Animal Cruelty Essays (Examples)

Animal Cruelty

Animal Cruelty

Once upon a time in the great island kingdom of Anatole, a beautiful princess named Lisle enjoyed her leisurely life spent mostly in the natural surroundings of her family's castle. Set in a valley adorned with a friendly river and bountiful fruit trees, the Kettering Castle was by far the grandest in the world. The massive structure gleamed like gold in the sunlight and spread out over several acres of land. Moreover, because Anatole was located on a large but remote island in the center of what is now called the Atlantic Ocean, the kingdom bore a home for many exotic creatures, most of which the rest of the world had never before seen, even in pictures.

Princess Lisle loved the creatures of Anatole and kept many as pets. In fact, between her and her two brothers and one sister, the Anatole royal family had a true menagerie that included birds, reptiles, fish, and mammals. They even had many gigantic insects that were as visually stunning as flowers and not creepy in the least. The Anatole royal family took great pride in their menagerie and fed and housed the creatures very well, almost as if they were people.…… [Read More]

Animal Cruelty How Would the Ethical Issues

Animal Cruelty

How would the ethical issues surrounding Harlow's experiment be changed if it were conducted on lesser species, such as rats

If Harlow conducted his experiments on lesser species that results would have varied dramatically. Although Harlow proved that animals can learn and think at a complex level, the cognitive attributes of those animals must be taken into account. In addition, rats particularly the popular experimental white rat, have differing habits as it relates to child rearing. Rats do not typically nurture their young as to monkeys. In addition, rats do not have the cognitive capacity as many more mature monkeys have.

In regards to ethics, popular opinion would therefore be swayed towards the diffence of monkeys rather than rats. Rats, in many instances are considered dispensible, and inconvieniences of life. Monkeys, as it relates to public perception are often considered close relatives to the human specices. It is likely therefore, that the public would hold the standard of care for monkeys higher than those of lesser species such as rates.

I also believe, the overall longevity and reproductivity capacity influences the ethical issues surrounding Harlow's experiment. Rats tend to live shorter lives, and reproduce a more rapid rate…… [Read More]

Animal Cruelty and Human Violence Animal Cruelty

Animal Cruelty and Human Violence

Animal cruelty includes an assortment of different behaviors harmful to animals, from neglect to more serious malicious action, and even various forms of brutal killing. Studies indicate that animal cruelty may also be followed by more serious forms of crime, such as drug use, inappropriate violent outbursts, and even in some cases homicide. Many studies in psychology, sociology, and criminology have addressed the issues involving animal cruelty and human violence and have demonstrated that violent offenders frequently have childhood and adolescent histories of serious and repeated incidents of animal cruelty (Henderson, Hensley and Tallichet). Violence directed at animals by young people is a sign that something is erroneous in their behavioral patterns, and often acts as a predictor of future violence, even homicides against other humans.

One way to prevent such occurrences is through regulation and enforcement. Since the early 1960s, Congress has enacted over eighty animal protection statutes, such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).1 States have also passed a wide variety of prohibitions and regulations on animal cruelty, animal fighting, Internet hunting, and puppy mills (Ritter). Although such policy initiatives are useful and just, it is not…… [Read More]

Animal Cruelty

Animal Cruelty

Persuasive Argument

The purpose of this paper is to present a persuasive argument against the practice of animal cruelty:

Animal cruelty activists state that when an individual is a witness to animal cruelty that the offense should be reported to the agency in the area in which they live. There are laws against cruelty to animals and the laws differ from state to state inside the United States. Many organizations have been formed for assisting the government in stopping the practice of animal cruelty by both individuals as well as that committed by businesses and larger corporate organizations.

Animal Cruelty Reported by News:

Recently reported is the fact that animals used by companies such as "Menu Foods" regularly treat animals with cruelty in regards to the research done by the companies in testing of dog and cat food before marketing it. According to one report an investigator from PETA

was witness for many dogs with "their legs caught in bars of slated steel cage floors."

Further the report stated that the investigator for PETA found that the cats were not receiving the proper care and that several had died from lack of treatment. According to the report the…… [Read More]

Animal Cruelty

Animal Cruelty

Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Sarah who lived in a small house with her parents. Close to her hut was a deep thick forest that was home to many animals including Sheeba, the deer, Reno, the hippopotamus, Tania the sheep and Bounty, the Lion. Sarah knew all of them since they were her only friends in the neighborhood. Everyone else was much older than herself. Sarah would wake up early each day to feed her friends some breadcrumbs, biscuits and water. Sheeba and Tania would spend the whole day with her. Life was merrier on this side of the forest. Everyone lived happily and people were kind and compassionate. They always treated animals benevolently and not even a single soul in the animal world had ever been hurt by humans. Their rights were respected wholeheartedly in fact animals took them for granted since they had never been robbed of what they considered their privileges by birth. Freedom, right to live and right to adequate food and water were things that no animals ever gave much thought to since they were granted these rights on a silver platter. Life for them was beautiful.

But…… [Read More]

Animal Rights Introduction Glance at

.. it's healthy, it's somebody's way of life, it's somebody's livelihood, it's somebody's business.(ibid)

This is a strongly worded statement and indictment of an uncaring humanity. However, bearing in mind the daily evidence of cruelty to animals one cannot but feel that there is an element of truth to this argument.

Commercial reasons for abuse

One of the central reasons or "justifications" for animal abuse and possibly why so many turn a blind eye to animal cruelty, is commerce and the profit motive.

The plain fact is that this country and other industrial countries are deeply dependent on animal exploitation to sustain their present economic structures. The plain fact is that we are more dependent on animal exploitation than were the states of the southern United States on human slavery. (Francione, G.)

Animals are essentially seen as property. While there are many laws designed to protect these animals these laws are also prejudiced towards the interests of the owners before the welfare of the animals. An example of the way animals are often treated only as commercial commodities is the following.

In Australia, lambs are put through a gruesome procedure called mulesing, in which huge chunks of skin are sliced…… [Read More]

Animal Welfare Assurance Programs

Animal Welfare Assurance Organizations

Animal welfare: Assurance organizations

Organization 1: Manes and Tails Mission (Hoboken, NJ)

Manes and Tails Mission, located in Hoboken, NJ is a locally-based organization that oversees a variety of efforts to reduce cruelty against horses. Given the faltering economy, many horses have been abandoned and/or abused, as fewer and fewer people have the ability to care for their animals properly. Horses from the racetrack or who have been used in vocations like the Mounted Police often have difficulties finding good homes after they retire. This organization resolves to "rescue, rehabilitate, retrain, and re-home the most commonly slaughtered breeds of horses - Quarter horses, Thoroughbreds, and Standardbreds." (Mission statement, 2011, Manes and Tails.). It does not sell horses, although it does lease them. It also provides retirement homes for Mounted Police horses. It educates the public about equine slaughter. It also provides community service through reduced rate boarding, maintenance of rare breeds, and promotes holistic horse care education.

The program is fairly balanced in terms of how it promotes preserving horses physically and mentally, and also attempts to keep horses in as natural a state as possible, regardless of where they are housed (including promoting keeping horses…… [Read More]

Animal Abuse and Crime Does

A study by the Chicago Police Department found that persons who had been arrested for animal cruelty often had a history of other crimes as well (Chicago Police Department 2008). These offenses included homicides, narcotics charges, battery, firearms charges, sex crimes, and gang related activities (Chicago Police Department 2008).

A similar study found that animal cruelty was more common among incarcerated individuals with aggressive tendencies, then for non-aggressive individuals (Keller and Felthous 1985). The study found nine distinct motivations for animal cruelty. It also found a higher incidence of family violence, particularly paternal abuse, and alcoholism (Keller and Felthous 1985). Merz-Perex, Heide, and Silverman, (2001) also found a relationship between childhood animal cruelty and later violence towards other human beings.

The graduation hypothesis contends that children who are cruel to animals progress, or "graduate," to more serious crimes towards humans (Wright and Hensley, 2003). This theory contends that animal cruelty is a link that set eventual serial killers apart from the rest of society (Wright and Hensley, 2003). That is not to say the all that are cruel to animals will become serial killers. It is just to say the serial killers have a tendency towards animal cruelty as a…… [Read More]

Animal Liberation -- Peter Singer

4). Singer references the essay in the book by Richard Ryder, who criticizes (with great justification) animal experiments ("now a large industry"). Of course there have been laws passed in the U.S. Congress subsequent to when this book was published, laws that provide guidelines for any animal research, but Ryder provides Singer with some gruesome experiments on animals and Singer reports them in his essay.

How moral is a company or organization or university when it injects chemicals into the brains of cats? At the National Institute for Medical Research in London they did just that, and while it is doubtful they could get away with such cruelty in 2011, they certainly did then. The injection into the brain of a cat with a large does of "Tubocuraine" caused the cat to jump into its cage and start calling "noisily whilst moving about restlessly and jerkily… jerking in rapid clonic movements" like an epileptic convulsion, and dying 35 minutes after the injection (Singer, p. 5).

Springer noted that notwithstanding the fact that these kinds of hideously cruel experiments are taking place "on university campuses throughout the country" there has not been "the slightest protest from the student movement" (p. 5).…… [Read More]

Animal Abuse and Violent Criminal Behavior in

Animal Abuse and Violent Criminal Behavior

In the peer reviewed article and literary review of Patterson-Kane and Piper's article from 2010 they did an article after researching and investigating whether there are alleged disagreements involving animals that are physically mistreated and people who are aggressive and carry out unlawful actions. Within the review of Patterson-Kane and Piper, they did a research using independent and dependent variables, and the independent ones are the ones that are used in an experimentation which is being maneuvered in the research in categorizing to the outcome on the dependent variable which is the response variable which is also looked after in the study that the independent ones causes the dependent one to change to help of the experiment. The survey was conducted to determine if there was perhaps violent intentions in criminals first begins with cruelty to animals and possibly also lead to them also harming their significant other and their own children, and was there also a possibility that this violence toward sadistic scandalous people was carried down to their own children.

The summary does have concepts because it contains information that has sound punctuality that goes further than the understandable motivations for the…… [Read More]

Rights and Welfare of Animals

Animal Advocacy Organizations

There are many local, national, and international organizations that advocate for the rights and welfare of animals, domestic and wild. Two of those organisations are PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). In this paper, the two will be compared and contrasted.

PETA & ASPCA

The ASPCA was the very first humane society to exist in North America, according to their website. Henry Bergh founded the ASPCA in 1866, who believed that animals have the right to be respected by humans, and to be treated kindly, and to be protected under the law. In fact the ASPCA was the first humane organization that has been granted "legal authority to investigate and make arrests for crimes against animals… [although the ASPCA] fulfills its mission through nonviolent approaches" (ASPCA).

PETA was founded in 1980, and their mission statement explains, "…animals have rights and deserve to have their best interests taken into consideration" (PETA). PETA is far more aggressive in its philosophy than the ASPCA, and PETA takes the position that animals "…are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment." PETA firmly believes…… [Read More]

Animal Testing There Are Individuals

By using animals in research, and through animal research science learns how certain chemicals "interact with living systems"; this knowledge can be "translated into protection of humans, animals, and the environment from toxic levels of natural -- as well as man-made -- exposures (SOT, 6).

Legal and professional accountability

In Canada there are Research Ethics Boards (REBs) that have the power to authorize or reject funding for experiments with animals; when animal research proposals do not meet with proper ethical requirements, the REBs can put a halt to the experiments (Tremayne-Lloyd, et al., 2007, p. 56-57). The law in Canada -- which should be imitated in other countries that do not now have laws protecting animals -- allows that an overseeing regulatory agencies like the College of Chiropractors of Ontario (CCO) can "reprimand members and/or suspend or revoke licenses to practice" (Tremayne-Lloyd, 57). Cruelty to animals, assault on animals, or "criminal negligence" can lead to legal ramifications for the organizations conducting research using animals. An "assault" is committed when there has been no legal authorization by an REB and "force is intentionally applied" to an animal (Tremayne-Lloyd, 59). Moreover, section 446 of the Criminal Code in Canada makes it a…… [Read More]

Animal Rights and Experimentation Animal Rights Are

Animal Rights and Experimentation

Animal rights are being constantly violated in this day and age. They are being subjected to endless experimentation in order to ensure a healthy life for humans. This is known as vivisection. The local industries use tests, which kill around 50% of the animals during the tests. It is sad to know that tests are still being conducted on animals in spite of having results. Experts have found out that animal testing is unnecessary.

According to PETA, the FDA is to blame for animal rights violation in the U.S. They have made animal testing mandatory for testing of all pharmaceutical drugs. There are no laws to prevent animal experimentation. There are a lot of loopholes in the Animal Welfare Act, as it does not protect the rights of mice, birds and rats. The research facilities have been given a carte blanche to carry out their merciless testing. They have been allowed to make their own choices.

Animal rights activists argue that animals should not be left at the mercy of these research facilities as they feel that the only purpose for animals is that they serve as biological play toys for scientists. There are a number…… [Read More]

Animal Testing Is a Much

However, it is also characteristic for them to be in total agreement with the procedure when it involves their well-being or the welfare of someone close to them. Ed Owen's (2005) testimony regarding his daughter and how she manages to stay alive due to the large amount of medicine that she takes is certainly breathtaking. Even more amazing is the fact that most of the medicine that she uses had been created with the help of animal testing (Owen).

The fact that that many animals suffer as a result of animal testing is indisputable. Nevertheless, their suffering is not in vain, as even more people (and even animals) benefit from the exploit. As long as people do not come up with a serious alternative to animal testing, humankind is forced by its very condition to perform tests on animals.

Works… [Read More]

Cruelty and Kindness in Halfbreed by Maria

Cruelty and Kindness in Halfbreed

Halfbreed by Maria Campbell is an autobiography where Campbell describes the struggles of her life. Campbell's struggles center around her being a halfbreed, a half-Indian and half-white person, rejected by both the Indian and the white people. Cruelty and kindness are important themes of Campbell's story. Firstly, there is the human cruelty of discrimination, represented by the acts of the people. Secondly, there is the cruelty of society, where society oppresses people. Finally, it is a belief in human kindness that allows Campbell to overcome the struggles, with the writing of the autobiography an act of reaching out to the people who have discriminated against her and offering them the opportunity to understand the cruelty of their ways and choose to change these ways.

The first cruelty is that of the people, the people who discriminate against Campbell and treat her as an outcast. It is seen how both the Indians and the whites reject her and her people, leaving Campbell feeling like she does not belong anywhere. The outcome of this treatment is that the halfbreeds live in extreme poverty. Examples of this discrimination are presented throughout the book to show how discrimination was…… [Read More]

Indictment of the Moral Offense of Animal

Indictment of the Moral Offense of Animal Cruelty

Animals think. Animals feel emotion. Animals experience pain. Yet there are members of our human society that find these facts irrelevant. In fact there are many people that have no problem disregarding these facts entirely as long as they are able to reap some type of personal reward or benefit from an animal. Whether that benefit is in the form of food, clothing, or testing the latest new lipstick, it is always at the expense of the animal's well-being. In this paper I argue that the abuse of animals is morally wrong and therefore animals ought to be afforded rights which place the same consideration on their sentience as is placed on human beings.

Sentience is a term used to describe the fact that animals feel pain and emotions in much the same fashion as human beings. It is also used as a philosophical argument in favor of animal rights and the concern for how animals are treated in our society. Animal rights positions vary from the desire to give animals all of the same rights as humans, to the avoidance of the unnecessary infliction of pain or suffering upon animals. It…… [Read More]

Ethical to Raise Animals for

fosterfacts.net).

Arguments For: In response to those allegations, Bill Mattos, the president of the California Poultry Federation, said that he had invited California Senate representatives to visit poultry farms -- and to see for themselves that allegations of inhumane treatment are not true -- but his offer was declined (Fitzenberger). "To me, it's propaganda disguised as research," Mattos said in response to the report the California state Senate Office of Research produced.

Essayist Bart Gruzalski (Ethics and Animals, p. 253) writes that "the use of animals for food can be justified on utilitarian grounds even if we take into account only the pleasures and pains of the animals involved." Gruzalski quotes pig farmer James Cargile, who buys "several pigs" every year "from a neighboring hog farm"; Cargile raises them "to slaughter for food" but sees no meanness because the pigs "are given lots of room and food, everything a pig could want for a good life but a short one" (Gruzalski, p. 253). Cargile states that his pigs "…are getting the best deal people are willing to give them" because their "good, short lives are better than no life at all" (Gruzalski, p. 253).

Arguments Against: Writing in The Well-being…… [Read More]

Wicca Animal Use Shelley Rabinovitch Has Asserted

Wicca Animal Use

Shelley Rabinovitch has asserted that modern Wiccans see themselves as part of a world that includes all living beings in Nature (69), which generally prevents exploitative 'use.' This is not universal, but animal abuse would probably exclude a practitioner from the group "Wiccans." This has not been the case throughout history, and some modern Neo-Pagans include use of animals in ritual they claim falls within the harmonious balance of a non-dualistic participation in Nature (below). The result is a change in modern Wiccan relationship to animals compared to historical relationships as far as the available evidence shows. This requires defining the group "Wiccans," and also 'use' and 'animals,' because some groups typically classified alongside Wicca under the class "Neo-Pagans" are beginning to differentiate themselves through ritual animal use in ways Wiccans may perhaps want to dissociate themselves from.

"The language of self-identification to outsiders differs from that used when discussing religion with insiders," Rabinovitch explains (88). While there are many sub-groups within the modern group "witches," articulated by specific areas of "cosmology and axiology" (77) which Rabinovitch classifies into "Religionist," "Ecopagan," "God/dess Celebrants" or "Eclectic" based on worldviews respectively personal, global, societal and 'overlapping,' some research shows…… [Read More]

Killing Animals for Food Is Not Necessarily

Killing Animals for Food Is Not Necessarily Wrong

Over time, vegetarians have presented a wide range of reasons as to why eating meat and/or any other product derived from animals is wrong. In seeking to support their position, most vegetarians cite the need to uphold animal rights. In the recent past, the number of people turning to vegetarian diet has been increasing steadily. However, regardless of this, it is important to note that a careful review of literature clearly demonstrates that the consumption of meat and/or other products derived from animals is not necessarily a bad thing.

In Zacharia's (2012) opinion, "the market for vegan food is booming." This effectively means that the number of those joining the vegetarian bandwagon is steadily increasing. However, a vast majority of the population still believes that there is nothing wrong with eating meat or any animal produce. It could be right.

To begin with, killing animals for food can be viewed as a way of controlling their numbers. This is more so the case for domesticated animals. With that in mind, avoiding animal meat would lead to an unprecedented increase in the population of animals. Killing such animals for food can hence be…… [Read More]

Cruelty and Thereafter Apply the

No animal understands what experimentation is. Therefore, how does one decide whether it is ethical to conduct experiments on them, experiments that involve blatant cruelty and assault?

It must be remembered that those people who voice their objections to using animals in experimentation fall under two broad categories: animal welfare activists, and animal rights activists. While those who belong to animal welfare groups do agree that animal experimentation must carry on, but that they must be minimized, so that the pain and suffering of the poor creatures is also minimized, those that belong to the animal rights group are more radical with their opinions. These people have often stated that animals too have their rights, in much the same way as human beings do, and that animals must therefore never be used for the purposes of experimentation, as this is extremely cruel, unkind, brutal and unethical. (Bridgstock, 69)

Going back in time, it is true that animals have been used for experiments since time immemorial, although it was comparatively rare before the nineteenth century. One of the earliest records of animals used for experiments was found to be from ancient Rome, when the renowned court physician, 129 to 210 CE…… [Read More]

Animal Assisted Therapy Within Society Is it Helpful to Those Who Seek Its Services

Society Feels About Animals

As a first order primate, humans have a natural affinity with animals of all types that has contributed to their mutual relationships throughout history. In fact, animals of different types have been since the time of the ancient Greeks to improve the emotional and functional status of humans (Mccauley, 2006, p. 358). Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has grown in popularity in recent years based on its proven efficacy in treating a wide range of healthcare and mental health conditions. Although dogs and cats are most commonly used in AAT settings, horses, rabbits and even fish can also be used. For instance, according to Macauley, "The use of animals ranges from companion animals that provide camaraderie and emotional support to assistance animals that provide direct physical-functional support to therapy animals that aid with the habilitation-rehabilitation in physical, occupational, speech-language, and recreation therapy" (2006, p. 358). Moreover, some researchers argue that humans have been forging relationships "since time immemorial" and that animals have served human society three broad capacities ever since: as teachers, as healers, and as companions and friends" (Pattnaik, 2004, p. 95).

The use of animals for therapeutic applications is referred to as an animal-assisted therapy (AAT)…… [Read More]

Circus Without Animals Imagine if

Furthermore, animals are given much more respect within entertainment than otherwise. Animals are viewed with both awe and joy by those who are watching them. They raise the level of awareness we feel for animals and make the audience care more. They would receive no better treatment were they "in the wild" or domesticated. Having animals in entertainment can be equivalent to having a pet at home, both of which is not demeaning as a rule.

Using Animals within entertainment does not hurt animals, on the contrary it helps improve their overall image within audiences, and at the same time they receive special and respectful treatment from their caretakers. It is a win-win situation for both sides.

Anderson, Kay. 1998. Animals, Science and Spectacle in the City, in Jennifer Wolch and Jody Emel (eds) Animal Geographies: Place, Politics, and Identity in the Nature-Culture Borderlands. 27-50. New York: Verso.

Beardsworth, Alan and Alan Bryman. 2001. The wild animal in late modernity: The case of the Disneyization of zoos. Tourist Studies 1(1):83-104.

Bostock, S. 1993. Zoos and Animal Rights. London and New York: Routledge.

Croke, Vicki. 1997. The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos,…… [Read More]

Scientific Research With Animals and

In these cases, the ethical and moral choice seems to be to find another way to test these products that is not so cruel, and to keep cruel procedures out of the labs altogether. The case of the cat sex experiments at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in the 1960s are another case in point. Researchers maimed cats in a variety of ways, from removing parts of their brains to obliterating their sense of smell, and then noted how these procedures affected their sexual activities. The study continued for over a decade, without any clear results, and when the public learned about it, there was a huge outcry and the testing stropped (Degrazia 98). Studies like this, without a clear purpose, seem even more cruel and unusual, and they helped to give animal research such a bad reputation that laws were enacted regarding the ethical treatment of animals.

I do believe there will come a time that scientists no longer have to use animals in scientific research. I believe that we will develop other methods of study, technologies, and understanding so that we do not have to do testing on animals to achieve health and…… [Read More]

Ethical Treatment of Animals the

The main concern in virtue ethics becomes about a person's moral character. When people choose to develop their moral character, better virtues will be created, and thus there will be more people acting in virtuous ways in all aspects of their lives -- and this includes how they treat all animals.

One example to be considered when thinking about how a person with a strong sense of virtue might behave is to counter it with how a person with a strong sense of duty might behave. From a duty sense, if one were a livestock farmer, he or she might believe that his or her duty lies in what is best for the people because, after all, the job is about raising livestock for slaughter, which will then become food for people. Therefore, the first duty would be to humans and the second duty to animals (Panaman 20008) (which may entail being as good to the animals as possible while they are in his or her care on the farm -- i.e., not allowing torture, giving them adequate living space, feeding them food that is good for them, etc.). With virtue ethics, however, one will apply reason, experience and logic…… [Read More]

Stop Eating Meat Now

Animals Rights Rhetorical Analysis

Philip Wollen's "Animals Should Be Off the Menu" is a 10 minute speech that champions animal rights. During the course of this speech Wollen sparsely utilizes statistics, stories, and a number of references to the impact of disparate industries if meat was eliminated as a form of human food. He also advocates ending the process of humans killing and grinding up animals to serve as the food for livestock, and notices that at both ends of this practice, animals are actually suffering (since the livestock will eventually get slaughtered to provide a steak for someone).

In helping to prove his point, Wollen approaches this topic from a number of different angles. The one that he utilizes first (and which perhaps might be the most convincing) is the health ramifications regarding the human consumption of animals. The author alludes to the fact that consuming meat and a diet rich in animal protein is well alleged to create salutary problems in the consumer. In this respect, he claims that a cessation of meat for humans would actually substantially increase the health of the population.

Wollen also addresses various economic ramifications that are posed as boons if animals were…… [Read More]

Public Attention Drawn to Cruelty

In surveying the player's responses to Vick's situation, the journalists were bringing about public reaction to be evaluated to determine what direction to take their stories in. It demonstrated that,.".. survey respondents who experience difficulty answering questions respond differently to related subsequent questions than do those who do not experience such difficulty (JA, Effects of Survey)."

The story of animal abuse in dog fighting was one that caused polls to be taken to measure public opinion. That public opinion was in strong support of the animals that Vick had abused and used in an abusive manner. The journalistic tactic was one wherein the journalists used the opportunity for the public to speak out, to be heard, to participate in the outcome of Vick's legal proceedings as an incentive to be surveyed publicly. "In an effort to counter mounting problems of non-cooperation, survey organizations are increasingly offering incentives to respondents, sometimes before or during the first request for survey participation (JA Differential Incentives)." In other words, journalists needed the participation of both animal sport fighting supporters, and non-supporters alike. Therefore they created an incentive in getting those individuals to speak out publicly on the issue.

Public reaction to the Michael Vick…… [Read More]

Capturing Cruelty in the Opening Scene of

Capturing Cruelty in the Opening Scene of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The English author and historian Edward Gibbon once wrote that, "The works of man are impotent to the assaults of nature." Nowhere is this philosophical perspective better captured than in the John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. The novel tells the story of two migrant agricultural workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, during the Great Depression in 1930's California. A central theme in the novel is man's cruelty to one another and how it drives them to hurt other human beings as in the case of Curley's viscous attack on the mentally-handicapped Lennie. In the opening scene of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, the author establishes a contrast between innocence and cruelty through the use of expansive descriptions of nature, symbolism and characterization. This opening dichotomy is vital to an understanding of the theme of cruelty and the larger structure of the novel in light of its violent and disturbing end.

In the beginning passages of the novel, the reader encounters dramatic idyllic imagery of a riverbed in rural California. The scene is described as a winding tree-lined creek at the foot of "golden foothill slopes"…… [Read More]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The interaction of human beings and the natural world has always been one of conflict because of the inhumane way that people can behave. Animal have been used by human beings as pets, as entertainment, and in the course of scientific research. Fictional depictions of this interaction have reflected the nature of this relationship between man and animal. Some people value animal research as a means of curing human ailments and others decry it as animal cruelty. This is not a clear cut issue, but rather one of many different viewpoints. This document will show various attitudes toward these interactions; the positive aspects of animal testing, the negative attitudes towards testing, and finally how both these attitudes are fitted into the context of the film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a film which shows exactly how society feels about this complicated issue.

The film series which began with The Planet of the Apes from the year 1968 tells the epic tale of a future Earth wherein primates have evolved into intelligent beings and human beings have devolved to become nothing more than pets. Subsequent entries in the series led to two…… [Read More]

Masson Jeffrey Moussaieff and Mccarthy

One of the humans working with her used sign language to ask her what she should do for an upset stomach. Koko signed back "stomach you there drink orange," "there" being the refrigerator, which Koko pointed at. Amazingly, ten days later Koko apparently remembered this and used sign language to find out if the woman was feeling better (p. 159). In another remarkable story, a chimpanzee learned to draw and sought the activity out although she was never rewarded for doing so (p. 203). The authors note that the animal may have started drawing to relieve the boredom of being in captivity, but point out that the animal still showed the desire to be creative artistically.

Ultimately the authors plainly state what they have been leading the readers to: "In the end, when we wonder whether to ascribe an emotion to an animal, the question to ask is not, 'Can we prove that another being feels this or any emotions?' But rather, 'Can we prove that this species of animal does not feel this emotion?'" (p. 225)

At the end of the book, Masson returns to something he touched on earlier, that humans tend to believe that anything different when…… [Read More]

Breed Specific Bans State and Local Government

Breed Specific Bans

State and Local Government Laws on Breeding Dangerous Pets

While some states and local government have breeding bans on dangerous pets, other states and local governments have failed to address this issue. Rather than a ban on breeding of dangerous pets, the law would be better served to hold owners of dangerous pets responsible for their pets.

The purpose of the study proposed is to examine the state and local laws on breeding of dangerous pets and to determine if a federal law should be enacted on this issue.

The significance of this study is the additional knowledge that will be added to the already existing base of knowledge in this area of inquiry.

Research Questions

The research questions addressed in this study include those as follows:

(1) What types of laws have been enacted by state and local governments to address the issue of breeding dangerous pets?

(2) Are any federal laws in existence that address the issue breeding dangerous pets?

(3) Should federal laws be enacted that address the issue of breeding dangerous pets?

(4) Are breed specific laws effective?

(5) What are the alternatives to breed-specific laws?

Methodology

The methodology to be utilized in…… [Read More]

Abuse of Horses Boarding Horses

"… [Read More]

Horse Slaughter Ethical Issues of

Many also subscribe to religious beliefs according to which various gods created other animal species for human consumption and which fundamentally distinguish human life and animal life predicated on the religious belief that we are different in kind rather than merely in degree.

Contrary to the beliefs of the radical fringe of the animal rights movement, that moral burden does not require that we all become vegetarians to avoid eating other animals. It simply means that we have an objective ethical obligation to take reasonable steps to avoid causing the species we choose to consume any more trauma and physical pain than absolutely necessary. This principle actually predates modern society as it is evident in the laws practiced by Jews, for one example, since before the Common Era.

While certain elements of Jewish dietary laws pertain to distinguishing by species which animals are permissible to eat, other elements of the Jewish tradition of kashrus relate only to the conditions under which animals authorized for human consumption must be killed. Generally, those religious laws prescribe specific procedures to ensure a painless and quick death, including the methods of sharpening the knife used for slaughter and the exact stroke used by an…… [Read More]

Court Opinion United States v

U.S.C. § 48 is not aimed at specific instances of animal cruelty, but specifically at the creation and distribution of depictions of such abuse for the purposes of interstate and/or foreign commerce. This is the act that the appellant was unarguably engaging in when apprehended by law enforcement, and the fact that the law is not aimed at those participating directly in acts of animal cruelty does not in and of itself create a constitutional objection.

The statutes specific mention of interstate commerce renders the appellant's claim that the constitutionality of the statute is in question due to a dependence on state definitions also moot. Not only were the acts depicted in the videos the appellant old to law enforcement agencies unquestionably illegal in all fifty states, but the federal government has a duty to regulate interstate commerce specifically because state definitions and regulations differ. Failing to regulate the interstate distribution of materials illegal in one or more affected states would be a failure of the federal government's constitutional duties.

Determining whether or not an act constitutes animal cruelty can also be achieved by a consensus of men of "common intelligence," as was the test used by this Court to…… [Read More]

Direct Correlation Between Domestic Violence

Workshops are arranged for their further training in recognizing such behavior but over time the officers have also found direct relationships with other crime such drug dealing and grand theft auto. Other such animal cruelty like cock and dog fighting are also on the rise for the Midwest Region (Getz, par. 2). Laura McCloskey also found a direct relationship, weak in theory but however present between firesetters and people who are cruel to animals. She states, "youths who are both firesetters and cruel to animals are especially at risk of delinquency. Firesetting and animal cruelty have been linked conceptually because of their covert nature and empirical evidence indicating an overlap between these two behaviors" (page 6). She further elaborates that the tendency toward such behavior will over time lead to other delinquencies. It is believed such behavior is learned and can be found in paternal influence but also is a symptom of other pyschiactric problems that need diagnosis and attention. McCloskey writes, "These findings lend support to the belief that firesetters and youths who commit animal cruelty may need to be treated as multiproblem youths even if not clinically diagnosed. Finally, it is apparent that firesetting is a statistically significant…… [Read More]

Psychologists Are Addressing Both Psychologists

The next day he got an a on the test. Can he conclude that eating lots of popcorn is a necessary condition for memorizing psychology information? Why or why not?

No, Todd cannot draw that conclusion from the limited experiment he conducted. First of all, Todd does not know how he would have performed on the test if he hadn't eaten the popcorn, and he hasn't considered all the other conditions that occurred and may be the necessary condition for getting an a on the test, such as: amount of studying, amount of sleep, type of food eaten, memory ability, learning ability, etc.

* Depict a scenario describing each of the three relationships with their required conditions as discussed earlier in the Analyzing Data section of this Journal Activity.

Necessary condition: If the child hears the English language spoken, the child may or may not learn to speak English.

Sufficient condition: If one parent has brown eyes, all children may or may not have brown eyes.

All necessary and sufficient conditions: If the child has blue eyes, then both parents carried a gene for blue eyes.

Journal Activity 4

Adulthood

* Hypothesis: Certain reflexes are inborn.

Research: A study to…… [Read More]

Elf Earth Liberation Front Elf Elf Logo

ELF

Earth Liberation Front (ELF)

ELF Logo 2009 (Earth Liberation Front, N.d.)

Eco-Terrorism Overview

Examples of Eco-Terrorism Groups

The Earth Liberation Front

If a Tree Falls in the Woods: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Documentary)

There are many people and/or groups who claim responsibility for the Earth Liberation Front's (ELF) development. The group is comprised of loosely affiliated or autonomous cells that are only bound by the idea that they can move beyond civil disobedience and accept more contentious tactics for the defense of their environmental causes. This group was one of the groups that helped coined the label of an "eco-terrorist" which later became mainstream label of such types of offenders. The ELF group was considered one of the first eco-terrorist groups and was at one time labeled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the most dangerous domestic terror group in the United States.

This analysis will provide a background on eco-terrorism followed by more specific information about the ELF group and the actions that they have claimed responsibility for including a string of arsons. It has been estimated by some that collectively groups such as the ELF and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) have…… [Read More]

Churchill Downs Race Track Beating

The racehorse industry has been faced with accusations of promoting the breeding of fragile animals that are unable to withstand the rigors of training, because of a lust for promoting speedy animals at all costs. And the recent publicity of the slaughter of retired racehorses who have outlived their usefulness has further damaged the reputation of the sport. Unlike other forms of betting, horseracing must try to preserve its family-friendly image to some extent, given that many parents take their children to the track. Poor sportsmanship and a lack of sensitivity to the suffering of animals will turn the next generation of fans away.

Conclusion

Churchill Downs must honor the legacy of its treasured past, and promote prominent ethical spokespersons for the sport, like the multiple Kentucky Derby winner jockey Calvin Borel. More stringent standards must be imposed industry-wide regarding the treatment of both horses and jockeys, but until then, Churchill Downs must lead the way in ensuring the guidelines that do exist are rigorously enforced. In terms of profit-making, horseracing can never compete with Internet wagering, but as a compelling spectacle and entertainment it can continue to draw crowds, provided it honors the concerns of its true fans.… [Read More]

Food Response There Are Many Different Perceptions

Food

Response

There are many different perceptions that people have towards their food. On one end of the spectrum "people live to eat" and they place a high value on the quality, taste, presentation, and the environmental factors that enhance or detract from their experience of their favorite meals. However, people on the other side of the spectrum, take more of an "eat to live" approach to their personal nutrition. People in this camp are focused more on the quantity, convenience, and potentially some of the health consequences of their meals. In my opinion, these two perspectives represent the poles of the spectrum in which there may be a variety of points that exist in between these two extremes. One article written by David Sedaris, "Tasteless," exemplifies something I believe is close to one end of the spectrum while another article written by Anthony Bourdain, "Food is Good," is in close proximity to the other end of the spectrum.

David Sedaris would be positioned in the "live to eat" camp in my opinion; though, this only came out of a transition period in which he shed his "eat to live" childhood perspective (Bourdain, N.d.). This transition, which was recalled by…… [Read More]

Virtues It Is Clearly Chronological

The article specifically listed school shootings as one connection! One thing I noticed as I read through results was that animal abuse before the age of ten seems to be a very definite indicator of adult violence. I did not find anything on Los Angeles laws, but I was ready to look at the various cases of random violence.

I searched on this term in all the same places and came up with nothing useful until I added the word "schools." Even then, the results showed far too much. In fact, random violence is far more prevalent than I thought, so my topic narrows again to random school violence. However, these results were very difficult to find. So I tried searching on Columbine and Dawson College in hopes to get more. There is lots written on these, though Dawson is so recent that these are mostly news articles. Most of the books on Columbine deal with prevention of violence at schools, and do not focus on the characteristics of the shooters.

A search for "childhood AND animal AND cruelty AND adult AND random AND violence) AND (school AND shootings) AND (Columbine)" brought up 74 books and no other sources, no…… [Read More]

Analyzing the Good vs Bad

Good vs. Bad

How Does Beautiful Joe Depict the "Cruel" Vs the "Humane"? Does it Seem a Matter of Choice?

Beautiful Joe: An Autobiography (1893) encircles human-creature connections inside the defensive circle of middle class family life and depicts childrearing and pet-care as commonly constitutive. Saunders' canine life account relates the experiences of its eponymous creator, a manhandled puppy who is protected from a brutal milkman and embraced by the cherishing Morris family of Fairport, Maine (Walker). The Morrises' style of parenting epitomizes the coercive nurturance encapsulated in Richard Brodhead's understood idea of disciplinary closeness. Strongly reproachful of beating, Mrs. Morris controls the ethical still, small voices of her kids through a relentless eating regimen of "good nursing, great sustenance, and kind words" (Saunders 34). Pet-keeping coordinates flawlessly into Mrs. Morris' logic of childrearing, which she alludes to as "heart training." In a discussion with a family companion, Mrs. Morris portrays how pet-keeping has changed her "tediously, disgustingly childish" children into "the most honorable chaps in Fairport" (Saunders, pp. 39, 38).

The majority of the sensible grown-ups in Beautiful Joe embrace a sympathetic rationality of raising a child. Mrs. Morris' benevolent and shrewd sister-in-law, Mrs. Wood, oftentimes addresses her loved…… [Read More]

Baby Seal Slaughter in Canada Canadian Fishermen

Baby Seal Slaughter in Canada:

Canadian fishermen usually club hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals to death in front of their mothers every year. This event has developed into a yearly spectacle with the media and animal protection groups trying to cover the slaughter from helicopters or ships. These attempts are due to the fact that both the Canadian government and the sealers try to prevent access to the baby seal slaughter area in order to evade publicity. This event continues to receive green light from the Canadian government which set the quota with an example being the 275,000 seals that was set in 2008. The Canadian government permits hunters to bludgeon thousands of baby harp seals through shooting or repeated clubbing using metal-hook-tipped clubs that are also known as hakapiks. After clubbing the baby harp seals, these sealers then drag the unconscious seals across the ice floes with boat hooks. The carcasses of dead seals are then left to rot on the ices floes since there is no market for seal meat ("Canadian Seal Slaughter," par, 2).

According to reports of veterinarians who have scrutinized the slaughter, hunters usually fail to adhere to the stipulated regulations in Canada's…… [Read More]

Overcriminalization Some Modern Scholars Make

Before discussing crimes regarding sexuality, it is important to distinguish between those laws that are currently enforced and those that are not being actively enforced. For example, there are some laws that still punish engaging in consensual homosexual behavior, certain consensual sexual acts committed in privacy between adults in non-commercial transactions, or the use of sexual aids. While these laws exist, the fact is that there simply is not a push towards the investigation, prosecution, or punishment of these crimes. On the contrary, even challenges to the constitutionality of these laws often only arise after those who oppose such laws have arranged for an arrest and prosecution. Therefore, it is improper to consider this category of crime in a discussion of overcriminalization.

However, law enforcement, prosecution, and the judiciary do expend a tremendous amount of energy targeting commercial sexual transactions. Opponents of this cite the fact that many of those transaction occur between adult prostitutes and adult clients. Such an argument ignores the cold, hard facts behind prostitution. First, it must be acknowledged that if a person truly desires to grow up and become a prostitute, he or she can move to Nevada and work in a regulated brothel. However,…… [Read More]

Cockfighting Is a Sport That

With this being understood the cockfight blend has an influence on the societies in which they are carried out (Turner, 2001).

As it relates specifically to Latin America, there are 20 countries that compose the region. In the Latin American country of Mexico cock fights are very common ("Cock fights in Mexico"). In fact cockfighting shares the same amount of popularity as charreadas and bull-riding rodeo activities ("Cock fights in Mexico"). In addition the prevalence of cockfights is as common as the late-night entertainment that occurs during village fairs ("Cock fights in Mexico"). In Mexico, cockfights tend to draw both male and female onlookers; these individuals place bets on which gamecock will win the fight ("Cock fights in Mexico").

In many regions around the world the sport of cockfighting is illegal ("Cock fights in Mexico"). However, within the country of Mexico, cockfights are legal and a central body in the Federal District regulates the sport ("Cock fights in Mexico"). It is form this vantage point that sponsors are granted licenses and gives the sponsor the right and responsibility of guaranteeing the regulations are complied with and that the fights are carried out in an orderly fashion ("Cock fights in Mexico").…… [Read More]

Influence of Baseball on My Life

Baseball on "My" Life

Baseball is considered to be the great American past-time, a part of our nation's culture and heritage. Baseball is as much a part of being patriotic as eating apple pie and voting for the president. As an American child, baseball was invariably a part of my childhood experience. From the baseball cap and baseball glove that my father posed me in for my first birthday photo shoot, to the block-baseball team that used my suburban home back-yard as the outfield, to the interrupted regularly-scheduled programming of lengthy televised games in our Not-Fighting living room, to the good and evil dichotomy of coaches that would shape my Middle-School and High-School teams, baseball has been an omnipresent force in my life. It has been there to highlight the great times, as well as emphasize the bad ones, and occasionally, when fate thought kindly of my situation, even brought some comfort and relief when the rest of the world was falling apart. Baseball built my childhood identity for me in many ways, and it also assisted me in defying every expectation when I discovered my new identity.

My father did not sing me lullabies when I was a baby.…… [Read More]

Panel Discussion Global Warming Panel

As part of the 1977 National Academy of Sciences Energy and Climate Panel, he discovered "forty percent of the anthropogenic [human-generated] carbon dioxide has remained in the atmosphere, two-thirds of that from fossil fuel, and one-third from the clearing of forests." (Roger Revelle, 2010, p.2). Revelle's presence on the panel would demonstrate the long-standing nature of global warming. Revelle could also discuss why taking action on global warming has been so difficult politically, despite mounting scientific evidence that the phenomenon exists for so many years. Revelle began his work in oceanography but gradually expanded his focus to population studies, enabling him to bring his expertise in both fields to the panel (Roger Revelle, 2010, p.3).

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan, the author of the Omnivore's Dilemma and Food Rules, has devoted his career to exposing the harms of commercial agriculture on the environment and upon human health. Pollan details simple ways that human beings can change the way they eat, such as avoiding processed foods and foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFC), to live healthier lives that are better for their bodies and for the planet. A heavily meat-based diet based upon a monoculture of growing corn for animal feed…… [Read More]

2011 the State of California Has Been

2011, the state of California has been in a drought condition. Recently, the media has been abuzz due to the governor's legislation to curtail domestic water use. The effort to curtail water use is a noble one. However, the governor needs to focus more on the real culprit: agribusiness. Because the state is the nation's largest agriculture producer by far, the governor of California has not imposed any restrictions on agriculture. Yet something needs to be done to change the methods by which the United States supplies itself with food. Because meat is linked to serious health problems, ethical issues, and environmental problems, a new policy should curtail factory farming.

Agro-Business Causes Drought

The drought in California highlights some of the problems related to food production and processing. Agriculture uses more than 80% of the state's total water (Sherman, 2015). Even if the current drought situation can be managed without changing agro-business, public policy must eventually come to terms with the unsustainability and stupidity of the current factory-farming model. As Lurie (2015) points out, the alfalfa used to feed cows is consuming the bulk of agricultural use water. It is not just the feed for animals that causes factory animal…… [Read More]

Coen Brothers Films the Coen

In this film, we are introduced to a very unlikely cadre of friends and acquaintances who represent, again, caricatures of particular parts of ourselves. There is a juxtaposition of complex and surreal events, kidnappings, death threats, drugged drinks and hallucinatory dreams, porn-stars and pedophiles, the rich and poor, the violent and the meek, and it all combines to make a truly engaging mosaic -- just as all of the other films here have done. As Dude interacts with his world, just as Marge, H.I. And Everett do, he does so with a purpose that is reflective of his personal nature -- he is a semi-competent actor in his own life but is highly successful at surviving whatever is thrown at or to him.

In all of these movies, we see people who are struggling to survive when they do the wrong thing and find peace when they do the right thing. This is the strongest of the Coen consistencies. But, a moral theme is only part of what makes a Coen film theirs. Immersion in semi-fantastic but wholly familiar environments, filling characters mouths with deep and meaningful but often overly simplified thoughts, and very complicated lives. They are dedicated to…… [Read More]

Race Crime and Punishment Has

For such individual dog fighting is an activity like craps or dice and just another way of scratching out a dollar. The negative features attached to such activity by whites unaccustomed to it are not realized by the black community (Laucella, 2010). Therein, is the problem that occurs in surveys of this nature. The life circumstances of whites and non-whites vary to such significant degree that comparisons of their attitudes toward matters such as crime and punishment are invalid.

The uproar that occurred subsequent to the Vick dog fighting incident are evidence of the severe difference between the white an non-white communities. While the white community voiced outrage over the activities of Vick and his involvement in such an activity the same outrage is not evidenced on a daily basis as hundreds of black young adults are murdered on America's streets on a daily basis. This dichotomy in thinking is what concerns and raises the ire of the black community (Chiricos, 2004). White Americans expressed more concern for injured and dead dogs than they ever did for dead black teenagers.

Research studies such as the one conducted by these three University of Texas professors have their value but truly accurate…… [Read More]

Political Ecology of the World Food System

Food System

Unintended Consequences of Pursuing Cheap Food

We have become accustomed to pursuing cheap food. On surface, it is a rational choice. The cheaper the food we buy to eat and drink the better, as the assumption goes. Coupled with this understandable human desire is the ubiquitous corporate advertising of cheap food and business attempts to convince the consumers that the cheap food offers much greater variety of choices than otherwise would be possible. Most consumers fall for these marketing strategies. But there are at least two unintended consequences of pursuing cheap food. Cheap food -- more precisely, what we buy as "cheap food" -- is unhealthy, which we are choosing consciously. And cheap may be not as "cheap" as we assume. There are evidences showing that pursuing cheap food may lead to food crisis and hunger.

In our culture, we are fascinated by the word "choice." We always want to have as many options as possible. And manufacturers, including food corporations, skillfully exploit this cultural pattern for their own benefit. Using elaborate packaging and cool-sounding names, food producers come up with new products every year, introducing around 15-20,000 new food products to the market. We have lost track…… [Read More]

Enemies of Science Haldane P 225

HALDANE

"Some Enemies of Science" J.B.S. Haldane

The vivisection debate: J.B.S. Haldane's "Some enemies of science"

The vivisection debate is an old one. As early as 1928, the scientist J.B.S. Haldane rigorously defended the practice of vivisection against its earliest detractors, arguing that even moderate government regulation of scientific behavior to protect animal rights was hypocritical, given the way that animals were treated in other spheres of human life. In contrast, David Suzuki's 1989 essay "The pain of animals" highlights the central paradox of animal experimentation. On one hand, animal experiments are only useful because of our biological similarities to animals. On the other hand, we assert our right to exploit animals based upon our inherent differences from them. The intelligence of animals such as the chimpanzee is analogous to a two-year-old child and yet through logical sleight of hand we justify using chimps in the laboratory by calling them 'lesser beings' (Suzuki 15).

Suzuki's essay is riddled with his ethical conflicts. On one hand, he admits he cannot bring himself to hunt -- yet he is an avid fisherman and uses fishing as one of his primary sources of protein. "How do we know that these other creatures don't…… [Read More]