Animal rights philosophy and ethical frameworks

¶ … Animal Rights

One of the greatest leaders of all time, Ghandi, said that we can measure the quality of our society based on the way we treat our animals. Unfortunately, by this measure, our society is cruel, selfish, and even illogical. America is cruel to animals. Individuals neglect, abuse, and exploit animals for personal gain, for sadistic pleasure, or out of sheer laziness. Society as a whole condones this behavior by institutionalizing animal cruelty in factory farms, pounds and animal control facilities, veterinary offices, and even pet stores. It is difficult to find any path in our society that leaves a person without the blood of animals on his or her hands, regardless of all good intentions. It may be hard to figure out what is cruel and what is not for some people. Is vegetarianism the answer? What about veganism? What about other products that contain animal products? What about buying products from companies that test on animals? Where is the line, and how can a person attempting to avoid cruelty avoid crossing it? Many difficult questions are inevitably raised by any party involved in this discussion. The first step for an individual is to discern what the proper relationship is between humans and other members of the animal kingdom, and to decide what rights and responsibilities are involved in this relationship. The most prominent issues that one must address when defining this relationship and the rights and responsibilities which are inherent in it are relating to the human consumption of animal flesh and products, the use of animals for experimentation, and the relationship between humans and companion animals.

Vegetarian diets have been chosen by many people who believe that animal rights is an important subject. This is not a new dietary choice started by Hippies or New Age activists, but rather one that has been common among enlightened people from many walks of life throughout the ages. Humans do not need to eat the flesh of other animals in order to survive, and therefore the consumption of animals is, by definition, a luxury rather than a necessity. Many people will argue that people do need to eat animals in order to survive, but this is absurd because there are lots of vegetarians that are healthy, active, and definitely not dead. In fact, a strict vegetarian diet, or vegan diet, does not include any animals products such as eggs or milk at all, has been shown to be one of the healthiest lifestyle choices. In some cultures, such as those where individuals must hunt or gather for all of their own food, it may be necessary to eat animals in order to survive, but in America this is far from the case. In fact, in America most meat is obtained by extremely different means than hunting; the factory farm, where mechanized cruelly is the norm, produces the majority of meat, dairy, and eggs consumed by Americans. The products which come from factory farms are not only unnecessary for human survival, but they are extremely cruel to the animals and quite unhealthy for the people who eat them. Meat in our culture is an indulgence, an unhealthy food product, extremely cruel to animals, and produced by a system which inevitably teaches apathy and sadism to our children. Therefore it is not a part of the proper relationship between humans and animals for people to eat meat in America.

Animals have long been used for experimentation of medical procedures, and there is a general opinion among the public that this is a necessity in order to save human life. However, when defining the relationship between humans and animals in this aspect of society, it is necessary to remember that not long ago it was considered acceptable to experiment on the mentally ill housed in asylums in order to save the lives of "complete" humans. Does this seem like an appropriate relationship between special needs people and the rest of society? Most people feel that the answer is a resounding no. By the same logic that makes it not okay for doctors to perform lobotomies on children with Down Syndrome, and by the same logic that makes it unacceptable for Nazis to perform medical experiments on Jews and homosexuals, it is also not appropriate for humans to perform experiments on animals. Animals can feel pain, and animals can suffer, therefore it is our responsibility to not inflict unnecessary pain or suffering onto any living creature. However, for those who still insist that animal experimentation is a necessary evil, it is vital to understand that experiments performed on animals to determine the safety or effectiveness of products or medications intended for human use are inaccurate and put human lives at risk. It is therefore the responsibility of humans to find alternate testing methods, of which many already exist, for the sake of animals and people alike.