Animal Rights Essay - Grade: B PDF

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This Essay was assigned by Professor Karen McDermott as a reflection of a mandatory reading of animal rights ...

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Professor McDermott English 1010-12 26 September 2016 Everyone is moved by those animal adoption commercials that almost bring a tear to our eyes when we hear “In the arms of an angel 1” at that point we wish we could all adopt a furry one. Yet how far have animal rights movements gone? Should animals get the same rights as humans? How alike are animals to us? In Ethics and Animals, an interesting point is brought to light, stating that humans have no duties to animals, for animals can do no good for humans. Animals are incapable of reasoning, therefore having no sense of things, proving that they cannot be part of a society forming a social contract. What most don't know, is what author of the New York Times, Jeremy Rifkin wrote in an article; animals are capable of feelings, including stress, grief and love, animals are more like us than we had ever imagined. Pigs for example have the natural crave for affection and become depressed if isolated or denied play time with each other. “In Germany, the government is encouraging pig farmers to give each pig 20 seconds of human contact each day and to provide them with toys to prevent them from fighting”

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While many philosophers and animal behaviorists have long argued that animals are nothing like us, claiming that they are not capable of self-awareness and lack a sense of individualism, studies at the Washington National Zoo speak on the contrary. It has been found that when given a mirror, Orangutans explore parts of their bodies they could otherwise not see, obviously showing they do have a sense of self-awareness. Where then, is the line drawn in

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Sarah McLachlan. I n the Arms of an Angel. Rec. 1997. N.d. CD. Album: Surfacing 01, September. "A Change of Heart About Animals." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 01 Sept. 2003. Web. 19 Sep. 2016

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emotions between animals and humans, it has been said that grief makes all the difference. The mourning of the dead, represents the true divide between animals and humans. Even that claim has been brought to question when it was found that Elephants stand near their dead kin for days. We know that animals are very much like us, yet why are there so many threats against them today? Elephants, orangutans, and pigs may not be our first choice in the kind of animal we want in our living room, but what about those most of our neighborhoods have, cats and dogs. Over 70 million loney cats live in the United States, these poor quiet friends have no home. It is not rare to hear in most communities of a home owning pets. The ASPCA confirms that about 47% of households own a dog or a cat.3 In our 2016 lens, animal cruelty is very much frowned upon. Yet, the extreme love for animals was not always this way. Animals went through the struggle to survive man-made catastrophes, including religious and spiritual rituals, serving as to cleanse the sins of men. Taking a comparative approach, animals in Greece animals were much praised. They were different, and calm and so the people of ancient Greece know they were something special. If only everyone held this idea in the trans coming years. Now a new threat comes to our furry friends, one that many see and acknowledge, yet few act upon. We have seen no way around the fact that smoking is bad, affecting nearly every organ in our body, “Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. It is also responsible for many other cancers and health problems. These include lung disease, heart and

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"Pet Statistics." ASPCA. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

blood vessel disease, stroke and cataracts” 4. We all know animals have no capacity to light a deadly cigar, but anyone can be a victim of second hand smoking and its debris. Cigarette buds have generated much attention in the media in recent years, and cigarette companies have been clear on the plausible effects that consumption of said products can cause. The mere consumption as we all know is a relative danger to our health. What we don't know is the second hand effects it has on our surroundings, specifically on those we may not notice, our pets. Although reports of nicotine ingestion in domesticated animals are rare, in moments where these accounts are true, the effects include “tremors, vomiting, lack of coordination, weakness, convulsions, and respiratory failure” eventually leading to death. 5 Cigarette butt consumption by pets and other animals is a frequent source of concern and attention for poison control centers and pet owners. The ubiquity of this waste should be a great concern for policymakers.

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Smoking Also Called: Cigar Smoking, Cigarette Smoking, Pipe Smoking, Tobacco Smoking." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 6 Oct. 2015. Web. 5 Novotny, Thomas E, Hardin Sarah N, Hovda Lynn R, Novotny Dale J, McLean Mary Kay, and Khan Safdar. "Tobacco and Cigarette Butt Consumption in Humans and Animals." Tobacco Control 20 (2011): I17-20. Web....