Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse

Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse

There needs to be stricter laws to protect the rights of animals and stop the cruelty that they witness.

Animals withstand a huge amount of pain and torture for human beings. Many people do not realize how much animals suffer only to benefit ourselves.

Whether it is known by society or not the abuse and torture that these animals withstand for our entertainment, food, cosmetics and household products can be very inhumane and unethical. Many of these animals face horrible acts of violence and are tortured by humans for products used by humans. Many people acting together as one might be the only way that companies are going to listen to put an end to the violence that these animals are put through. Whether it be on a farm, laboratory, at a circus or anywhere else these acts are taking place, there needs to be stricter laws to protect the rights of animals and stop the cruelty that they witness.
When you go to an animal oriented theme park you automatically think that it is an institution that treats animals as they should be treated. Wrong. When animals are used for entertainment they are taken out of their natural habitat for our viewing pleasures. The Ringling brother’s circus, zoos and SeaWorld are just a few of these entertainment-based institutions. In the circus elephants, tigers, monkeys, and other circus animals are electroshocked, beaten with bull hooks and denied basic vet care. In zoos, animals are kept in cages and taken away from their natural habitat to be put on show for humans to see. When you go to both the circus and to zoos more then likely you are able to go for a ride on a camel or an elephant, all day when these animals are forced to walk around with humans on their backs they are being stabbed and poked on the leg and possibly whipped so that they walk. Why would anyone want to hurt an animal like that just so we can say that we rode a camel or an elephant? SeaWorld and other aquatic parks, orcas and dolphins are essentially put in a concrete “bathtub” to perform for large noisy crowds. Causes orcas to become aggressive (Peta 2) Most parks thrive to tell people that they “love” animals, but do not respect them, as they should. Many cosmetic, household items and medications require animal testing. Unlike humans who donate their bodies to science animals do not have a voice to say they do or do not want to be tested on. Testing doesn’t save lives by testing on animals before giving the product to humans. 92% of all drugs that are tested on animals fail once they are tried on humans, meaning these tests are ineffective and meaningless. For example, cancer was cured in mice over ten years ago but was not curable when it was tried in humans. (Peta 2) Not only are these tests cruel, painful and useless they’re expensive. Animals are trapped in small inhabitable cages, many without food or water to make sure that these products will be safe for humans. In the duration of these tests animals have chemicals burn their skin and eyes, they also have electrodes put in their brains and are eventually killed so they can be dissected. “The pace of scientific advance over the past few years has been staggering, and more scientists are calling for non-animal methods that are faster, usually cheaper and almost always much more precise than last century’s animal testing. Three-dimensional, reconstituted human skin models better predict how chemicals behave on people than dosing rabbits, and animal-free toxicity assays produce results in a fraction of the time and cost of the average mouse test.” (Wendy Higgins) Millions of animals are killed everyday for products such as lipstick, deodorant, toothpaste, house hold cleaners and much more. There are humane ways to test that do not require animal testing at all.
When was the last time you chose faux fur or leather over real leather and fur? More than likely, you haven’t. Many people focus on their look versus real or fake animal skin. Odds are you wouldn’t want to wear human skin, so what makes wearing an animals any better? Faux leather, faux furs are available and look just as fashionable. The animals that are killed for their skin are nailed to trees, skinned alive, bludgeoned, suffocated, anally or vaginally electrocuted. Some of the animals that are used for their skin are minks, rabbits, foxes, coyotes, alligators, snakes, baby seals, dogs and cats are killed for their fur and skin. On fur farms, these small and harmless critters are cramped in small, filthy cages or struggle in excruciating pain in the wild. Reptiles are raised on farms to be skinned while struggling to get away. Are you sure those snakeskin pocketbook was worth it?
Last but not least of the abuse put towards animals are slaughter farms. When you think of a farm you probably think of green grass growing, free roaming animals, sunshine and a farming driving around in a tractor. You’re thinking of a happy place when in reality the exact opposite is what is really happening. “Animals raised for food endure unfathomable suffering. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of advocating on behalf of these animals is trying to describe the indescribable: the over crowding and confinement, the stench, the racket, the extremes of heat and cold, the attacks and even cannibalism, the hunger and starvation, the disease… the horror of everyday of their lives. Indeed, every year, hundreds of millions of animals- many times more than the number killed for fur, in shelters, and in laboratories- don’t even make it to slaughter.” (Matt Ball) Animals that are kept in cramped conditions, live in crates that are so small that they can’t lay down or spread their wings. They are beaten with metal rods, sexually abused, punched, kicked, forced to floor of slaughter house kicking and screaming. Beaks are seared off with hot blades. Testicals ripped out with no painkillers, forcibly impregnated and ripped apart while still conscious. Animals raised for food are bred and drugged to grow as large as possible as quickly as possible. Many are so heavy that they become crippled under their own weight and die within inches of their water supply. Many die during transport, and others are too sick or weak to walk off the truck after they reach the slaughterhouse. The animals that survive this nightmare are hung upside-down and their throats are slit, often while they're completely conscious. We do live in a world of “survival of the fittest” and yes these animals will die eventually, its part of the food chain. The laws that are against animal cruelty are very poorly regulated. Unfortunately many people think that going vegetarian, like myself or by going vegan that it’s not going to do anything for the animals because they’re still going to die anyways. By not eating meat you can save one hundred animals per year. There’s no exact number because that’s nearly impossible to calculate.
The main point of this is to prove why there needs to be stricter laws. You can do things to stop supporting companies that are cruel to animals, but that’s not going to stop them. The Animal Welfare Act (Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966, P.L. 89-544) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 24, 1966. It is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research and exhibition. Other laws, policies, and guidelines may include additional species coverage or specifications for animal care and use, but all refer to the Animal Welfare Act. There are no other laws that prohibit animal cruelty or animal testing which is why people need to start to make a stand.
Animals are not ours to eat, abuse, use for entertainment and clothing. In all reality they should be treated how you would treat a pet, or another human being. They should not be hurt in the ways that they are. The only way things are going to get better for animals in terms of testing and cruelty is if people start to make a stand. There are so many other reasons that animals should have rights, just like humans. Just because they can’t speak doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings like us.