Chris Morra
En-105-03
Animal Rights
In Brigid Brophy's essay, The Rights of Animals, there are some statements that I agree with and some that I don't. Unlike Brigid Brophy, I am not a vegetarian, nor would I ever become one, but I do believe that animals have certain rights.
I feel that there is nothing wrong with killing an animal for food. Animals have been killing each other for food in order to survive since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Human beings, as we all know, are also animals. So how is it wrong for a person to kill an animal for food?
Many vegetarians and animal activists contradict themselves by trying to protect an animal from being killed for food, when in fact, the animal that they are trying to protect is also a meat eater that kills another animal for food. Why is it all right for that animal to kill for food, but not for a human to kill for food? There is no answer to that question. Food is a major part of survival on this planet and if it takes the death of an animal to survive then there is nothing wrong with killing it.
In Brophy's essay she writes, 'If we are going to rear and kill animals for our food, I think we have moral obligation to spare them pain and terror.' I agree with this statement very much. There is no reason to torture animals or put them through unnecessary pain. There are many ways to kill an animal without causing it any pain.
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I have two different feelings for hunting. I feel that if someone is hunting for food then there is nothing wrong with it. However, I don't feel that it is right to hunt and kill animals for fun or for competition. Too many animals are killed each year by hunters that don't even eat the animals that they kill. Many hunters just cut the heads of animals off and stuff them so that they can hang them on their walls at home. Most hunters feel that it is an accomplishment to sneak up on a harmless animal such as a dear and shoot it. I don't