A Right to Life

Animal rights imply that an animal has a right to their own life just as we do; that they are not property of Humans. To an extremist, this argument also means we must maintain a vegetarian diet, not wear leather or fur and not keep animals as pets. A moderate animal rights activist would say that our responsibility toward animals is that we have a moral and ethical obligation not to cause then unnecessary pain. We often talk about right or wrong treatment of animals but do not really understand what goes on behind the scenes. Many non-profit organizations such as PETA care and try to participate in the animal rights initiatives and spread the knowledge about needs and rights of those who cannot protect themselves from dominant and often cruel human behavior. There are many types of animal cruelty that occur everyday. A large and very controversial issue that involves cruel human behavior is animal testing. According to “Eleven Facts about Animal Cruelty,” “More than 25 million vertebrate animals are used in testing in the United States each year. When invertebrate animals are thrown into the mix, the estimated number rises to as high as 100 million.” The laboratory testing of animals is important to biomedical research, product safety testing, and education. Biomedical researchers use animals to extend their understanding of the workings of the body and the processes of disease and health and to develop new vaccines and treatments for various diseases for humans and other animals (Goldberg, Alan, Joanne Zurlo, and Deborah Rudacille). However, the morality, the necessity, or the validity of the studies is questionable. Thousands of animals are helplessly killed every year that animal testing is being conducted (“Animal Testing”). Ninety-four percent of animal testing is done to determine the safety of cosmetics and household products leaving only 6% for medical research (“Animal Testing”). Harm is often caused to the animals which may lead to death. It is not fair nor is it humane to conduct experiments on animals to make sure a product or procedure is safe for us. An animal’s life should not be treated as if it is insignificant in contrast to a human life. During the testing, animals may be force fed or put in restraints in order for the scientists to get the product into their systems. Animals often scream in pain and can cause themselves injury by trying to escape. A problem above all of these issues is that just because an animal has a reaction to a substance does not mean a human will have the same reaction. So at the end of it all, thousands of animals could be dying for no reason because we will never know how the product will really react to humans (“Animal Testing”). Animal slaughtering has been another big topic of debate because of its cruel techniques. Many will argue that people need to eat, and animals are a good source of food especially protein. Meat, for example, may be eaten; but the means of going about getting the meat does not need to be so callous. Many methods are used to kill animals; electrical stunning, shooting, cutting major blood vessels, and beheading to name a few. All of these can be very painful methods, but we need to use the one that is the least painful. It is not necessary to cause an animal more pain than it already has to endure. Many animals are slaughtered in industrial slaughtering. The animals are killed in mass amounts on an assembly line very roughly. For example, chickens are held upside down while still conscious. They are then dunked in water with an electrical current running through and are shocked, making it a very inhumane method (“Eleven”). Factory farms do not care about individual animals. Some animals will die as a result of debeaking, tail docking, disease, and intensive confinement, but the operation is still profitable overall. Furs and leathers are considered luxurious items which gloss over the fact that animals go through pain and are killed in order to create these products. According to Matt Thomas, “Every year, over 40 million mammals are brutally killed and skinned to make the fur products sold in stores.” Animals are being senselessly hurt and killed for fashion when there are synthetic products that are nearly the same as furs and leathers, just not made from animals. The animals that are used to create products for fashion are treated very poorly before they are made into a pair of shoes. Most companies ignore the truth that they are cruel to animals in order to produce a cheap product. They don’t take care of animals, they only create goods and services. Animals are stuffed in cages that are filthy and are open to the extremes of the weather, then brutally slaughtered to produce goods. Methods of killing on fur farms include breaking the animal’s neck, gassing, lethal injection, genital electrocution and anal electrocution (“Animals”). Why are animals still being killed when there are alternative fabrics that can look and feel as if it were the “real thing”? “Eighteen red foxes are killed to make one fox-fur coat, 55 minks to make a mink coat” (“Eleven”). A fur coat is pretty cool—for an animal to wear. The majority of companies using animals for any reason simply turn their back to any wrong treatment of animals. The attitude of most people toward animal rights is often “who cares” or “I have other things to worry about”, but in the long run it is crucial to acknowledge animal rights. People do not have to give up eating meat or go to any extremes to support animal rights either. It’s just a change in how the animals are treated. There is no need for animals to be treated poorly in order to be killed. They can live freely for the time they are alive, and they can be well taken care of, and their killings do not need to be so painful and rough. Animal testing is important to all living beings, but it could be conducted with minimal violation to animal rights. Scientists study animals to learn many things. If the animals are kept in captivity, they can experience pain that isn’t a natural part of its environment. A small amount of organizations attempt to replace and reduce the number of animals being used or, at the very least, lessen the pain. Although many would argue if we don’t test animals we will never learn anything, there really are many alternative methods. They fall into three main categories: Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. Absolute replacement occurs when an animal is completely replaced. By relative replacement, just cells and tissues are used, instead of the whole animal (Goldberg). Using fewer animals will result if scientists utilize this method. Replacement isn’t always an option for some types of testing. For those animals that do undergo testing, scientists could try to lessen the pain and make the animals more comfortable. Computers are a new high-tech method of replacement. For example, dissection on a computer model instead of real, live frogs. When it comes time for testing of new skin and facial products, it is increasingly becoming popular for people to volunteer (Goldberg). Reduction involves sharing research animals. For example, if one scientist is doing a study on the lungs of a sheep, when it comes time to kill the sheep he will allow the others to use his kidneys, liver, or heart (Goldberg). We as a society have a moral obligation to at least attempt to implicate reduction. Refinement means to reduce any pain and suffering that the animal is going through. Techniques that are less hostile to the animal can also be considered refinement. Researchers can use ultrasound or an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to see what is going on inside the animal instead of cutting into it. (Goldberg) Some aspects of animal abuse are completely avoidable. The cruelty occurring in this type of animal abuse brings no scientific knowledge, food, or testing. In the entertainment industry, “wild and exotic animals are trained through the use of intimidation and physical abuse. Former circus employees have reported seeing animals beaten, whipped, poked with sharp objects and even burned to force them to learn their routines”(“Eleven”)! Cruelty for entertainment is not a fair trade by any means. It is not difficult to see that humans are humans and animals are animals. There are no relevant differences that justify differences in treatment. Animal rights opponents have consistently failed to support the differences in treatment of humans versus animals with relevant differences in capacities. Yes, an animal is an animal, but it can still suffer terribly from our brutality and lack of compassion. Humanity has forgotten about the meaning and role that each living thing plays in life. The fact that we dominated many natural habitats and developed faster than other living animals on this planet does not give us rights to choose what is the limit and scale of their right to live.

Works Cited

“Animal Testing." About my Planet (2011), Web. 3 Apr 2011.
"The Animal Rights FAQ.", Web. 3 Apr 2011.
“Animals Used in Clothing - Fur, Leather, Wool, Silk." New York Times (2011). Web. 3 Apr 2011. "Eleven Facts about Animal Cruelty.", Web. 3 Apr 2011.
Goldberg, Alan. "The Three Rs and Biomedical Research." Science, Web. 3 Apr 2011.
Goldberg, Alan, Joanne Zurlo, and Deborah Rudacille. "When Fur is Used for Fashion, Animals Pay the Price." Science 7 272.52567 (1996). Web. 3 Apr 2011.
Thomas, Matt. "When Fur is Used for Fashion, Animals Pay the Price.", Web. 3 Apr 2011.

Cited: “Animal Testing." About my Planet (2011), Web. 3 Apr 2011. “Animals Used in Clothing - Fur, Leather, Wool, Silk." New York Times (2011) (1996). Web. 3 Apr 2011.