Why Animal Rights?
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| IS LIKE A PRISON PLEASE LET ME OUT |
"Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. Many of us bought our beloved “pets” at pet shops, had guinea pigs, and kept beautiful birds in cages. We wore wool and silk, ate McDonald’s burgers, and fished. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?"
In the book Animal Liberation, Peter Singer states "that the basic principle of equality does not require equal or identical treatment; it requires equal consideration. This is an important distinction when talking about animal rights. People often ask if animals should have rights, and quite simply, the answer is “Yes!” Animals surely deserve to live their lives free from suffering and exploitation. Jeremy Bentham, the founder of the reforming utilitarian school of moral philosophy, stated that when deciding on a being’s rights, “The question is not ‘Can they reason?’ nor ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’” In that passage, Bentham points to the capacity for suffering as the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration. The capacity for suffering is not just another characteristic like the capacity for language or higher mathematics. All animals have the ability to suffer in the same way and to the same degree that humans do. They feel pain, pleasure, fear, frustration, loneliness, and motherly love. Whenever we consider doing something that would interfere with their needs, we are morally obligated to take them into
account.
Supporters of animal rights believe that animals have an inherent worth—a value completely separate from their usefulness to humans. We believe that every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and suffering. Animal rights are not just a philosophy—it is a social movement that challenge society’s traditional view that all nonhuman animals exist solely for human use. As PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk has said, “When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness, and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Each one values his or her life and fights the knife.”
Only prejudice allows us to deny others the rights that we expect to have for ourselves. Whether it’s based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or species, prejudice is morally unacceptable. If you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat a pig? Dogs and pigs have the same capacity to feel pain, but it is prejudice based on species that allows us to think of one animal as a companion and the other as dinner."
Add on-Thoughts on this:--Come to think of it, trapping animal in their environment to neuter is not accurate; Animals are not humans, their natural habitat is out door like birds, where they can hunt and play with other wild life. It is an emotional cause and human need to want to control animals instead of caring for them in their natural environment. These animals are part of the ecosystem; everything that happens to them will affect adaptation to their environment
- Animals Are Not Ours to Eat- we have enough nutrients in plant based food.
- Animals are not ours to wear e.g. killing animals for fur.
- Animals do not deserve the pain and suffering inflicted on them in experiments, e.g vivisection- George Billman experimentation at the Ohio state university-Subjects 768 animals to pain and suffering eventually death- Find out how to help PETA help these animals.
- Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment e.g. dog fighters, caging of animals in zoos and just so we can see them acting funny in their cages. Why not observe and enjoy them in the wild/natural habitat like the crocodile hunter from discovery channel.
- Animals Are Not Ours to Abuse in Any Way.
- These cats, dogs, fish, birds, rat have not asked us to give them away as pets to people for a fee. Most people want pets because they think it's cute to have one or because they are suffering emotionally (depression). Speaking from my experience from caring for over 20 something outdoor cats, I have come to realize locking an animal/pet in a cage or house is not very humane, an animal's natural place is not the cage. Therefore these humane society called shelters that still cage these animal are not very humane- they are not as concerned about the balance of nature and the natural needs of these animals. (Excluding the once who allow them their natural freedom to roam and be animals)
Also animals didn't ask that we control their population or keep them locked up till adoption, they didn't desire for their ears to be trimmed painfully with scissor for identification. Are you getting the picture here, this is not natural, it seems to me that human need for control is heightened and of course the victim cannot speak to be freed but you and me must decide to THINK, BE CONSCIOUS, THEN SPEAK AND FREE THE ONE'S IN CAGES- don't smile, shrug shoulder and walk away- help promote animal freedom-Everything that desires change start with one action- You can start by promoting this article amongst your friends to help bring awareness and promote animal freedom.
Why not Leave animals alone, stop neutering you cannot control all cats and dogs on planet earth and if you could....RESULT to EXTINCTION. If we build sustainably; animals will level off, and adaptation of animals will occur naturally. Nature/Eco-system has it's way own of stabilizing the population (for example; not all babies born survives birth and some will die from a natural cause or the other. some of the things we think is good for these animal is actually harming the surviving population (by neutering them). If you think you have got too many animals stop keeping them, neutering them is just your own need to selfishly control animal that don't speak or decide what's good for them, you wouldn't want someone to take away your eyes because you see too much knowing you can't tell them no or yes (victim without consent) ---the same applies to animal neutering. THINK, Be RATIONAL, your brain before your emotions people.
Get out of the popular mainstream culture animal trap neuter program, just another way of enslaving animals, these animals are not harming us.....we are harming them.
Don't get me wrong, am not saying don't care for your pets like feeding and providing pets warmth indoors but don't keep them against their will or condition them to the locked doors and cages, they deserve to live their lives freely in a secure space/habitat--(if they're pit-bulls or vicious animals take precautions to provide safety for people and other animals when left to roam freely.)
Now what about letting dogs roam freely- vicious dogs? Human control got animals that way in the first place--dog fighting and training to attack. However, I do not suggest that you consider animals before your safety but in my experience, dogs usually won't attack at first sight and if the dog has these vicious trait.......this is as a result of poor feeding, human control- training to attack and to fight resulting to behavioral problems.
"My neighbor once said if your cat bites me, I'll shot it down and kill it; and I said cats are known for been scared of people and most cats are timid, if you don't mess with them they won't mess with you, and do remember you're the human....use your intelligence".
Caging Pets-BIRDS:
"When a bird is caged", it's ability to function as part of "nature is forcefully taken", except eating, chirping, and taking a dump. For the rest of their lives, they remain slaves to you; all for your pleasure and emotional needs, if you ask me this is cruel to a bird deserving their natural habitat. Also a caged bird cannot bear other bird or make a nest because they cannot exercise mating or fertilization like any other bird in the wild. Secondly, a caged bird cannot pollinate plants/ create some pretty flower, and will never know what is like to eat from a nectar. It cannot enjoy its natural life as a bird because you made a decision to keep it caged. Some people say they can't let their caged bird fly because they are attached to it like a child but a bird in a million years cannot be a child and there's no real human level interaction between you and the bird (it is a one sided relationship, the bird cannot say let me fly because you can't interpret the song or sounds it makes- is like 2 people speaking different languages), It is really disturbing, to know that slavery of animal is practiced like is OK without any consideration to the animals. This applies to snakes, rabbits, rat, and any animal that cannot experience nature or use their natural ability because of us.
Note: No one owns any animal, every animal has its own autonomy but you're responsible for an animal whom you domesticate. "The adult animals are responsible for bearing and caring for its young like everything on this planet reproduce so do they, so what gives us the right to take their reproductive organs from them".
Note: we don't need to go out of our way to neuter or reduce the population of animals e.g cats, because things like accidents happen to them--i have seen this at several occasions; their numbers are reduced naturally on a daily basis- starvation, sickness, fire outbreak from wars and accidentally explosion reduce their numbers, not all babies they give birth to survives, rain floods (e.g. many cats and dogs died in New Orleans disasters), hurricanes and earth quakes happen to them, car and train run many of them over (accidents happens to them too). Besides if people don't feed them like kids especially cats and allow them to hunt like nature designed them to do, they wouldn't have an explosion of birth--(am not saying don't be feed them but once you begin feeding them---they become your responsibility, throw a piece of fish but a habitual feeding only makes them produce more off-springs). Besides most can food contain preservatives which are unhealthy for them, most of them contain crude carcinogenic ingredients and there's proven evidence that can foods cause more health problems like diarrhea, worm infections, makes them more hungry as opposed to other green based food or hunting. Except if you're feeding them Purina naturals free of preservatives, artifical colors and additives.
Note: The Animal shelters are organizations that shelter, care and sometimes are known for euthanizing animals when they can't afford to keep the animal. Animals are taken to them by people to shelter, in hopes that the shelter will care for them and in return the shelter charges a fee to adopt the animals out to another person and from here the animal is not their responsibility anymore; there is no system in place for checking up on the animals after they are adopted, to make sure they are not adopting animals to sincere animal abusers/ fighters who use them for a bait or even some people who feed them to other pets. At times some people get animals from the shelter- turn them into domesticated indoor pets then one day they decide to move away to another place without the pet---left to the streets after so many years of been domesticated; now it's hard for the animal to adapt to their outdoor/natural environment. They might adopt another pet in their new city- and the cycle of adopting and abandoning continues on. The shelter keeps getting more pets- a never ending cycle not unless these animals go extinct or numbers become drastically low but with the domestication of pets you can see this is a cycle; seem more like a pet abuse.
Sometimes people call animal control or send the pet to a shelter that will eventually kill them if they can't afford it. So would you agree that the animal is best left alone or kept with a loyal home and can be trusted to cater for themselves in the wild without "forceful sheltering" that sometimes endanger them especially in the case of cats. Don't get me wrong, some of the shelters help out but living in a cage, been mutilated is cruel.
Don't send a sick animal to a shelter that usually euthanize them; they take mostly healthy pets.
Don' t take an animal to a shelter that euthanize animals- if they say they'll keep the pet for a certain number of days and then after that may get rid of the pet (meaning euthanize it)- please save the animal don't leave it for them.
Let the animal be natural, don't trap them in a cage when you have another option- think what if you died today with your pet caged or trapped inside without food or water and nobody finds out what happened for weeks- think about what the animal will go through and what about their natural needs.
If you give an animal away to a person who may endanger or hurt it- you share the responsibility.
If you have an animal please don't hurt them, treat it like another life that has rights, and is deserving of care.
This article was not written to criticize any particular group of people but to get you to think of what you are doing to your pet and animal in general, how it can affect your pet and the negative and positive contribution to the animals and your environment. Let the bird fly. A caged bird cries for a reason, you can't understand a bird sound, you may think its hungry but maybe it wants to fly like any other bird. Same applies for other animals like a cat that deserves to explore outdoor- it is natural for animals spend time indoor and outdoor.
We care about animals; I know you do too- please help make a change in the way animals are treated-kindly, Help promote Animal Freedom- Go Vegan- Get Rewards from PETA
Also you can help reduce the number of pets stuck in shelter by adopting one instead of buying one from a breeder. (instead of neutering your dogs and cats-------the birth control solution for your domesticated animal will be to control your personal urge ---wanting a female and male dog knowing very well the male dog will in-pregnant the female dog, try to stick to one gender---this way you can help control population in your home without putting the dear animal through hard pain caused by neutering.
If
someone ask you if you want to breed some puppies using your pure breed
dog. If you're a true rescuer-----suggest they try to adopt one from the
shelter first before breeding one because there are too many dogs and
cats in the shelter or at ASPCA needing a home at the moment. Be a
responsible animal lover, Breed less, rescue more!
Adopt a pet please! if you can please........Many deserve to live in a healthy loving home---cage and abuse free!
Onyinye A
