Calder High School

Should animals have rights?

Introduction
one of many sports which animals die
Blood and Games
How many animals die because of humans
why animals should have rights
Video on animal rights

Many of today's animals do not have any rights. In rare cases, certain species, such as dogs and cats, are given legal protection. This only proves severe discrimination when it comes to animal rights. Species are not considered to have equal values. Humans cherish only the abilities which can help or suit people in certain ways. Cats are gentle, dogs are loyal, dolphins are friendly. A relationship which is based on this understanding can only be degrading towards animals, and recognizes animals only as therapeutes, guards or companions. Inner worth is ignored. That is why, when there is no need for the kind of values these animals provide us with, they become suitable to be only our food.

The battle for animal rights has just begun. It will finish once the human race realizes the true values of all animals. And these values should not be modeled upon man and his view of the world. Man should stop protecting only animals which hold value for man and start protecting all living beings, no matter how scary, ugly or mysterious they might seem. Because, in the end, it is our fears we have to face, and the most dominant among them is fear of what we might achieve and how we might evolve once we grant animals certain basic rights.

Granting certain rights to animals would ask of man to use his creative and inventive powers to resolve living conditions free of animal exploitation. This could lead toward another revolution, more comprehensive and more fundamental than any industrial or political revolution in history. Complete liberation of animals is the only means of liberation of man.

There is only one sport which doesn't give the opposing side even the slightest chance of victory. And only this sport allows that the defeated be eaten, lacerated, stuffed or have their heads cut and hung up on walls.

Captured animals that end up in circuses, zoos or aquariums seem to fare not much better, because they end up in an enviroment in which they are the object of care and efforts to "preserve their own species". But, the truth couldn't be more different.

People who have witnessed this "world of entertainment" first hand will tell you that in most cases the lives of these animals are filled with terror, torture, stress, depression, starvation... On the other hand, animals which participate in all kinds of fights have no chance whatsoever, and their only salvation is death at the end of the bloody game.

Hunting is not a sport. Keeping animals in captivity is not entertainment. Animal fighting is not a game.

In contrast to the glitter associated with circuses, performing animals' lives are pretty miserable. Because animals do not naturally ride bicycles, stand on their heads, or jump through rings of fire, whips, electric prods, and other tools are often used to force them to perform.

More than 40,000 bulls are barbarically slaughtered in rings in Spain each year. 20 percent of bulls are fed laxatives and drugged before they step into the ring. 20 percent of 200 bulls had been given anti-inflammatory drugs, which "can camouflage certain injuries," before the fight even started. The bull's horns are shaved and petroleum jelly may be smeared into his eyes to cloud his vision. Before the matador even enters the ring, a picador stabs and cuts the muscles in his neck. Bullfighting is a cruel bloodsport in which the bulls don’t stand a chance.

"To derive pleasure in being cruel is a very debasing matter. It shows a person to be unmindful of the sanctity of life and the meaning of life. There is something very foul and evil in the lives of men and women who delight in destroying helpless life, especially in what is right and what is wrong.

How many animals die because of humans

dogs, and a similar number of cats, of which an estimated 80% are stray or unwanted.

Around 60 billion farm animals are used each year globally to produce meat, milk and eggs. The majority are raised in industrial farming systems where their welfare needs are not met.

Globally, there are some 600 million

The illegal and often inhumane trade in wildlife and wildlife parts is a soaring black market worth $10 billion a year, exceeded only by arms and drug smuggling. Millions of wild animals are killed, captured or traded inhumanely in this shady business.

An estimated 80% of power input on farms in developing countries is supplied by draught animals, however the resources made available are often woefully inadequate, leading to significant welfare issues. Animals are also affected on a huge scale by natural disasters, though seldom considered.

For a global problem you need a global solution. Agreement on the importance of an issue affects people's attitudes, and people's attitudes affect their actions. A Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare would have a real, long-term impact on the welfare of billions of animals worldwide.

Please, sign the petition

why animals should have rights

The status of an animal is not some inborn property, like the colour of its hairs or the way its body is shaped. It is a socially and culturally assigned value that can be given and taken away. We, humans, as a cultural group determine the status of an animal. Status is also a gradual phenomenon, one can assign high or low status to an animal. People, animals and objects can be assigned more or less value in a gradual manner. At the top of the status series one can sometimes find a sudden transition. When a pop star, a racing horse or an old monumental house slowly grow in status over time and crosses some threshold value, they can receive an untouchable super status. Finally status is a relative concept. I assign a different status to a primary school teacher than one of his students does.

Researchers assign a lower status to a laboratory rabbit than to a rabbit kept as a pet. The sociologist notices the behavioural changes when people of different status meet each other. The ethologist sees the differences in status amongst herd animals like wolves or humans, that cause dominating or submissive behaviour. When people of similar status meet, however, there are no behavioural changes.

The realisation that status is not some absolute measure but an assigned, culturally determined phenomenon, implies for people in a subculture that assigns a "low" value to animals (like industrial farmers or animal experimenters) that they have as few "hard" arguments as the people of the subculture who assign a higher value to animals (like animal protectors). As long as these two subcultures continue to live strictly separated, each meeting will lead to a culture shock and consequently lead to ignorance behaviour. One will keep his or her mouth closed during the next birthday party or outside the laboratory.

Policy makers were wondering if the status of an animal can be improved, e.g. in biotechnology. The interesting aspect of status is that it is a dynamic concept. The status of a top researcher can fall down quickly when unethical behavior takes place like fraud. The other way around, a biotechnologically changed animal, e.g. bull Herman (first genetically manipulated bull) became so popular that the government eventually decided he cannot be slaughtered as an ordinary bull. Eventually he passed away in April 2004.

The H of Historical / Cultural Reasons

The following examples may help understand this. There are plenty of cultures where a certain animal has a high or low status "obviously and since many many years." Examples are the holy cow in India, holy cats and crocodiles in ancient Egypt, animals for sacrifice purposes (e.g. old Aztec and Mediterranean culture) and the spider Anantie in Africa (a clever spider that always outsmarts the tiger). But there are also "parias" amongst cultural images of animals: rats, spiders in Europe, pigs in Islam, insects that potentially carry or spread diseases or that damage agricultural crops. Each of us is born in such a cultural framework, and one "receives" the status of each animal species via a.o. fairytales, legends, cartoons and comics, children's books, documentaries and computer games. Against this background "value," each person will develop on top his own variations depending on his or her environment (hearsay from family members, personal experiences). One's own pet will get a higher status then other people's pets.