A Change Of Heart About Animals, By Jeremy Rifkin

Dulce Hernandez
Espinoza
Expository Reading & Writing
15 October 2012
Animals v Humans The world is filled with ideas and topics in which people get to decide if it’s right or wrong, but how do you which one is truly right? Facts and proven statements are what makes you decide on the one if more accurate then just having a person say what they think. On an article titled “A Change of Heart About Animals,” by Jeremy Rifkin has information on how animals, “are more like us than we ever imagined.” I disagree. I strongly believe humans are and will always be the dominant species and animals shouldn’t ever be on the same level with us, animals are inferior to us and humans will always use them for our needs. Vegetarians may be healthy
but not as healthy as people who keep meat in their diets. There has been arguments that talk about how being vegetarian is better but have they ever given the thought that meat has a big part in out diets for years. Rifkin mentions in his essay that animals are, “destined for slaughter and human consumption.” how else are we suppose to keep yourselves alive? By just eating grass? In a edublog, Clarissa has a valid reason that we should not stop consuming animals, “meat is known for keeping the human body’s temperature normal unlike vegetarians who are always wearing a sweater when its hot outside.” Her point is actually true, people who don’t eat meat don’t get the same protein as how meat eaters get. Some of the health benefits that come from eating meat give off energy for people. Meat contains a large amount of protein, that helps improve well being of one’s body. Other nutrients that meat contains that you will not be able to find in greens are iron, zinc, and selenium. Lastly, meat also contains vitamins like Vitamin A, B, and D. These vitamins give humans a better vision, stronger teeth and bones and most importantly it supports the central nervous system that makes the body overall healthy. No only does Rifkin talks about animal consumption but also animal testing. When experimenting with different cures and vaccines the only way to actually test it is on an animal.
Even though animals are not like exactly like us, we can test them and see how they react to the drug. People say that animal testing come with a result that are not applicable to humans. That may be true but how else are we suppose to find a way for a cure? Test it on kids? There are anti-animal testing people who want to use an alternative method of testing. Computer models are not advanced enough and testing on plants is less applicable to humans then tests that are used on animals such as monkeys. Until we have a better system we need to have the use animal testing. What would you like to see less of a normal dog just sitting being lazy or a sick diseased person? Obvious pick is that we would not like to see a person in pain or suffering. In an article about pro-testing on animals it mentions all the cures, treatments, and preventions that have been found by using animal testing. The article states, “ But animal research hasn't benefited humans alone. Animals also have improved healthcare and a longer lifespan. Farm animals, household pets, wild species and endangered species are all benefiting from the research conducted through animals. There are vaccines for rabies, distemper, tetanus, parvo virus and numerous other illnesses in cats, dogs and countless other domesticated animals. It's obvious that animal research benefits all living species and that we are all able to live longer, healthier, happier lives because of it.” This quotes just proves that testing on animals helps both humans and animals. If testing wasn’t allowed how else would we advance to the future? Before people would think that animal testing didn’t help the animal all it did was make the animal suffer and feel pain. Those people don’t have the right information to be saying that because with Pro-test.org they have the accurate information. Another reason why animals can never be on the
same level as us is because of the obvious reason, they are animals not humans. Lastly, animals will always be animals, they don’t have a choice to be whatever they like to do in live, like a dog will end up just being a dog not a teacher or cop nor a doctor. People say we can train wild animals do be differently but at the end in the inside of that animal he will always have the instincts to kill and attack. There has been news and videos where there are trainers who has trained a wild animal for years and at the end they have been attacked by the animal. In an article titled, “why humans are more important than other animals,” mentions great points that animals don’t have and humans do and that makes us the dominant species. What we have is imagination, cognition, and potential. In this article it has accurate points that people seem to forget like, “Humans have the power of imagination, and as far as I’m aware animals do not. The power to visualize things that we do not directly experience is what caused humans to flourish in the first place. It is an incredible ability in the animal kingdom and it leads me to my second point, which is cognition. We humans, as well as possessing imaginations, are also self aware. When a human is born, it has the potential to go on and do so much more than any other animal can. It could grow up to make contributions to science, medicine, the arts etc, enriching not just it’s own life but the lives of all around them, human and non-human. Animals can make a difference, but not consciously and not on the same scale that humans can.” In this quote it explains the three, imagination, cognition, and potential. When you think about it animals can not do what we can. At the end us humans do make a bigger impact on the world. We are the ones who make the world advance throughout the years. We have a chance to make our mark on the world like being a teacher, a doctor, artist or etc. what can animals do? Sit on the floor and look cute. How is that making a change in world? In conclusion, humans will have the dominate part on earth and animals will always be in a lower rank. I strongly believe humans are and will always be the dominant species and animals shouldn’t ever be on the same level with us, animals are inferior to us and humans will always use them for our needs. Vegetarians may be healthy but not as healthy as people who keep meat in their diets. When experimenting with different cures and vaccines the only way to actually test it is on an animal. animals will always be animals, they don’t have a choice to be whatever they like to do in live, like a dog will end up just being a dog not a teacher or cop nor a doctor. In the article of Rifkin, he doesn’t even put his own personal opinion on what he thinks about the topic and when he says “Scientist” he doesn’t even mention the name of one. Seems like he is trying to fool us instead.

Hernandez