Animal law rights essay - Grade: 68 PDF

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Summary

‘True equality requires that animals and humans are treated in the same way through law’.

Critically analyse this statement in light of the broader themes of Law and Social Justice, using examples to illustrate your points.

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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”- Dr Martin Luther King Jr. In recent years, there has been an increase in social concern about the use of nonhuman animals for experiments, food, clothing, and entertainment. Animals are considered to be property and are being used by humans as resources, as seen in UK’s Animal Welfare Act 2006.1 Even though animals are seen as having moral value and not seen as just things, their legal status as property means they only have economic value and not moral value.2 As such, there are only laws passed on animal welfare where animals are allowed to be used and exploited as long as they are treated humanely, instead of law on animal rights where animals are not allowed to be used or exploited at all. Many philosophical writings have delivered sophisticated and convincing arguments giving support to increased moral consideration for animals, such as The Case for Animal Rights by Tom Regan and Animal Liberation by Peter Singer.3 Regan and Singer presented that the existing social attitudes towards animals are known as “speciesism", where a morally irrelevant criterion like racism, sexism, or homophobia, which in this case, species membership, is used to determine membership in the moral community. Speciesism actions and attitudes are prejudicial just like discrimination based on race, as these are not characteristics that matter when it comes to making moral claims.4 So, if animals are to be regarded as having moral value and considered as persons instead of property, the question arises here as to whether animals and humans should be treated in the same way through law to be considered truly equal. In other words, whether animals should have the same legal rights as humans. This matter of animal rights is a social justice issue as it concerns itself with the protection of certain rights and opportunities, especially for the least advantaged members of society. It also involves the distribution not only of economic resources, but of the advantages and disadvantages in society, and systemic domination and oppression.5 To determine whether animals should have the same rights as humans, and to what extent, principles of social justice will be taken into consideration. 1 Lori Gruen, 'The Moral Status Of Animals (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)' (Plato.stanford.edu, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019. 2 Deutsche (www.dw.com), 'Should Animals Have 'Human' Rights? | DW | 29.07.2016' (DW.COM, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019. 3 'BBC - Ethics - Animal Ethics: Animal Rights' (Bbc.co.uk, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019. 4 'What Is Animal Rights? | PETA UK' (PETA UK, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019. 5 Brian Bethune, 'Why Animals Should Be Given The Same Legal Rights As Humans - Macleans.Ca' (Macleans.ca, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019.

Specifically, the social justice principles that will be relevant to this issue are equality, fairness and respect for autonomy. Based on these principles of social justice, true equality requires that animals and humans to be treated in the same way through law to a certain extent. Equality is a key principle of social justice. Peter Singer in Animal Liberation stated that the basic principle of equality does not mean equal or identical treatment, but only requires equal consideration. The principle of equal consideration has a very simple idea, which is to treat like cases alike. Humans and animals should be given the same right unless there is a good reason not to do so.6 Many think that a good reason is animals are intellectually less sophisticated than humans. However, the founder of the reforming utilitarian school or moral philosophy, Jeremy Bentham, stated that the question to be asked to determine on a being’s rights is “Can they suffer?” He suggests that the right to equal consideration is based on one’s capacity for suffering and not capacity to talk or reason. The fact that nonhumans are unable to recognise or act in response to moral obligations is irrelevant to whether they have the moral right not to be treated as things.7 To do so would be to deny their moral status and equality, which we claim to embrace in social justice. We not only accord less protection to their interests based on species, but we do not even recognize that they have an interest in living and we maintain the right to use and kill them in situations in which we would not think it appropriate to use or kill and humans.8 To achieve true equality, the moral value of nonhuman animals should be recognised in law. The Abolitionist Approach suggests that abolishing human slavery acknowledged the moral value of humans, and so to recognize the moral value of nonhumans similarly, requires that we abolish the institutionalised exploitation of animals.9 We are morally obliged to stop treating animals as commodities based on the equality principle of social justice. We should recognize that all sentient beings are equal for the purpose of not being used exclusively as resources. Furthermore, fairness is also a principle of social justice. Fairness means everyone is treated in ways that best suit them, while equality means everyone gets treated exactly the same. In regards to animal law, true equality does not mean that we need to treat humans and 6 Robert C. Jones (Animalstudiesrepository.org, 2015) accessed 30 October 2019. 7 Doris Lin, 'What's The Difference Between Animal Rights And Animal Welfare?' (ThoughtCo, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019. 8 Pablo Stafforini, 'Equality For Animals?, By Peter Singer' (Utilitarian.net, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019. 9 Hannah Richerson, 'Why Justice For Animals Means Justice For All' (Edge Effects, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019.

animals the exact same, just as we do not treat all humans the same. For example, a doctor’s pay may be higher than a waiter’s pay. In certain cases, different characteristics can justify different treatment. Similarly, to say that nonhumans and humans are moral equals is not to say that we should give nonhumans the right to vote or to drive cars.10 There are clearly differences between humans and nonhumans that justify different treatment in some circumstances. However, all sentient beings are equal for the purposes of being treated as property or as a resource for others. None should be used as property, and none should be used exclusively as resources for others. Lastly, respect for autonomy is another significant principle of the social justice movement that weighs heavily in favour of support for animal rights. This principle plays a crucial role in a number of different social justice causes. If social justice means opposition to the violation of autonomy, then we should oppose the human domination over the lives of nonhuman animals.11 It is essential that we fight against the way that society seeks to control the bodies of nonhuman animals if we truly respect autonomy. Therefore, animals and humans should be treated in the same way through law in terms of individual autonomy and liberty to be considered as truly equal. To achieve true equality, animals and humans should be treated in the same way and have equal rights in law to a certain degree. It is impossible to give them the same rights as humans because they do not have the same mental capacity as us. However, they are considered as sentient beings with moral values, which is no different from humans in this aspect. Therefore, to have true equality means animals deserve to at least have the right to live and be considered as legal persons under the law. This is supported by various principles of social justice, including equality, fairness and respect of autonomy. Only by recognising and advocating for animal rights can we accurately claim that we advocate for liberty and justice for all.

10 Jay Shooster, 'Justice For All: Including Animal Rights In Social Justice Activism | N.Y.U. Review Of Law & Social Change' (N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change, 2019) accessed 23 October 2019. 11 'Should Animals Be Given Human Rights?' (BBC News, 2015) accessed 30 October 2019.

Bibliography (www.dw.com) D, 'Should Animals Have 'Human' Rights? | DW | 29.07.2016' (DW.COM, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019 'BBC - Ethics - Animal Ethics: Animal Rights' (Bbc.co.uk, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019 Bethune B, 'Why Animals Should Be Given The Same Legal Rights As Humans Macleans.Ca' (Macleans.ca, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019 Gruen L, 'The Moral Status Of Animals (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)' (Plato.stanford.edu, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019 Jones R (Animalstudiesrepository.org, 2015) accessed 30 October 2019 Lin D, 'What's The Difference Between Animal Rights And Animal Welfare?' (ThoughtCo, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019 Richerson H, 'Why Justice For Animals Means Justice For All' (Edge Effects, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019 Shooster J, 'Justice For All: Including Animal Rights In Social Justice Activism | N.Y.U. Review Of Law & Social Change' (N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change, 2019) accessed 23 October 2019 'Should Animals Be Given Human Rights?' (BBC News, 2015) accessed 30 October 2019 Stafforini P, 'Equality For Animals?, By Peter Singer' (Utilitarian.net, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019 'What Is Animal Rights? | PETA UK' (PETA UK, 2019) accessed 30 October 2019...