary Yourofsky, a vegan activist defending animal rights. Animals in farms are tortured and brutally killed, cows are raped so they can "produce" more animals and milk. Now, I’m not vegan nor vegetarian but I just want to point that even when it comes to animals, society has made a difference among them.
In conclusion, If slavery and brutality to black people, gypsies in the Holocaust, etc has ended, because it was wrong, why not to animals? Because they don’t have cognitive skill and they can’t tell us how much it hurts?. They can still feel. How would we feel if an alien with a much higher intelligence comes to earth to test on us, humans. Simple mortals.? Brutality is just wrong, is ignorance. Gabriela Ramos
I take more of a centrist approach to this topic. I eat meat, and despite these issues with animal treatment, I would not become a vegetarian. However, I do not support animal cruelty. I do believe, like many people, that animals deserve to be treated fairly. They are God's creations just like us, and as such they deserve some respect. However, they are also an excellent source of food and as such they should continue serving that purpose. So, the best approach to handling animals, in my opinion, is to continue using them for all the purposes they realistically suit (food, fur...), but do so under the most reasonable and humane conditions possible under a given situation. There is no need to wantonly abuse animals, torture and kill them for fun. It's quite possible to treat the animals well, and still get the necessary utility out of them - organic farms do it quite well.
As a means for food consumption, I do condone the killing of animals. There is no light way to put it, but when we talk about animal cruelty, in some ways I do not understand. Of course I do not agree with such things as killing animals for sport or enjoyment, but other things such as lab testing and other things though seem evil are necessary for human survival. We have existed on this planet for this long because we are the biggest bullies in nature. We take what isn’t ours; we kill, steal and manipulate things in order to make them better for our sakes in order to survive. There is no doubting that animals are living, breathing creatures that think, and feel pain and try to preserve their own existence. So one cannot say that animals do not feel pain, and one can sympathize that the treatment of animals is wrong, but humans barely treat each other with civility so you can’t really expect much for the treatment of animals in many cases.
I am a firm believer that we are all of God's; including animals. I would be a hypocrite if I said I did not eat meat. The fact of the matter is that I believe that there must be a balance and kill the animals humanely. I understand that we need to test animals for medicals purposes and for the mass consumption of humans. What I do not agree with is to torture animals down the assembly line. It is bad enough already that you are cutting their life by killing them. Must you really have to beat, bang, taunt, and stab? I mean how insecure must you be about yourself to beat a being lesser than you. Do you feel superior when you? Because if that what takes to taste superiority, I think I will pass up the offer. Just because an animal cannot speak, does not mean he or she is incapable of injustice. That would be the equivalent of striping a human’s beings right because they are mute or were born not speaking. The fact of the matter is that no human or creature is superior to the other; only God is superior. Therefore animals deserve rights. -Raiza Natalia Matamoros MWF 11 am
To tell you the truth, I really don’t care if animals have their right or not. It does not benefit us if we give them rights. What are we going to use for our testing experiments when it is banned to use humans in experiments? Sure, animals do feel pain, cry, and act upon given orders but it doesn’t change the fact that they are still animals. What separates us from animals is our state of being and that we are, sorry to say, superior. This statement does not mean we should go hurt animals, cause useless abuse, and pointless terrorizing. The statement just means that we are a growing race and our nature is to survive. As the saying goes, “Survival of the Fittest.” Now to answer the last question, no I do not think of any of these issues mention as I eat meat. Why? Because it benefits my well-being and I am a very open minded person.
Nonetheless, an animal can be left alone although they would still need food, water and security provided. Animals do have rights and in the case of cruel and unusual punishment, deserve them. In most cases animals do deserve at least the bare minimum given to humanity. However, the use of animals for testing in the case of non-life saving techniques and pharmaceuticals is rubbish. In some cases companies will use less than appropriate conditions and techniques in the care of the animals. In that case, cruel and unusual punishment should not be exerted. What is considered to be "useless" testing on animals, for reasons other than trying to further necessitated medicines and practices, should be prohibited. It is similar to raising a small child. The neglect of domestic animals is wrong. They do not deserve to be treated inhumanly for no purpose, and domesticated animals defiantly deserve to have their owner treat them appropriately and take care of them. They should possess limited rights to being taken care of in a proper way. Animals of all types can feel pain and they are capable of suffering. The Circle of Life would not go-round if animals were not intended for food.
Animal rights is a topic that is very complicated. Animals do deserve rights; however, it should be limited to many animals. As we can see the cow is one of the animals that use a super minimal amount of brain/mind to function. On the other hand, we have the monkey which is one of the smartest animal in the wild. We can not also give animals rights with out limits because then our resources can become scars. Even though animals feel pain, it is not quite the same as humans. They tend to express randomly as the human race. We need to respect animals by not hunting and torturing them just because it makes us feel good. The human race is also a type of animal. However, we tend to express feeling different because of the way our mind is program to function. We are an intellectual race that can comprehend everything surrounding us, except the feelings of others. I understand where most of these scientists and professors are trying to achieve, but it will not happen any time soon. (Especially by teaching monkeys sign language (A language they do not understand)). I leave it as animals deserve rights, but limited to the type of animal.
When I eat meat I really don’t think of any of these issues. However, I think that animals deserve rights. But same rights as humans? No. But the animals were given to Adam for him to rule over them. Animals are sentient beings, with their own interests, and should have those interests protected. However, thanks to its meat are how we survive and I always have said that if you must kill an animal do it quickly and with as little pain as possible. Never torture an animal. Animals have feelings, of course they do! Why else do you think dogs whine and run away when people hurt or abuse them? It is heart breaking for me to see the suffering of animals in laboratories being tortured and killed. Animal abuse is linked to murders, but unfortunately animal cruelty laws aren't as severe as they should be. Once a former animal abuser kills a person, the courts decide to lock them up for life, but if the person abuses another animal, they simply get cited.
There is a quote that I found out very interesting. “The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth”.(Henry Beston).
Many individuals would justify eating meat by arguing that it is necessary for our growth and development. Yes, it does it provide us with nutrients but those nutrients can be received from alternate sources. Animals do deserve rights. We all become so worried if something happens to our dogs just because we raise it as our own and we don’t eat dog meat. Why do we treat a dog different from a cow or a pig? Aren’t those animals? Being a Hindu, I don’t indulge in beef and refrain myself from eating meat. However, I do eat chicken but a very few times. I have seen life in India and a huge chunk of population survives on pure vegetarian food. People are living and life is thriving without having to eat even a morsel of meat. In fact, the obesity rate is lower there. I wouldn’t support eating meat for its nutrition content since there are alternatives available. It’s true that animals can’t speak their agony or weakness and we humans as always, dominate their lives as well and take advantage. Animals are kept in worst state in the poultries, where they don’t walk or see sunlight for months. They are injected hormones and many animals grow without feet of some organ. Many are now arguing that this kind of meat is not good for human health. Still we are eating and growing such industry.
In my opinion animal rights in American society is one of those out of sight out of mind scenarios. A few weeks back I was walking down Lincoln road and set up there was a television set by an animal rights group, it was showing common but incredibly cruel acts being done to animals. First was a tiny lamb having his throat slit open and left to bleed out, followed by a cow hung by his bottom legs upside down (still alive) being dragged down an assembly line to his certain death. My first instinct was too look away, but does that really make it better? I mean is ignorance really bliss in this instance? I find Americans to be incredibly hypocritical and cowardly when it comes to this subject, including myself. Why is it okay to put cows, chickens, lambs, etc. through this horrible life of living to die for our own selfish benefit, but if this were happening to dogs or cats, there would be an outrage? You might think well we don’t eat dogs or cats, and my argument for that would be horse meat is considered a delicacy here, but yet black market rings that produce it are shut down and prosecuted. We begin to hold a double standard, Its okay to kill a rat, but it’s frowned upon to kill a squirrel. We’ve basically become shallow to the point where cute things can stay, but we’ll feast on the rest. I’m guilty of eating meat, but the heartless assembly lines these animals are put through is just inhumane to say the least. I think we need to find a more humane way to handle this. The way that slaughterhouses are functioning right now is just unacceptable. The way human race has come to interact with animals is incredible, to the point we feel like we have lost a family member if our pet dies, or you’ll see a dog risk his life to save an owner or another dog even. Here’s a pretty incredible video to show an example of the latter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HJTG6RRN4E&feature=related. I honestly think if we had to go out and commit the steps that lead a burger to a plate on our own, we wouldn’t be too inclined to indulge like we do now. I believe with knowledge we will start to take a different point of view on this, but the longer we let ourselves remain ignorant the longer it will take for things to change. Patrick Crowley
I strongly support animal rights, I don’t believe they should be exploited for our selfish satisfaction. I don’t agree with the slaughtering of animals for fur coats, furniture, shoes or any other kind of luxury. I also completely disagree with hunting of animals as a hobby or activity to do. Till this day I don’t understand how that is legal, it’s immoral. The circus is also against animals’ rights, these wild life creatures as exploited and used as slaves in a sense. They look malnourished and are kept in enclosed areas. Although I am against animals being killed and exploited for our own selfish pleasure, I do not disagree with animals being used as a source of nutrition. That is the only time it would be justifiable in my eyes, since food is a necessity. Humans have always used animals as a source of food, so why is it immoral now? Even the Bible states we are allowed to eat meat.
I’ve always had an affinity for animals even if I were afraid of them. I always try to find a way of not hurting the animal though it may pose a threat to me. I spent four years of high school caring for a plentiful of animals: beef cattle, pigs, lambs etc. As a student, my Ag (agriculture) teacher always told us to treat the animals as humanely as possible. I developed a strong connection to pigs. Many people see swine (pigs) as dirty animals and mistreat them for that. My experience with them has taught me that they are incredibly intelligent and sweet loving animals. But just like humans animals they need their space. This is mostly seen through aggressive signs. This shows that animals and humans are not that different in behavior. We regard ourselves as higher intellectually Beings because we are self-aware meaning we have a conscious. Being that we are aware of ourselves that does not automatically mean that “they” are not aware of themselves. They cry out when in pain. If that’s not an indicator of self-awareness I don’t know what is. My craze for pigs does not keep me from eating pork. Strangely that’s the only meat that I know I couldn’t give up.
I believe that animals should have rights. Although they may not have the same level of intelligence as we do, they are still living beings just as we are. Because a monkey (for example) does not communicate pain or emotions in the same manner that a human does does not grant man the leisure of ignoring the monkeys feelings and doing what they please. Animals are no different than a human being. We are all animals if you ask me.
Personally, I think we can be very arrogant beings. There is no absolute way to fully comprehend what another species feels without being that specie. Sometimes we forget that we are animals as well. Those creatures that we torture for food and submit to experiments are sentient beings. They have life. What exactly is the difference in testing shampoo on a monkey rather than a person? To test if its safe, in case there are side effects. Why are we so quick to decide that we are the end all be all of existence to the point where we do not even question this. The sentient being argument is one I still struggle with myself, but if I can’t do something myself, I wouldn’t subject someone else or an animal to such treatment. I try and stick to products that are naturally derived and free of animal testing, I would think it irresponsible of myself if I did otherwise.
Animal are needed to balance out nature. When ever i eat meat i do think its not right to kill them the way they do in the farms. In countries, especially America, we are prone to eat meat. Our bodies need protein, there are other resources to get it, but meat is the most efficient way. But point is, if animals are to be put down, it should done in a more humane way. Instead of doing all the torturing. In the article they mention animals can't speak, there fore there is no way of knowing if they feel pain. If i kicked someone I'm sure it will hurt. People get stabbed they bleed. Same thing if you do it to an animal. Just because you don't hear "ouch" doesn't mean animal can't feel it. If it whimpers or squeals I'm sure that's it's way of saying ouch.
This is a very touchy subject because in the animal kingdom the golden rule is eat or be eaten but what does this rule of nature and the cycle of life entitle the holder of the life?
Personally, I have nothing against eating animals. It is part of the life cycle and its unavoidable but my major issue is the way we go about claiming a life we think we deserve to take. Its a waste the amount of animals killed and just thrown away. Not all the flesh sacrificed is eaten. Most of it rots and goes to the trash and I believe the waste is the major issue. We mutate the bodies of living breathing things in the name of science for our own selfish needs. A lot of people don't have a problem with this and that's only because these animals don't have voices to convey the ordeals they must endure. If a human kills another human, its atrocious and barbaric. What makes us different from the rest of the animal kingdom? We are after all mammals and share the same survival needs as these voiceless life forms we slaughter.
All living beings should be entitled to having rights. I honestly believe that humans should give animals their appropriate rights. Now I know that many of us, whom consume meat, do not think about these topics but it is important that we think about the suffering and the troublesome lives that these beings had to endure to make it to our plate. Humans have always believed to be the superior ones and in truth we are since we are able to interpret and understand information. But who’s to say that animals cannot understand us? Just because our level of understanding is higher than animals does not state that animals cannot comprehend humans. It is possible that animals can understand humans and also animals can feel pain or feel uncomfortable. There is no proven fact that animals can communicate the pain or aches to us but it can be seen. Animals also have feelings like any other human. No scientific evidence can show that animals have feelings but by our observations we perceive it as pain. Remember, we are of course animals as well, only we had to fight our way to have our rights. Animals cannot express themselves like we do but we can try and become that voice they are desperately seeking for if we just stopped being so ignorant and so smug upon the subject. I’m not trying to convince people to become vegans or give up on meat, I too eat meat, but we should think and reconsider to giving animals the rights they deserve or at least offer some to them.
Survival of the fittest, it is the way of life no matter what anyone says. Animals are on the lower end of the food chain due to this and we also need them to survive. While one can argue about this statement it will remain this way and has throughout time. Now if we talk about the way they are butchered and injected with steroids to produce the meat faster, then yes I will agree that it is a sadistic method that we have come to but it is our own doing due to the fact that as a species we have grown in size as a population over the past 300 years due to our way of life and demands must be met to match this. As time goes by our methods will keep changing to meet the needs of our population keeps spiraling out of control at the rate it has been going. I mean we are trying to clone animals to meet these demands on how bad our population has gotten from not having any nature predators, diseases, and wars as we use to. As time keeps going I feel as if something different must be done if you really look at how desperate we have gotten but until then I do not feel like anyone will do anything until we are cornered and desperate. As most people do, they never care until it is almost too late if not late already.
Even though they can’t talk or tell us they feel pain like we feel pain I don’t think they deserve the same right humans have. At the moment in time animals do have some type of right you can’t beat dogs, cats, or horse and get away with it that’s animal cruelty. So animals do get treated in a reasonable way when they have owners. But an inessential part of the human food group is meat and unlike others I know myself I’m not a vegan and I enjoy eating meat so if there was a right against eating meat I wouldn’t vote to pass that law because it taste so good. But for there to be some type of right against animal killing no testing and using their coats to make clothing I do believe there should be a right against that they don’t deserve to die just because a human being wants to look nice. WESLYNE SAINCI
Every human have the right to life, liberty, and security of person, including the right to be free from slavery, torture, raising a family, education, vote, etc. If animals have the right to life, it is wrong to kill them. If animals have the right to liberty, it is wrong to hold them in cages, or captivity. Can you imagine a wild tiger walking on Lincoln Road? Don't get me wrong, I do not support animal torture or anything related to it, and I strongly believe that we should respect every single specie's life in the planet, but giving them the same rights that we have is not going to change that much. Unfortunately, there's a food chain that needs to be completed in order to survive, and we are going to keep using them as food, or things of our convenience because it is in our nature. What we could do is to fight for the wellness of the animals. Just because our level of intelligence is higher does not mean that they should be punished or torture. Amira Sarasola
To a certain degree, yes animal has rights because they can feel pain and should not be caused undue/unnecessary harm just because they cannot defend themselves. However, an animal life should not have more value than the life of a human being. Animals were created as lesser creatures to be dominated over by human. Therefore, it is not reasonable to think they have the same moral values as a person. And since, animal was created by God for us humans to eat; I do not see the wrong in eating meat because it is an essential part in our survival.
Animals deserve right as we do. Because were the dominate species does not mean we can abuse other lower then us. Which I mean animals that we eat. We depend on animal a lot and to survive we eat them. The issue is that how we treat them in factory’s, labs, or just at home is cruel to them. If animal were able to talk and fight for themselves am sure we would have a war against them. However, that will never happen because we live in reality. No one really knows if a animal is suffer truly because of the sounds a animal does. For example, a dog may have something struck in his paw but to a human we would not know we would think it broken, got cut, and so forth. We should try to put our money in ways to communicate with animal to understand them better and have a better idea what they feel and think. If we can do this without mind, why can we do it with them, the animals.
When I eat my daily portion of poultry, I always think how lucky I’m to have poultry accessible to me, unlike other cultures that do not have the same privilege. But sometimes I wonder how my poultry was treated before his/her finals day. And I always hope animals were treated fairly as well as killed respectfully. However, often I hear people telling horrific stories about how vicious the process providing food for us. I’m saddened by this concept. We revolve our whole existing around animals from nutrition, hair products, vaccines, and more. Yet some people still may feel those factors are not sufficient evident to giving animals equal rights. Every animal no matter their scale plays a vital role in society. Therefore, I strongly feel whether you are an animal or non animal everyone should have rights especially animals. We own so much of our progress and way of being to animals the least we can do allow them some rights.
From my point of view, we, animals, deserve rights. Every living being has to be treated with respect, leaving away proud and misconceptions. Otherwise, there would be extreme differences causing a big issue. For instance, we can see how many individuals use to abuse of other animals without any kind of mercy. And obviously, it makes others feel bad, arousing the necessity for animal rights, which can be described as a way of protection.
I do believe that animals deserve rights and that a lot of animal testing is cruel and unjust however it is important to point out that I don’t think that eating meat is bad. It’s part of the food chain and has worked in nature for as far as we know. The way it animals are harvested today however seems to have gotten out of hand. The time has come and it has been long overdue that we stop the mistreatment of these animals. Likewise cruel animal testing is wrong on many levels in my mind. This of course brings up the concept of right and wrong which can be a never ending conversation about beliefs and social systems. I for one believe that animals do have rights and that they should not be mistreated. -Christopher Jackson
Although, I do not eat meat, not because of animal cruelty, PETA, and so on, I still believe, that animals deserved to have rights. I does not matter that animals cannot express their feeling,or thoughts in human language, I think they still feel the same what people would do in cruel situation. Some of the animals are probably smarter that some of the human being. And, also, can learn and act pretty much in the same way as people. People sometimes tend to think that if animals do not do anything extraordinary, one can do whatever s/he wants with it. But if we would do the same on people, i believe no one would like that. So, as long animals have brains, can think, and so on, we should treat them in a nice way because one never knows that the day comes when the evolution goes that way that animals becomes smart as a people or even smarter, and nobody would want that they would act cruelly on us. Rokas Zickevicius
32 comments:
I believe that animals should deserve rights. I mean why not? They can do almost anything a human can so why not......as long as you have a brain, you deserve rights.
I believe that animals deserve rights. When I eat meat, I eat it to live and to survive. In the Bible people did the same. But at the same time, one of the reasons Jesus died was to end animal sacrifice, he himself even said that “I am the ultimate sacrifice.” If you think about it Animals are just like humans, because we share the same characteristics. For example, in a pride of lions mothers hunt to feed their cubs and the members of their pride, male lions protect the pride. In certain tribes in Native American History and African tribes they did the same thing; mothers would gather and cook food, while men would hunt and protect their tribes. So it doesn’t make sense when we kill Deers or elephants for fun. But it does make sense when we kill chickens, pigs, and cows because it is for our survival. But at the same time we should only sacrifice them for food not just for the hell of it. Every living thing in the world that eats, drinks, and sleep share the same characteristics. Whether it is humans, ducks or dolphins; because no mother human, mother duck, or mother dolphin will let harm come to their offspring without a fight. So it doesn’t make sense when humans cause harm to animals because in a way their causing harm to living beings that are just like them. Another thing that I would like to point out is that humans are ignorant. If something doesn’t look like them or speak the same language as them, they feel as if their superior and like to inflict pain on them. We are so ignorant that we even did it to our selves. One of the reasons why Early Europeans would enslave Africans is because they didn’t look, speak, or dress like them. Early Europeans would also note they enslaved them because they felt their way of living and their society was far advanced then the blacks, so they felt they should be enslaved. They treated them like animals. It’s human ignorance that causes pain to animals and to each other.
Donald Dominique Jr.
If animals are to have "rights",then plants should have rights,and man should just lie down and die.Don'tget me wrong, I'm not advocating animal cruelty or the like but likewise,I'm not ready to give up eating meat. I don,t agree with trophy hunting and like Roussau, believe that animals are sentient beings.Personally,if I;m not going to eat it I won't kill it,as long as it isn't trying to kill me. Alan Lopez
I do not believe that animals deserve an actual set of rights. Agreeing with Alan i feel that if animals were given rights then other lesser life should receive rights as well, and bluntly put this country has more important things to do than deal with rights of lesser beings. As heartless as it sounds the facts are unshaken: animals are lesser beings inferior to humans. Although it has been proven that primates, our closest relatives have a cognitive capacity that allows them to excel in the wild as well as complete task that other animals couldn't do, they are still primates at the end of the day. When it comes to blatant disrespect and disregard for animal life i am a strong advocate fighting for justice for animals, but justice to a limit.i feel that offenders should be punished by monetary means and forced to attend awareness courses for a designated amount of time. Using professional football player MIchael Vick as an example, Vick was implicated in an interstate dog fighting ring, pleading guilty to felony charges Vick spent nearly two years in jail, losing his spot on the team, in addition to losing millions of dollars in endorsements. As a result or being apart of dog fighting i find the consequences excessive. Felons convicted of manslaughter have been released from jail in two years. In my mind i simply can not rationalize holding the life of an animal to the same regard as i do my own, or the life of another human being. In my opinion only true vegan and vegetarians can honestly and whole heartedly fight for animals rights. Those who eat meat and advocate for the longevity of animal life seem like nothing less than Hippocrates. Some argue that when they eat meat they do so to live and survive, but living in todays society there are many supplements and alternatives to meat and one could live a full prosperous life without the digestions of meat.
Of course animals deserve rights. I believe every single creature inhabiting this world (or others), deserve rights; no matter if you are a rabbit, a dog, a plant, a human being, or an alien you should have rights. I believe so for the simplest reason of them all, we were granted the right to life, and that should be enough to respect every single species sharing this universe, no matter if X creature is smarter than other, if A is able to communicate better than B, if W serves humans better than K, or so on and so forth. I believe a set of universal rights should be adopted, where every country should be the regulator, and make sure creatures are being trated in a fair way under these set of “decent living rules”. Let’s say some of the rules could be: the right to clean water,to a healthy environment, to live and reproduce freely without the interference of the external world, etc. But, if us, humans, don’t even respect our own(human) rights, how are we expected to believe that animal rights will be respected? Jeronimo Gilardoni
"More than 100 million animals every year suffer and die in cruel chemical, drug, food and cosmetic tests, biology lessons, medical training exercises, and curiosity-driven medical experiments"(1).
It is said that we have to love everything that comes from the earth, from God for those who believe. However, there seems to be a big contradiction.
How come we fight for animal rights, those suffering in laboratories being tortured and killed. People make laws and fight to protect them that parenthetically are only few. More than 95 percent of animals used in experiments are mice, rats, birds, and cold blooded animals. These are not counted, therefore not covered by even the minimal protections of the Animal Welfare Act. Going back to the question, people are fighting to save them from cruelty and making campaigns to persuade in buying cruelty-free products that I totally agree. However, we are still eating meet. Every 10 billion land animals and about 18 billion marine animals are killed and not for survival but for habit, tradition, convenience and taste. “Specienism”, says Gary Yourofsky, a vegan activist defending animal rights. Animals in farms are tortured and brutally killed, cows are raped so they can "produce" more animals and milk.
Now, I’m not vegan nor vegetarian but I just want to point that even when it comes to animals, society has made a difference among them.
In conclusion, If slavery and brutality to black people, gypsies in the Holocaust, etc has ended, because it was wrong, why not to animals? Because they don’t have cognitive skill and they can’t tell us how much it hurts?. They can still feel. How would we feel if an alien with a much higher intelligence comes to earth to test on us, humans. Simple mortals.? Brutality is just wrong, is ignorance.
Gabriela Ramos
1. http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/default.aspx
I take more of a centrist approach to this topic. I eat meat, and despite these issues with animal treatment, I would not become a vegetarian. However, I do not support animal cruelty. I do believe, like many people, that animals deserve to be treated fairly. They are God's creations just like us, and as such they deserve some respect. However, they are also an excellent source of food and as such they should continue serving that purpose. So, the best approach to handling animals, in my opinion, is to continue using them for all the purposes they realistically suit (food, fur...), but do so under the most reasonable and humane conditions possible under a given situation. There is no need to wantonly abuse animals, torture and kill them for fun. It's quite possible to treat the animals well, and still get the necessary utility out of them - organic farms do it quite well.
- Alexander Zaiarnyi
As a means for food consumption, I do condone the killing of animals. There is no light way to put it, but when we talk about animal cruelty, in some ways I do not understand. Of course I do not agree with such things as killing animals for sport or enjoyment, but other things such as lab testing and other things though seem evil are necessary for human survival. We have existed on this planet for this long because we are the biggest bullies in nature. We take what isn’t ours; we kill, steal and manipulate things in order to make them better for our sakes in order to survive. There is no doubting that animals are living, breathing creatures that think, and feel pain and try to preserve their own existence. So one cannot say that animals do not feel pain, and one can sympathize that the treatment of animals is wrong, but humans barely treat each other with civility so you can’t really expect much for the treatment of animals in many cases.
-Rachel Dorvil
I am a firm believer that we are all of God's; including animals. I would be a hypocrite if I said I did not eat meat. The fact of the matter is that I believe that there must be a balance and kill the animals humanely. I understand that we need to test animals for medicals purposes and for the mass consumption of humans. What I do not agree with is to torture animals down the assembly line. It is bad enough already that you are cutting their life by killing them. Must you really have to beat, bang, taunt, and stab? I mean how insecure must you be about yourself to beat a being lesser than you. Do you feel superior when you? Because if that what takes to taste superiority, I think I will pass up the offer.
Just because an animal cannot speak, does not mean he or she is incapable of injustice. That would be the equivalent of striping a human’s beings right because they are mute or were born not speaking. The fact of the matter is that no human or creature is superior to the other; only God is superior. Therefore animals deserve rights.
-Raiza Natalia Matamoros
MWF 11 am
To tell you the truth, I really don’t care if animals have their right or not. It does not benefit us if we give them rights. What are we going to use for our testing experiments when it is banned to use humans in experiments? Sure, animals do feel pain, cry, and act upon given orders but it doesn’t change the fact that they are still animals. What separates us from animals is our state of being and that we are, sorry to say, superior. This statement does not mean we should go hurt animals, cause useless abuse, and pointless terrorizing. The statement just means that we are a growing race and our nature is to survive. As the saying goes, “Survival of the Fittest.” Now to answer the last question, no I do not think of any of these issues mention as I eat meat. Why? Because it benefits my well-being and I am a very open minded person.
Nonetheless, an animal can be left alone although they would still need food, water and security provided. Animals do have rights and in the case of cruel and unusual punishment, deserve them. In most cases animals do deserve at least the bare minimum given to humanity. However, the use of animals for testing in the case of non-life saving techniques and pharmaceuticals is rubbish. In some cases companies will use less than appropriate conditions and techniques in the care of the animals. In that case, cruel and unusual punishment should not be exerted. What is considered to be "useless" testing on animals, for reasons other than trying to further necessitated medicines and practices, should be prohibited. It is similar to raising a small child. The neglect of domestic animals is wrong. They do not deserve to be treated inhumanly for no purpose, and domesticated animals defiantly deserve to have their owner treat them appropriately and take care of them. They should possess limited rights to being taken care of in a proper way. Animals of all types can feel pain and they are capable of suffering. The Circle of Life would not go-round if animals were not intended for food.
Marie Michelle Leveille
Animal rights is a topic that is very complicated. Animals do deserve rights; however, it should be limited to many animals. As we can see the cow is one of the animals that use a super minimal amount of brain/mind to function. On the other hand, we have the monkey which is one of the smartest animal in the wild. We can not also give animals rights with out limits because then our resources can become scars. Even though animals feel pain, it is not quite the same as humans. They tend to express randomly as the human race. We need to respect animals by not hunting and torturing them just because it makes us feel good. The human race is also a type of animal. However, we tend to express feeling different because of the way our mind is program to function. We are an intellectual race that can comprehend everything surrounding us, except the feelings of others. I understand where most of these scientists and professors are trying to achieve, but it will not happen any time soon. (Especially by teaching monkeys sign language (A language they do not understand)). I leave it as animals deserve rights, but limited to the type of animal.
When I eat meat I really don’t think of any of these issues. However, I think that animals deserve rights. But same rights as humans? No. But the animals were given to Adam for him to rule over them. Animals are sentient beings, with their own interests, and should have those interests protected. However, thanks to its meat are how we survive and I always have said that if you must kill an animal do it quickly and with as little pain as possible. Never torture an animal. Animals have feelings, of course they do! Why else do you think dogs whine and run away when people hurt or abuse them? It is heart breaking for me to see the suffering of animals in laboratories being tortured and killed. Animal abuse is linked to murders, but unfortunately animal cruelty laws aren't as severe as they should be. Once a former animal abuser kills a person, the courts decide to lock them up for life, but if the person abuses another animal, they simply get cited.
There is a quote that I found out very interesting.
“The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth”.(Henry Beston).
~Joixen Lobo
Many individuals would justify eating meat by arguing that it is necessary for our growth and development. Yes, it does it provide us with nutrients but those nutrients can be received from alternate sources. Animals do deserve rights. We all become so worried if something happens to our dogs just because we raise it as our own and we don’t eat dog meat. Why do we treat a dog different from a cow or a pig? Aren’t those animals? Being a Hindu, I don’t indulge in beef and refrain myself from eating meat. However, I do eat chicken but a very few times. I have seen life in India and a huge chunk of population survives on pure vegetarian food. People are living and life is thriving without having to eat even a morsel of meat. In fact, the obesity rate is lower there. I wouldn’t support eating meat for its nutrition content since there are alternatives available. It’s true that animals can’t speak their agony or weakness and we humans as always, dominate their lives as well and take advantage. Animals are kept in worst state in the poultries, where they don’t walk or see sunlight for months. They are injected hormones and many animals grow without feet of some organ. Many are now arguing that this kind of meat is not good for human health. Still we are eating and growing such industry.
In my opinion animal rights in American society is one of those out of sight out of mind scenarios. A few weeks back I was walking down Lincoln road and set up there was a television set by an animal rights group, it was showing common but incredibly cruel acts being done to animals. First was a tiny lamb having his throat slit open and left to bleed out, followed by a cow hung by his bottom legs upside down (still alive) being dragged down an assembly line to his certain death. My first instinct was too look away, but does that really make it better? I mean is ignorance really bliss in this instance? I find Americans to be incredibly hypocritical and cowardly when it comes to this subject, including myself. Why is it okay to put cows, chickens, lambs, etc. through this horrible life of living to die for our own selfish benefit, but if this were happening to dogs or cats, there would be an outrage? You might think well we don’t eat dogs or cats, and my argument for that would be horse meat is considered a delicacy here, but yet black market rings that produce it are shut down and prosecuted. We begin to hold a double standard, Its okay to kill a rat, but it’s frowned upon to kill a squirrel. We’ve basically become shallow to the point where cute things can stay, but we’ll feast on the rest. I’m guilty of eating meat, but the heartless assembly lines these animals are put through is just inhumane to say the least. I think we need to find a more humane way to handle this. The way that slaughterhouses are functioning right now is just unacceptable. The way human race has come to interact with animals is incredible, to the point we feel like we have lost a family member if our pet dies, or you’ll see a dog risk his life to save an owner or another dog even. Here’s a pretty incredible video to show an example of the latter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HJTG6RRN4E&feature=related. I honestly think if we had to go out and commit the steps that lead a burger to a plate on our own, we wouldn’t be too inclined to indulge like we do now. I believe with knowledge we will start to take a different point of view on this, but the longer we let ourselves remain ignorant the longer it will take for things to change.
Patrick Crowley
I strongly support animal rights, I don’t believe they should be exploited for our selfish satisfaction. I don’t agree with the slaughtering of animals for fur coats, furniture, shoes or any other kind of luxury. I also completely disagree with hunting of animals as a hobby or activity to do. Till this day I don’t understand how that is legal, it’s immoral. The circus is also against animals’ rights, these wild life creatures as exploited and used as slaves in a sense. They look malnourished and are kept in enclosed areas. Although I am against animals being killed and exploited for our own selfish pleasure, I do not disagree with animals being used as a source of nutrition. That is the only time it would be justifiable in my eyes, since food is a necessity. Humans have always used animals as a source of food, so why is it immoral now? Even the Bible states we are allowed to eat meat.
--- Laura Galindo
I’ve always had an affinity for animals even if I were afraid of them. I always try to find a way of not hurting the animal though it may pose a threat to me. I spent four years of high school caring for a plentiful of animals: beef cattle, pigs, lambs etc. As a student, my Ag (agriculture) teacher always told us to treat the animals as humanely as possible. I developed a strong connection to pigs. Many people see swine (pigs) as dirty animals and mistreat them for that. My experience with them has taught me that they are incredibly intelligent and sweet loving animals. But just like humans animals they need their space. This is mostly seen through aggressive signs. This shows that animals and humans are not that different in behavior. We regard ourselves as higher intellectually Beings because we are self-aware meaning we have a conscious. Being that we are aware of ourselves that does not automatically mean that “they” are not aware of themselves. They cry out when in pain. If that’s not an indicator of self-awareness I don’t know what is. My craze for pigs does not keep me from eating pork. Strangely that’s the only meat that I know I couldn’t give up.
- Joanne Apollon
I believe that animals should have rights. Although they may not have the same level of intelligence as we do, they are still living beings just as we are. Because a monkey (for example) does not communicate pain or emotions in the same manner that a human does does not grant man the leisure of ignoring the monkeys feelings and doing what they please. Animals are no different than a human being. We are all animals if you ask me.
christopher jitta
Personally, I think we can be very arrogant beings. There is no absolute way to fully comprehend what another species feels without being that specie. Sometimes we forget that we are animals as well. Those creatures that we torture for food and submit to experiments are sentient beings. They have life. What exactly is the difference in testing shampoo on a monkey rather than a person? To test if its safe, in case there are side effects. Why are we so quick to decide that we are the end all be all of existence to the point where we do not even question this. The sentient being argument is one I still struggle with myself, but if I can’t do something myself, I wouldn’t subject someone else or an animal to such treatment. I try and stick to products that are naturally derived and free of animal testing, I would think it irresponsible of myself if I did otherwise.
Rene Gonzalez
MWF 11am
Animal are needed to balance out nature. When ever i eat meat i do think its not right to kill them the way they do in the farms. In countries, especially America, we are prone to eat meat. Our bodies need protein, there are other resources to get it, but meat is the most efficient way. But point is, if animals are to be put down, it should done in a more humane way. Instead of doing all the torturing. In the article they mention animals can't speak, there fore there is no way of knowing if they feel pain. If i kicked someone I'm sure it will hurt. People get stabbed they bleed. Same thing if you do it to an animal. Just because you don't hear "ouch" doesn't mean animal can't feel it. If it whimpers or squeals I'm sure that's it's way of saying ouch.
This is a very touchy subject because in the animal kingdom the golden rule is eat or be eaten but what does this rule of nature and the cycle of life entitle the holder of the life?
Personally, I have nothing against eating animals. It is part of the life cycle and its unavoidable but my major issue is the way we go about claiming a life we think we deserve to take. Its a waste the amount of animals killed and just thrown away. Not all the flesh sacrificed is eaten. Most of it rots and goes to the trash and I believe the waste is the major issue. We mutate the bodies of living breathing things in the name of science for our own selfish needs. A lot of people don't have a problem with this and that's only because these animals don't have voices to convey the ordeals they must endure. If a human kills another human, its atrocious and barbaric. What makes us different from the rest of the animal kingdom? We are after all mammals and share the same survival needs as these voiceless life forms we slaughter.
All living beings should be entitled to having rights. I honestly believe that humans should give animals their appropriate rights. Now I know that many of us, whom consume meat, do not think about these topics but it is important that we think about the suffering and the troublesome lives that these beings had to endure to make it to our plate. Humans have always believed to be the superior ones and in truth we are since we are able to interpret and understand information. But who’s to say that animals cannot understand us? Just because our level of understanding is higher than animals does not state that animals cannot comprehend humans. It is possible that animals can understand humans and also animals can feel pain or feel uncomfortable. There is no proven fact that animals can communicate the pain or aches to us but it can be seen. Animals also have feelings like any other human. No scientific evidence can show that animals have feelings but by our observations we perceive it as pain. Remember, we are of course animals as well, only we had to fight our way to have our rights. Animals cannot express themselves like we do but we can try and become that voice they are desperately seeking for if we just stopped being so ignorant and so smug upon the subject. I’m not trying to convince people to become vegans or give up on meat, I too eat meat, but we should think and reconsider to giving animals the rights they deserve or at least offer some to them.
Daysis Moraga
Survival of the fittest, it is the way of life no matter what anyone says. Animals are on the lower end of the food chain due to this and we also need them to survive. While one can argue about this statement it will remain this way and has throughout time. Now if we talk about the way they are butchered and injected with steroids to produce the meat faster, then yes I will agree that it is a sadistic method that we have come to but it is our own doing due to the fact that as a species we have grown in size as a population over the past 300 years due to our way of life and demands must be met to match this. As time goes by our methods will keep changing to meet the needs of our population keeps spiraling out of control at the rate it has been going. I mean we are trying to clone animals to meet these demands on how bad our population has gotten from not having any nature predators, diseases, and wars as we use to. As time keeps going I feel as if something different must be done if you really look at how desperate we have gotten but until then I do not feel like anyone will do anything until we are cornered and desperate. As most people do, they never care until it is almost too late if not late already.
Anthony Cosmo DeCollibus
Even though they can’t talk or tell us they feel pain like we feel pain I don’t think they deserve the same right humans have. At the moment in time animals do have some type of right you can’t beat dogs, cats, or horse and get away with it that’s animal cruelty. So animals do get treated in a reasonable way when they have owners. But an inessential part of the human food group is meat and unlike others I know myself I’m not a vegan and I enjoy eating meat so if there was a right against eating meat I wouldn’t vote to pass that law because it taste so good. But for there to be some type of right against animal killing no testing and using their coats to make clothing I do believe there should be a right against that they don’t deserve to die just because a human being wants to look nice.
WESLYNE SAINCI
Every human have the right to life, liberty, and security of person, including the right to be free from slavery, torture, raising a family, education, vote, etc. If animals have the right to life, it is wrong to kill them. If animals have the right to liberty, it is wrong to hold them in cages, or captivity. Can you imagine a wild tiger walking on Lincoln Road? Don't get me wrong, I do not support animal torture or anything related to it, and I strongly believe that we should respect every single specie's life in the planet, but giving them the same rights that we have is not going to change that much. Unfortunately, there's a food chain that needs to be completed in order to survive, and we are going to keep using them as food, or things of our convenience because it is in our nature. What we could do is to fight for the wellness of the animals. Just because our level of intelligence is higher does not mean that they should be punished or torture.
Amira Sarasola
To a certain degree, yes animal has rights because they can feel pain and should not be caused undue/unnecessary harm just because they cannot defend themselves. However, an animal life should not have more value than the life of a human being. Animals were created as lesser creatures to be dominated over by human. Therefore, it is not reasonable to think they have the same moral values as a person. And since, animal was created by God for us humans to eat; I do not see the wrong in eating meat because it is an essential part in our survival.
Fenza Fleurgin
Animals deserve right as we do. Because were the dominate species does not mean we can abuse other lower then us. Which I mean animals that we eat. We depend on animal a lot and to survive we eat them. The issue is that how we treat them in factory’s, labs, or just at home is cruel to them. If animal were able to talk and fight for themselves am sure we would have a war against them. However, that will never happen because we live in reality. No one really knows if a animal is suffer truly because of the sounds a animal does. For example, a dog may have something struck in his paw but to a human we would not know we would think it broken, got cut, and so forth. We should try to put our money in ways to communicate with animal to understand them better and have a better idea what they feel and think. If we can do this without mind, why can we do it with them, the animals.
lenin bojorge
When I eat my daily portion of poultry, I always think how lucky I’m to have poultry accessible to me, unlike other cultures that do not have the same privilege. But sometimes I wonder how my poultry was treated before his/her finals day. And I always hope animals were treated fairly as well as killed respectfully. However, often I hear people telling horrific stories about how vicious the process providing food for us. I’m saddened by this concept. We revolve our whole existing around animals from nutrition, hair products, vaccines, and more. Yet some people still may feel those factors are not sufficient evident to giving animals equal rights. Every animal no matter their scale plays a vital role in society. Therefore, I strongly feel whether you are an animal or non animal everyone should have rights especially animals. We own so much of our progress and way of being to animals the least we can do allow them some rights.
~Reyna Barnhart
From my point of view, we, animals, deserve rights. Every living being has to be treated with respect, leaving away proud and misconceptions. Otherwise, there would be extreme differences causing a big issue. For instance, we can see how many individuals use to abuse of other animals without any kind of mercy. And obviously, it makes others feel bad, arousing the necessity for animal rights, which can be described as a way of protection.
I do believe that animals deserve rights and that a lot of animal testing is cruel and unjust however it is important to point out that I don’t think that eating meat is bad. It’s part of the food chain and has worked in nature for as far as we know. The way it animals are harvested today however seems to have gotten out of hand. The time has come and it has been long overdue that we stop the mistreatment of these animals. Likewise cruel animal testing is wrong on many levels in my mind. This of course brings up the concept of right and wrong which can be a never ending conversation about beliefs and social systems. I for one believe that animals do have rights and that they should not be mistreated.
-Christopher Jackson
Although, I do not eat meat, not because of animal cruelty, PETA, and so on, I still believe, that animals deserved to have rights. I does not matter that animals cannot express their feeling,or thoughts in human language, I think they still feel the same what people would do in cruel situation. Some of the animals are probably smarter that some of the human being. And, also, can learn and act pretty much in the same way as people. People sometimes tend to think that if animals do not do anything extraordinary, one can do whatever s/he wants with it. But if we would do the same on people, i believe no one would like that. So, as long animals have brains, can think, and so on, we should treat them in a nice way because one never knows that the day comes when the evolution goes that way that animals becomes smart as a people or even smarter, and nobody would want that they would act cruelly on us.
Rokas Zickevicius
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