Mrs. Pagani
Period III ERWC
21 October 2013
“Body Paragraphs” PARA 1:
I believe animals do not need a Bill of Rights because they already have plethora of laws that protect all of their basic needs. For example, Germany has already passed laws to protect the basic rights of Ape’s. In the article “primates” they said, “The Green Party in Germany is preparing two bills supporting the Great Ape Project”(Yong). Another way that animals already have their rights protected is, Dogs have shelters and pounds to go to if they have no home or are left on the street, you are also not allowed to beat them or have dog fights with them. The human society states that, “Dogfighting is a felony offense in all 50 states…and… dogs used in these events often die of blood loss, shock, dehydration, exhaustion, or infection hours or even days after the fight”(Humane Society). PARA 2: Another reason that animals don’t need a Bill of Rights is because they are a huge factor in medical advancements. For example, one of the animals that would most likely get the most “rights” would be a dog, this would ban experiments on dogs that are critical for the benefits to humans. For example, “dogs were vital to the development of angioplasty as a treatment or preventive measure for heart attacks and other heart conditions in humans”(SUBR). We must do experiments on animals first for the well being of humans. In “primates” Yong says, “ testing to find a cure cannot be accessed by experiments on or with humans”(Yong).
PARA 3: The last reason that animals don’t need a Bill of Rights, is that humans come first over animals with low cognitive ability. For example, they talk about how a fish can remember its path to run away from predators. But that doesn’t prove that they feel pain and shows that they really aren’t smart at all. They say, “they can learn geometrical relationships and landmarks”(Braithwaite). Another reason is that we haven’t even defined pain for ourselves,
Cited: Braithwaite, Victoria. "Hooked on a Myth." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 08 Oct. 2006. Web. 21 October 2013. Faron, Chris. "Dogfighting Fact Sheet : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS. Human Society, 2 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 October 2013. News. "How Animals Help." Welcome to SUBR. SUBR, Web. 21 October 2013. Rifkin, Jeremy. "A Change of Heart About Animals." A Change of Heart About Animals. Common Dreams, 1 Sept. 2003. Web. 21 October 2013. Yong, Ed. "Seed Magazineabout." Of Primates and Personhood § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. SEED Magazine, 12 Dec. 2008. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.