Animal Rights, moral right of animals to be treated with respect and without exploitation

Animal Rights

I

INTRODUCTION

Animal Rights, moral right of animals to be treated with respect and without exploitation. Some people believe that animals have rights just as human beings do. Advocates of animal rights have different views and approaches to the issue. While some animal rights activists, such as Australian philosopher Peter Singer, advocate total animal liberation, many animal welfare organizations take a more moderate approach, working for practical improvement of the relationship between animals and humans. Organizations in the United States concerned with the protection of animals include the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

II

ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION

Scientific researchers use animals in biomedical and veterinary research aimed at improving human health and the welfare of other animals. Successful medical treatments, including antibiotics and vaccines, have been developed through animal experimentation. Many scientists argue that animal experimentation remains a crucial tool for the investigation and treatment of serious diseases such as cancer, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS), and heart disease. However, animal rights activists have protested against various forms of animal experimentation, noting that procedures such as vivisection ignore the capacity of animals to feel pain. They also object to toxicity testing performed on animals to help determine whether cosmetics and other products are safe for human use. Laws exist in many countries to regulate the use and treatment of laboratory animals in scientific industries and in education.

III

ANIMALS IN ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS

The use of animals in sports has resulted in many cases of animal injury and death. Laws on badger baiting, dog fighting, and deer and stag hunting vary from country to country. Bullfighting has been banned in certain countries, but in Spain it remains a traditional spectator event. Animal rights advocates have expressed concern over the conditions in many zoos and circuses where animals are kept, claiming that animals in these facilities are forced to live in unnatural habitats and climates, with unsuitable housing and inadequate space. Other critics argue that such conditions promote abnormal animal behavior such as pacing. Zoos maintain, however, that their institutions provide educational, zoological, and conservational benefits. Many cases of cruelty and neglect of animals kept as pets have also been reported.

IV

ANIMALS AS FOOD AND PRODUCTS

Although people often choose vegetarianism for health reasons, many people choose to abstain from eating meat, poultry, and fish because they oppose the killing of animals. Vegans are people who abstain from eating any animal products—including dairy products—for a variety of reasons (see Veganism). Many animal rights advocates strongly oppose intensive (factory) farming, due in part to the restricted space that such farm animals are forced to occupy before they are slaughtered. They also object to other food production practices such as the force-feeding of geese to enlarge their livers for the production of pâté de fois gras (goose-liver pâté), and the housing of veal calves in crates to restrict muscle development. In certain countries such treatments are illegal. See Animal Husbandry; Dairy Farming; Poultry Farming; Meat-Packing Industry.

Animal rights advocates have long campaigned against the use and treatment of animals in the fur industry. Fox and mink are bred in group captivity on fur farms, mostly in the countries of Scandinavia. Animal rights advocates argue that this practice may cause stress to the animals as these species are solitary by nature. Treatment of animals on fur farms is generally subject to legislation, and the use of furs from endangered species is banned in many countries.

V

OTHER CONCERNS

Concern by society over the treatment of animals has surrounded various other practices, including whaling, seal fishing, the ivory trade, the use of rhinoceros horns in Chinese medications, the use of animals in contemporary art, and the catching of dolphins in tuna-fishing nets. Different countries have passed various laws on these issues, and international discussions have taken place on the ethics and legal issues involved. The ethics of killing animals considered pests—for example, sewer rats, house mice, and garden slugs—are less commonly questioned.