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In the United States, non-human animals ought to have legally protected rights:
An argument essay paper
Payton Sawyers, 15-months old, suffered life-threatening injuries after she was attacked by a pitbull-mix while under the care of her babysitters on January 6, . Grayson County Sheriff’s Deputies and Rescue Personnel responded to a 911 call about 9:30 pm. The child was airlifted to Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in critical condition. Sheriff Richard Vaughan said the child was attacked by the couple’s pit bull-mix, and the dog had the child’s head in its mouth. After an investigation, including executing a search warrant of the couple’s home, John Underwood II and Terra Connell were charged with felony child
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neglect and possessing a vicious dog. Connell was also charged with possession of illegal drugs and possession of ammunition by a felon. On January 8, Payton died of her injuries. What is a non-human animal?
According to Collins English Dictionary, non-human means not human or not produced by humans. You may ask why we have rights as human beings, but there are natural differences that separate us from animals. The first reason that humans are different is that they have the ability to know right from wrong, this allows individuals to make decisions by evaluating the possible result of an action. It allows individuals to establish rules between them, so they can peacefully coexist. These norms are the right to life, liberty, and property — all ensure social harmony(Citation). In the animal world, the situation is very different. These creatures are guided by their instincts, and their interaction with other species as a result of Darwinian natural evolution. In the wild only the strongest survive. Despite humans, in places where animals interact, there is no other law than the survival of the fittest. Human beings who deliberately cause animals to suffer are inhumane. They should be socially punished, as they are now. However, this is not reason enough to turn animals into subjects of law. Do you really think that an animal has the right to vote for President? If we were to give animals rights, it would include all animals and those spiders that tend to get in your house come winter would have the right to live, and you would not be able to get rid of them without going to jail for …show more content…
murder. There is also an economic effect with the difference between humans and animals. Think of the number of jobs that will be lost if animals have rights. Agricultural workers, packing plants, meat companies, farmers, hunters, and even some restaurants would be forced to close. Not having these jobs would impact our economy in a very negative way. Animal meat is a huge contributor to the food industry. What may be your favorite restaurant today, might not be open tomorrow if these rights came to law. It would not make sense economically to give animals legal rights. The legal systems are those based on Civil Law and Common Law.
In them, there is a clear distinction made between entities that can sue and entities that cannot sue. The entities that belong to the first category are legal persons. Those that belong to the second category are objects. Significant legal protection can only be granted to entities having legal rights, and rights can only really be held by legal people. The law does offer some protection to animals, but if they cannot meet the expectations of the law they are considered things. Example: We may not be legally allowed to destroy an important artwork even if it is our property. However, this does not doesn’t mean that the work of art has rights. It doesn’t, because it’s not a legal person. If you want to try to change the law, so that nonhumans can have a right; it would require an entire new legal
system.. Taking this position does not mean that I hate animals or I am against them. I love them. Research shows that animals do not need legal rights to be protected by humans. Love your pets and love the animals in nature, and let the law handle the ones who don’t. It is not legal in the United States to kill every animal. There are laws that are specifically for animal protection, even if it does not cover every animal. Based on the facts stated above do you think that you would be able to kill a lion as easy as you kill that spider?
There are plenty controversial issues about bully breeds and whether they are acceptable or safe dogs to own. In July a woman was mauled in her yard and killed by a dog in Montreal. Due to this unfortunate incident the mayor Denis Coderre created a bill called BSL (Breed-Specific Legislation) which was approved by the legislation. This bill states that determined by their breed or pitbull features “American Pitbull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, American Bulldogs or any dog with strains of these breeds” will be unadoptable; they must wear a muzzle in public as well as a leash that’s 4 feet long and in most cases they will be euthanized due to their breed. BSL should be reversed because the real problem is irresponsible dog owners, the irresponsible owners will just switch breeds and any dog has the potential to hurt someone.
Animal rights can defined as the idea that some, or all non-human animals are entitled to the possession of their own lives and that their most basic interests should be afforded the same consideration as similar interests of human beings. Animal rights can help protect the animals who experience research and testing that could be fatal towards them. The idea of animal rights protects too the use of dogs for fighting and baiting. Finally, animal rights affects the farms across america, limiting what animals can be slaughtered. The bottom line is, there is too much being done to these animals that most do not know about.
Cohen proposes that rights are a claim that must be exercised, and since animals cannot exercise their rights they cannot have rights. Furthermore, Cohen suggests in order to have rights, “the holder of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty, governing all including themselves” and thus must have a “moral capacity” (817). Hence, it follows that animals cannot have rights since they lack a free moral judgment and are thus are unable to understand morality or laws that govern society. Therefore, Cohen believes rights can only be given to those able to claim
After reading “Do Animals Have Rights?” by Carl Cohen, the central argument of the article is that rights entail obligations. Cohen examines the syllogism that all trees are plants but does not follow the same that all plants are trees. Cohen explains the syllogism through the example of hosts in a restaurant. They have obligation to be cordial to their guests, but the guest has not the right to demand cordiality. Cohen explains using animals, for example his dog has no right to daily exercise and veterinary care, but he does have the obligation to provide those things for her. Cohen states that animals cannot be the bearers of rights because the concept of rights is essentially human; it is rooted in, and has force within, a human moral world. Humans must deal with rats-all too frequently in some parts of the world-and must be moral in their dealing with them; but a rat can no more be said to have rights than a table can be said to have ambition.
In the article Do Animals Have Rights? By Barton Hinkle he writes of a dog that was hit by a car and badly injured. The driver then proceed to cut off the dogs already injured leg and leave it out to die. Luckily the authorities were able to get to the dog in time. But this brings up the issue of what right do animals really have.The argument made against this is that rights belong to moral agents and animals lack that moral agency. This argument becomes complicated because there are animals, primates especially, that do have the ability to think. Society has a way of separating issues and problems into exceptions.
(Intro)Nonhuman Animal Experimentation is defined as the use of nonhuman animals in research and development projected for the sole purpose of determining the safety of substances such as foods or drugs. According to The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), scientific experiments have required animals to “inhale toxic fumes,... remain immobilized in restraint devices for hours,... suffer through the drilling of holes into their skulls,... withstand the burning of their skin,... and endure the agony caused from the crushing of their spinal cord”(“Animal experiments: overview,” n.d.). Testing harmful products on animals everyday creates a long lasting effect on the animals. That is to say, numbers of animals have been diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and have become so afraid of humans that they crawl into a corner everytime they see a person.
Approximately 60 million animals are used each year in the laboratories of the United States. Whether or not animal testing is cruel or acceptable is an issue many argue over today. Although most acknowledge the negative effects of animals in laboratories, there are many pros in the scientific research.
The fact that humans can take the lives of animals depicts their lack of moral value in relation to humans. However, if moral value is tied to moral rights, how does one compare the moral rights of humans and animals and why do humans possess more moral rights than nonhuman species? The main reason why some may say that humans possess more moral rights than animals is because they are not self aware and lack cognitive capacities. In Empty Cages: Animal Rights and Vivisection, Tom Regan states that those who deny animals of their rights usually emphasize on the uniqueness of human beings by stating that, "...we understand our own mortality and make moral choices. Other animals do none of these things. That is why we have rights and they do not (p. 100)." However, in The Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals by Charles Darwin, he states that animals, or at least nonhuman mammals, share the same cognitive abilities as humans. For instance, nonhuman mammals are able to "learn from experience, remember the past, anticipate the future (p.102)." Additionally, nonhuman mammals are also capable of experiencing fear, jealousy, and sadness. With these cognitive abilities, nonhuman mammals should then be qualified to obtain moral rights, which are
animals. If they keep the animals, then the animal will be treated as a pet or
Animals can also not have duties due to the obvious fact that they cannot be reasoned with, control their urges, and are un adaptable to future contingencies. If animals are unable to perform these activities, then they are also incapable of making agreements. Animals are to be protected by humans directly to their well being and not their feelings. Animals are incapable of protecting themselves from necessary danger, are incapable of making promises, and cannot be blamed for “moral failures” whereas humans can be. With this being said, animals therefore are not considered moral beings since they cannot act rightly or wrongly in the moral sense.
I agree with the fact that they don’t completely dismiss animal right. I also agree that non-humans cannot be seen as a person. That would mean that feeding on an animal would be wrong as it would violate its rights but feeding on a animal is a natural response of a being on higher level in the food chain. We cannot stop feeding on animals. But, the theory can be further elaborated such as in the case of utilitarian ethics, it would be wrong to kill and animal and feed on it, if it was living in a low quality life in a confined space. That is morally wrong as the rights of the animal has been violated for the sole purpose of feeding humans. On the other hand, if the animal was raised in a healthy environment, lived a healthy life then killing the animal for feeding is not considered wrong. As the animal has lived its life and served its purpose to the food chain. The idea that an animal does not have a stand for itself is looked down upon. When taking moral decision for non-human, some level of interest should be given to the subject matter itself. It is wrong to take a decision about a being without relating to that
"The Case For Animal Rights" written by Tom Regan, promotes the equal treatment of humans and non-humans. I agree with Regan's view, as he suggests that humans and animals alike, share the experience of life, and thus share equal, inherent value.
Animals have been kept in captivity for the entertainment of humans for thousands of years. Although many rules and regulations have been put in place worldwide, many people still feel that it is unfair to keep animals in captivity as they feel it in near impossible to replicate their homes in the wild. I feel that it is unfair to keep animals in captivity as they are unable to roam like they do in the wild.
... concept. An animal cannot follow our rules of morality, “Perhaps most crucially, what other species can be held morally accontable” (Scully 44). As a race humans must be humane to those that cannot grasp the concept. Animals do not posess human rights but they posess the right to welfare and proper treatment by their handlers.
Determining the rights of non-human animals and deciding how to treat them may not be an available choice to our human society. Our inability to communicate with them remains an irremovable barrier to determining their thoughts as well as expressing our intentions towards them. Despite this barrier, non-human animals have served as an integral component to our sustenance and welfare throughout the history of all human societies. It could even be argued that we as humans have developed an irrevocable reliance on non-human animals in all aspects of our daily lives. As an advocate for the rights of animals, Tom Reganʻs three main goals are to abandon the use of animals in any scientific research, discontinue all commercial animal agriculture,