Animal Rights
Mankind has deceived its furry, finned and scaled friends by its disgraceful disregard fortheir basic rights as living beings. Nowhere is it written that humans, while perhaps themost developed of all species, are the rulers over their nonspeaking counterparts. Whetheror not a person believes animals have the same rights as humans is not the issue: The issueis that animals have the same innate right to a life free of pain, suffering and exploitation asman does, regardless if they are lower on the life chain. Animals have no one to "stick up"(Harahan PG) for them; mankind must adopt the role of their caretaker or prepare to "Human beings must consider what impact our actions have on the lives of others.To limit moral consideration to humans only is no more logical or justifiable than limitingconcern to white people only or to men only; specieism, like racism and sexism, is wrongbecause all animals contribute to the ecosystem and are capable of suffering" The issues that surround animal rights are both broad and complex; not only dothey address the primal mistreatment of those from the animal kingdom, but they also
Animals have long served man ininnumerable ways, and still he has developed only a limited spectrum of reverence foranimals as their own conscious entities. The primary argument behind animal rights issuesis the concern over human attributes, which, of course, animals do not possess. This concept has been completely lost on humanity, in as much as man has historicallyutilized animals for whatever purpose he deems necessary without a thought for theanimal's needs. However, inspite of all the various ways animals serve mankind, there has historically been littlethought given to their own right to existence, having always been considered little morethan a disposable commodity. A strong point for consideration, however, is the issue of the prey/predatorrelationship as a means by which to play devil's advocate for the intentional pain andsuffering argument. Without the slightest bit of concern for the pain and sufferingthrust upon laboratory specimens, man continues to poke, prod, burn and mutilate living,feeling animals in the name of science. Whether it is the issue of hunting, trapping, food farms,circuses, zoos or testing, animals have long provided -- and will likely continue to provide-- humanity with some of its most basic requirements, all at the cost of the animal's ownlife. The essence of animal rights reflects upon how humanity has taken advantage ofthe animal kingdom, while at the same time giving nothing back in return with regard to alevel of appreciation for nonhuman sentience. The debate has raged long and loudwith regard to animals and whether or not they truly possess rights; however, that battlehas historically been waged in pursuit of attributing human rights to the animal kingdom. Animals provide a significant supply of goods for human beings, not the least ofwhich supports man's medicinal, food, companion and entertainment needs. Again, acurious asymmetry can be observed. The primary question put forth is whether or not man is taking unfair advantage of hisanimal counterparts through gross exploitation. Can we not have the same moral certainty about the experiences of animals?"(Dennett 691). This aspect, in and of itself, is an inaccurate interpretation of rights, being that man cannotexpect to find his reflection in any other species but his own. We do not require absolute, Cartesian certainty thatour fellow human beings are conscious--what we require is what is aptly called moralcertainty.
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Acceptance Essays
