View the video clip and read the essay linked below. Then answer the following questions. Do animals have rights? Why or why not?
Tom Regan, PhD
Philosopher, North Carolina State University
The Case for Animal Rights
Essay - The Case for Animal Rights
by Tom Regan
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What rights do animals have? Many times animals are seen as property that is available for human use and pleasure. Animals have no legal rights, but they do deserve legal protection from abuse and neglect. I believe that cruelty and neglect of domestic animals are crimes. I feel that in many instances animals should have the same rights to dignity as humans. We have a responsibility to treat the other creatures with whom we share this planet with decency
Animals have been used a tools for many years to explore methods of saving humanity and for keeping humanity healthy. Humans often reason that animals are not capable the same types of feeling that a humans has such as guilt, remorse, the ability to apologize, reason or have conversation. By this standard animals are not on an equal and morally logical level as humans. If humans are not willing to undergo the testing, how can we force animals to take our place? Initially we didn't think that animals were able to feel pain so this argument didn't exist. But, we now know that animals are able to feel pain, so this becomes a valid argument. Even though animals do feel pain in the same way as humans, have similar central nervous system pathways, and similar pain receptors, animals suffer less due to their incapability to remember and anticipate pain.
They however do, in my opinion have basic personalities and know what pain is as well as have some basic show of emotion. They do know when someone is not being nice to them and often retaliate when they have been hurt by their aggressors. In this case, I feel that animals have their basic rights of dignity violated. They should not be subjected to pain. If a human, must have a procedure that will most likely result in pain, we received anesthesia and later pain medication. Should an animal not receive that also?
While I do not agree with animal research as a whole, I do believe that it has been instrumental in bringing humans cures and knowledge that we would not have gotten otherwise. Morally I find it unsettling that we subject animals to often unnecessary research that does not lead to anywhere. I can logically understand why this process is done, but it does not make it any easier to feel good about.
As Dr Tom Regan said animals have a life experience of their own and their own welfare is important to them. Animals do experience pain and suffering. Even though they may not be able to voice their complaints as easily as humans do, they still experience pain and suffering. Because of this I feel they do have rights.
Drawing the line of these rights is difficult. Some animals we use for food and some for scientific research. In these areas it is difficult to no longer use animals. Having a vegetarian diet is not feasible for many people. It is expensive and you need to take supplements. Humans are physiologically designed to digest proteins some of which are derived from animals. This was something that was taking place long before human’s higher consciousness or concept of self evolved. This does not mean that animals intended for meat should be treated without respect, abused, or have a poor quality of life. There are humane farms and ways to end their life that is relatively painless. So as far as animals intended for human consumption or if some products such as eggs are derived from them then yes these animals do have rights. They have a right to be treated with respect and dignity, to have their needs met and to be treated kindly. The end of their life should come quickly and humanely.
As far as animals intended for research I feel the same applies to them. They are entitled to be treated with respect and kindness. There is no need to expose these animals to unnecessary pain. As I said in my animal research paper they should have a reasonable living space, food and water. I would also add that they should have activities to stimulate them mentally.
There is no reason for instances when humans treat animals cruelly or disrespectfully. In a way we owe our survival to them through providing food for us or giving us insight through research. To the best of our ability we should allow animals to have their own life experiences and live out their life naturally. This applies to animals that are not used for humans in research, meat, or agriculture and may live in the wild or be a pet. There are circumstances (such as cows bread for meat) where this is not possible but where it is they should be given that right. I also feel that in no way should the life of an animal take precedence over human life. Given a set of circumstances where an animal rights activist had to choose between their child and the family dog there is a high probability they will choose the child. So yes animals do have rights but they are not the same as the rights of humans.
Tom Regan, an animal rights activist and American philosopher, has previously argued that the reason human beings have rights is because they “have a life.” He argues that this is because humans have lives that can go better or worse for them. This better or worsening of their lives is true for each human being whether or not others value that person. He argues this position to be true for animals as well. He believes, “They too have a distinctive kind of value in their own right, if we do; therefore, they too have a right not to be treated in ways that fail to respect this value.” Just because some of us choose to eat meat, it does not mean that we “fail to respect the value” of the animal’s life. If the killing of that animal was done in a way in which the animal did not suffer for a prolonged period of time, then that animal’s value was respected. Hopefully, the animal did not suffer at all and it met its demise in a quick, painless fashion.
I do agree with him in the sense that although animals do not have specified legal rights, animals should be entitled to the right of not having to endure or be subjected to unnecessary pain and suffering. They should also have the right to not be subjected to neglect and/or abuse.
Regan also condemns animal research for the reason that “it treats animals as a means to the good of helping humans.” Whereas humans have the right to conduct research on animals to better the human race, we also have the responsibility to do so in a manner in which the animals are respected. In the pharmaceutical industry, if we do not conduct research on animals first, then the pain minimizing and life saving drugs out there would never be made available to people.
I do have to agree with some of Regan’s critics, in that “just because an animal ‘has a life,’ does not mean that it is equal in value to that of humans.” In this world, the philosophy “survival of the fittest” rings true. Whether it is the most fit mind or body, many times the “most fit” prevails. Regan has made the argument that it is morally wrong to kill an animal to save a human being. I can say without hesitation that I would save a person from a burning building before an animal. I believe it to be a primordial instinct to protect and save your own species before any other. If we didn’t, then there would be no evolvement and no continuation of not only human, but many species of animals that roam the Earth. Everyone and every animal does what they must in order to survive from the time they are born until the day that they die.
When were born we inherent the rights that have been set by the first leaders of the United States Constitution. But when animals are born they inherent the right to work, suffer and die for us. I believe Humanity has lost the sense of why animals exist among us when they stopped using animals for survival and started using them for their own personal agenda as they pleased. Exploiting animals to biomedical research, testing’s and dissections strips animals of their natural rights. I resent the way animals are used and there should be another alternative and humane way found.
Animal research is done worldwide and much of these tests are inconclusive. The medicines, drugs and chemical used on animals react different to every species tested on. The results can be misleading and incorrect. A drug that cures a disease in an animal can have an opposite effect on a human and dangerous too. When animal are put through cruel unjustifiable tests the results are sometimes pointless and unnecessary.
Some people believe that we cannot apply moral ideas on animals because their unable to understand rights and reason. They suggest the only reason they exist for is for food, experiments and some are just bred for specific purposes only. Even if some carry the trade of intellectual they are still to be sacrificed if needed for humanity benefits. So this idea leads people to think that they’re the only superior life on this planet.
Research scientists believe animal research is necessary to maintain and improve health conditions for human beings. Medical advances in science like antibiotics and organ transplants have been achieved directly from animal experimentation. But the first guinea pigs used for tests were humans. But it turned out that they felt pain and suffering so they advanced to animals because they could not talk or defend themselves.
I believe all animals have the right to respect. No matter what we do…researching on animals will continue to go on. But I think that the way they are treated could be handled a different way, and that is with respect. Just because they are not "capable of entering into a social agreement or able to make moral choices" doesn’t mean they are not entitled to respect. I do see why the majority of animal research is performed but as long as it’s reasonable research and there is an actual purpose behind it. As opposed to doing something just to see what will happen just for fun. Animal research has been going on for years and I think there has been some control in how extreme they are using the animals in testing. Many of these tests done on animals have lead to death. Most people in the world would agree that testing on humans leading to death would be wrong so why is it different for animals? Animals can live their lives without the interfering from human. The reason is because animals are also species that live on Earth. Human beings seem to ignore the simple fact that we are not the only ones who have a right to be here. We should respect their lives as our own.
No, in general I do not believe that animals have rights. The reason I believe this is because as humans we have had to earn our rights with the development of our government system which then enforced the rights society had to fight for. Animals unfortunately cannot fight for the creation or protection of their rights. Animals only have privileges if we allow them. We generally use animals for our own purposes. All animals fit into the food chain somewhere, and it is the natural order of things that animals take advantage of other animals as a matter of survival. There is nothing like a right that the zebra has not to be eaten by a lion in nature.
I believe that animals should be given some moral consideration, at least. The capacity for pain and suffering of the animal should be taken into consideration in deciding how to treat them. Animals may not have all of the capacities that humans do, but they have some intelligence and capacity for pain which humans should have some compassion about. I think that animals should not be intentionally harmed unless there is a compelling reason or good enough outcome in doing so. For example, animals are sometimes used in research experiments. If the good outcome outweighs the harm done to the animals, it is ok to harm them. If some animals are killed in the process of research that has the promise of discovering a cure for cancer, then I think it is worth doing the research, but killing animals for a better hair spray would be wrong because the outcome is not good enough to inflict pain or death on animals.
I think that we should always do our best to minimize the pain and suffering of animals and give them some respect. We are all creatures on this planet trying to survive, avoid pain and be happy. If lab rats could help find a cure for cancer, then I think that the bad of the rats’ dying in the research is outweighed by the benefit of the cure for cancer. If a dog can be used for companionship and as a protector to prolong the life of a human, then there is no harm in that. I think eating animals is ok because everyone has to eat, and as I said before it is part of the nature of things that animals eat each other to survive, and it is better that we eat other animals instead of other people!
Animal Rights
Do animals have rights?
I believe animals have the right to be treated with kindness. However to say that they have the same rights as humans is wrong. They do not deserve to be tortured, but without medical testing on animals, we would not have found many cures and treatments for diseases that we have now. Without the right to eat animals, many in our history would have died, and we would have a massive overload of animals. As much as we love our pets and other animals, we cannot put their needs above the needs of the people they help. We as humans have a duty to make sure our animals are not being tortured or mistreated. However, their needs are not equal to or above the needs of us for survival. But to say that animals have the same rights as humans is absurd, we have the right to put our animals to sleep if they are sick or old, which would be considered murder if we did that to other humans. Animals are considered the property of whoever owns them, so it is their decision to make on what they are going to do with their animals. If we gave animals the same rights as people, many people would lose their method of supporting their families. Then we would be putting the life of the animal above the lives of the people who own them and depend on them to take care of their families. While there should be more protection of the animals being harmed, that does not mean we should do it at the expense of everyone who is not treating their animals harmfully.
Animals in the US dont really have any rights but they do deserve to be protected from abusive peopl. They may not be human but they do go through pain and suffering and they do having feelings like we humans do. It is a crime to abuse an animal and those who do it deserve to be punished. Just because they are animals does not mean they are meant to be abused. If ever owmed a pet it is easy to understand that they become a part of you like a child you have raised and they depend on you that you will not do they any harm and not let anyone else do them any harm. We as humans may not speak their language but they can talk amongst them and they have families like we do and they support them like we do. I dont agree with animal testing because why bring pain to these innocent animals who live like we do and we share the same planet as them. In the US though this is something that has been going on for years and its not gonna change.
Andrea Gracia
PP8
Animal Rights
I think animals do not have rights like humans do. Even though animals are considered property to humans and most of us take them in as family, they can’t make a choice like we do. Animals don’t have legal rights but they should be protected from abuse and neglect from humans because we don’t have the right to harm anything. Animals are kind of like children, they are considered “property” with kind of “no rights” but just like with children we don’t have the right to hurt them.
I do think we should be able to do animal testing but only for medical needs, I do not agree with testing on animals for beauty products or anything that is not necessary to humans. Animals are easier and cheaper to reproduce so it is better to test on them instead of humans. Humans have a higher quality of life than animals, so testing unknown medicines with unknown results on humans is not okay and safe. I do also think that it is okay to test on animals if they are well taken care of before, during, and after the process. They should be kept in a safe place and provided with enough food, water and medicines to keep them as comfortable as possible.
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