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animal rights, moral or legal entitlements attributed to nonhuman animals, usually because of the complexity of their cognitive, emotional, and social lives or their capacity to experience physical or emotional pain or pleasure. Historically, different views of the scope of animal rights have reflected philosophical and legal developments, scientific conceptions of animal and human nature, and religious and ethical conceptions of the proper relationship between animals and human beings. Since the beginning of the modern animal rights movement, which was initiated by philosophers in the 1970s, animal rights has been a popular topic of discussion within the academic study of applied ethics, or the application of normative ethical theories to practical problems.

Philosophical background

The proper treatment of animals is a very old question in the West. Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers debated the place of animals in human morality. The Pythagoreans (6th-4th century bce) and the Neoplatonists (3rd-6th century ce) urged respect for animals' interests, primarily because they believed in the transmigration of souls between human and animal bodies. In his biological writings, Aristotle (384-322 bce) repeatedly suggested that animals lived for their own sake, but his claim in the Politics that nature made all animals for the sake of humans was unfortunately destined to become his most influential statement on the subject.

Aristotle, and later the Stoics, believed the world was populated by an infinity of beings arranged hierarchically according to their complexity and perfection, from the barely living to the merely sentient, the rational, and the wholly spiritual. In this Great Chain of Being, as it came to be known, all forms of life were represented as existing for the sake of those forms higher in the chain. Among corporeal beings, humans, by dint of their rationality, occupied the highest position. The Great Chain of Being became one of the most persistent and powerful, if utterly erroneous, ways of conceiving the universe, dominating scientific, philosophical, and religious thinking until the middle of the 19th century.

The Stoics, insisting on the irrationality of all nonhuman animals, regarded them as slaves and accordingly treated them as contemptible and beneath notice. Aggressively advocated by St. Augustine (354-430), these Stoic ideas became embedded in Christian theology. They were absorbed wholesale into Roman law-as reflected in the treatises and codifications of Gaius (fl. 130-180) and Justinian (483-565)-taken up by the legal glossators of Europe in the 11th century, and eventually pressed into English (and, much later, American) common law. Meanwhile, arguments that urged respect for the interests of animals nearly disappeared, and animal welfare remained a relative backwater of philosophical inquiry and legal regulation until the final decades of the 20th century.

Animals and the law

In the 3rd or 4th century ce, the Roman jurist Hermogenianus wrote, "Hominum causa omne jus constitum" ("All law was established for men's sake"). Repeating the phrase, P.A. Fitzgerald's 1966 treatise Salmond on Jurisprudence declared, "The law is made for men and allows no fellowship or bonds of obligation between them and the lower animals." The most important consequence of this view is that animals have long been categorized as "legal things," not as "legal persons." Whereas legal persons have rights of their own, legal things do not. They exist in the law solely as the objects of the rights of legal persons-e.g., as things over which legal persons may exercise property rights. This status, however, often affords animals the indirect protection of laws intended to preserve social morality or the rights of animal owners, such as criminal anticruelty statutes or civil statutes that permit owners to obtain compensation for damages inflicted on their animals. Indeed, this sort of law presently defines the field of "animal law," which is much broader than animal rights because it encompasses all law that addresses the interests of nonhuman animals-or, more commonly, the interests of the people who own them.

A legal thing can become a legal person; this happened whenever human slaves were freed. The former legal thing then possesses his own legal rights and remedies. Parallels have frequently been drawn between the legal status of animals and that of human slaves. "The truly striking fact about slavery," the American historian David Brion Davis has written, is the

antiquity and almost universal acceptance of the concept of the slave as a human being who is legally owned, used, sold, or otherwise disposed of as if he or she were a domestic animal. This parallel persisted in the similarity of naming slaves, branding them, and even pricing them according to their equivalent in cows, camels, pigs, and chickens.

The American jurist Roscoe Pound wrote that in ancient Rome a slave "was a thing, and as such, like animals could be the object of rights of property," and the British historian of Roman law Barry Nicholas has pointed out that in Rome "the slave was a thing...he himself had no rights: he was merely an object of rights, like an animal."

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, humanitarian reformers in Britain and the United States campaigned on behalf of the weak and defenseless, protesting against child labour, debtor's prisons, abusive punishment in public schools, and, inevitably, the cruel treatment of animals. In 1800 the most renowned abolitionist of the period, William Wilberforce, supported a bill to abolish bull- and bearbaiting, which was defeated in the House of Commons. In 1809 Baron Erskine, former lord chancellor of England, who had long been troubled by cruelty to animals, introduced a bill to prohibit cruelty to all domestic animals. Erskine declared that the bill was intended to "consecrate, perhaps, in all nations, and in all ages, that just and eternal principle which binds the whole living world in one harmonious chain, under the dominion of enlightened man, the lord and governor of all." Although the bill passed the House of Lords, it failed in the House of Commons. Then, in 1821, a bill "to prevent cruel and improper treatment of Cattle" was introduced in the House of Commons, sponsored by Wilberforce and Thomas Fowell Buxton and championed by Irish member of Parliament Richard Martin. The version enacted in 1822, known as Martin's Act, made it a crime to treat a handful of domesticated animals-cattle, oxen, horses, and sheep-cruelly or to inflict unnecessary suffering upon them. However, it did not protect the general welfare of even these animals, much less give them legal rights, and the worst punishment available for any breach was a modest fine. Similar statutes were enacted in all the states of the United States, where there now exists a patchwork of anticruelty and animal-welfare laws. Most states today make at least some abuses of animals a felony. Laws such as the federal Animal Welfare Act (1966), for example, regulate what humans may do to animals in agriculture, biomedical research, entertainment, and other areas. But neither Martin's Act nor many subsequent animal-protection statutes altered the traditional legal status of animals as legal things.

This situation changed in 2008, when the Spanish national parliament adopted resolutions urging the government to grant orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas some statutory rights previously afforded only to humans. The resolutions also called for banning the use of apes in performances, harmful research, and trading as well as in other practices that involve profiting from the animals. Although zoos would still be allowed to hold apes, they would be required to provide them with "optimal" living conditions.

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Animal rights | Definition, Issues, & History

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Animal rights, moral or legal entitlements attributed to nonhuman animals, usually because of the complexity of their cognitive, emotional, and social lives or their capacity to experience physical or emotional pain or pleasure. Historically, different views of the scope of animal rights have

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Animal Rights: Ending the Human Use and Exploitation of Animals

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Animal Rights: Ending the Human Use and Exploitation of Animals

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When animals are considered property under the law, there is no limit to the ways in which humans can exploit them. We need to change how we view animal rights and how those rights are handed over to our animal friends.

When animals are considered property under the law, there is no limit to the ways in which humans can exploit them. We need to change how we view animal rights and how those rights are handed over to our animal friends.

Animal rights have been the subject of much debate, especially among who animal rights groups fight for animal welfare. Unfortunately, animal cruelty still runs rampant throughout much of the world.

Some people simply don't believe in animal rights, and governments have failed to produce legislation that protects all animals from human predation.

It's true that some animal rights legislation has passed in the United States and elsewhere. For instance, law enforcement can bring charges against a person for neglecting or abusing an animal. However, the animal his or herself doesn't have any legal rights.

An abused dog can't sue his tormenter for pain and suffering. A person can't do so on his behalf, either.

Furthermore, factory farming operations , animal testing facilities, and similar businesses continue to torture animals for the benefit of people.

Why does this continue? And what should animal rights look like on a global scale? Let's dig into some of the specifics.

What Are Animal Rights?

Animal rights is an idea and a movement that asserts that animals should be able to live free of human interference and that they should never be exploited for human gain. Animals do have some rights, but not nearly enough.

Naysayers argue that nonhuman animals lack language and complex cognitive abilities, which somehow makes them lesser-than . However, animals have the ability to experience emotions like pain, fear, happiness, connection with others, and despair.

When a sentient being can suffer at the hands of humans, we have the obligation to protect them from our own brethren. Animals have value beyond what they're worth by the pound, and stripping them of that value creates a culture in which animals are viewed as food, fur, or servants.

The animal rights movement seeks to eliminate this view of animals and to give animals rights beyond what they currently enjoy. It's not about making nonhuman animals equal to humans, but about taking their inherent value into consideration when making decisions.

For instance, you could have a Big Mac for dinner. Alternatively, you could eat a garden salad full of flavorful fruits and vegetables. That's a choice.

So is starting a business that harvests animals like we would a field of corn. You could, alternatively, start a business that doesn't infringe on animal rights.

Animal Rights Facts That Might Shock You

Did you know that animals on factory farms live in such tight conditions that they typically can't even turn around? They're forced to live out their lives in tiny cages or crammed in amongst other animals of their kind with no room to move.

You might also not know that animal testing has become unnecessary . We now have alternative methods, such as cultures, that provide more accurate results than animal testing because the tests are carried out on human tissue.

Yet thousands of animals suffer in laboratories around the world, suffering from human diseases, covered in dermatitis from product exposure, and other atrocities. These animals never receive names, receive affection, or experience their natural habitats.

Do Animals Have Legal Rights?

As mentioned above, animals do have some legal rights. However, don't confuse legal rights with animal rights because they're not the same thing.

Animals are considered property. If you steal a dog from your neighbor, it's no different from stealing his television or car. If someone's dog attacks your dog, you can sue for the vet bills you incurred as a result of the injuries, but not for the pain and misery your poor pet experienced from the attack.

Most of the legal rights given to animals involve humans, such as in the case of the pet attacked by someone else's pet. Other laws prohibit abusing or neglecting animals, but even those are murky and uneven.

You can shoot a hog on your property, but you can't shoot your pet cat. You can shoot a whitetail deer during certain months of the year, but not during others.

Furthermore, the laws the USDA sets forth for treatment of animals at factory farming facilities are woefully inadequate and still leave thousands of animals living in abject misery for their entire - and often very short - lives.

What Does It Mean to Be an Animal Rights Activist?

If you want to be an animal rights activist, you don't need a license or certification. Start campaigning for animal rights in whatever way seems most appropriate for you. Join animal rights groups, participate in tough conversations, and confront animal cruelty whenever you see it.

Animal rights activists believe that animals deserve the same consideration as humans. In other words, their livelihood should be considered when we make decisions about the world and how we make our way in it.

If we're building a new housing development, for instance, how can we best avoid disrupting the natural wildlife there? When we're deciding what we eat, how can we make choices that don't cause animals to suffer?

We can wear synthetic fabrics instead of fur, eat whole fruits and vegetables instead of meat and eggs, buy products that have not been tested on animals, and educate the people in our lives about animals' plights.

Which Animal Rights Are the Most Abused?

Certain animals experience more cruelty at the hands of humans than others.

Fish are the most "harvested" animal in the world, while chickens are the most harvested land animal . The most abused animals tend to be dogs, cats, and horses, and livestock .

It's interesting that many animal rights cases of abuse go along with human abuses, as well. For instance, drug trafficking and manslaughter often go hand-in-hand with cock and dog fighting. Meanwhile, domestic violence is correlated heavily with animal abuse.

Someone who is willing to abuse an animal likely won't feel much compunction about abusing a fellow human. People who possess that innate level of cruelty can commit more than one type of crime.

Numerous investigations into factory farms have revealed abuses ranging from beating and kicking animals to using clubs and other weapons on them. These animals are often denied food and water as well as fresh air.

How Do Animal Rights Differ Between Countries?

The animal rights movement isn't much different from one country to the next. People who campaign for animal rights all want the same thing: fair and humane treatment for animals all over the world.

The United Kingdom, Austria, and New Zealand consistently rank highest on the World Animal Protection Index. Iran and Belarus rank the lowest. Brazil is the only Western country to rate a C, while the United States, Canada, and Mexico each rate Ds.

The indicators include factors like recognizing animal sentience, protecting farmed animals, protecting captive animals, and protecting companion animals. As a species, humanity isn't doing very well in our quest to support our nonhuman animal friends.

However, that could change. By campaigning for better legislation, raising awareness about animal rights, and doing our best to avoid consuming any animal by-product, we can make animals' lives better one creature at a time.

What Are the Most Important Principles of the Animal Rights Movement?

Now that we've covered some of the facts about animal rights and how we're trying to move the needle forward, let's look at some of the specific tenets of the animal rights movement and how they're implemented.

Animals Shouldn't Suffer for Human Benefit

Perhaps the most important part of the animal rights movement is the push toward protecting animals from human predation. In other words, we want all animals to be free of suffering and death for human benefit, whether they're slaughtered for food or used as test animals in laboratories.

No animal should be caged, beaten, stripped of its dignity, or killed just so a human being can have what he or she wants for dinner. It's unconscionable, especially given how these animals are treated while they're still alive.

There's no reason for humans to consume meat. Vegans get more than enough plant-based protein, for instance, from other sources. Additionally, we have access to supplements if we need extra iron or B12 in our diets.

The animal rights movement asserts that animals shouldn't be abused or neglected. Companion animals are bred to live in harmony with their human counterparts, but they deserve to live unencumbered by human failures. When people have pets, they're morally obligated to provide what that animal can't obtain on its own, from food and water to veterinary care.

There's No Need to Consume Meat or Animal By-products

Vegans do not eat honey, eggs, or dairy. They don't wear leather or fur or wool, or use products tested on animals.

Some of these values might seem unnecessary. For instance, shearing a sheep doesn't kill the animal. However, it deprives that animal of its biologically defined protections against the environment. If sheep didn't need their wool, they wouldn't have it.

make sure that their lifestyles don't infringe on nonhuman animals.

Animals Need Protection From Human Predators

The animal rights movement concerns itself with protecting wildlife. From hunting and poaching to disrupting natural habitats, humans have a lousy track record when it comes to putting our own needs and desires above animal welfare.

If you can see your beloved pet dog in the eyes of every animal on the planet, you'll better understand why animal rights are so important. Most animal species care for their young, form social relationships with one another, and provide environmental benefits in their natural habitats.

Many animals, for instance, eat insects. Without them, we would become overwhelmed by pests that put human lives in danger by carrying diseases and make existing outdoors almost unbearable.

Some might say that hunting helps control populations of certain animals. However, the animal kingdom does a good job of that on its own. Overpopulation occurs as a result of reduced natural habitats - a human construction.

Furthermore, we've commercialized animal cruelty through factory farming and similar exploits. We're not just taking animals from their natural habitats, but breeding them en-masse for the sole purpose of slaughtering them later.

That's anathema to the animal rights movement.

Animal Abuse Statistics

How Can I Help Animal Rights?

If you're interested in helping the animal rights movement succeed, there are several things you can do to help further the cause. The more people who dedicate themselves to animal rights, the safer animals will become.

Stop Eating Meat

One of the most important things you can do is to stop eating meat and animal by-products. Commit yourself to a vegan or vegetarian diet.

Stop eating dairy and eggs, as well. Factory farmed animals endure longer lifespans when they're farmed for their by-products, which means even more suffering. Many of these animals die from exhaustion or are slaughtered because they're too weak to stand up after giving milk or eggs on continuous loops.

Rescue Animals From Shelters

There's nothing wrong with wanting a companion animal if you're able to care for it, especially given the overpopulation of dogs and cats in animal shelters. But don't buy a companion animal from a store or breeder. Instead, rescue one from the aforementioned shelters.

These animals are just as lovable and kind as those bred for sale - and often more so because they know what it's like to live without a family. They need nurturing, love, companionship, play, and exercise.

Maybe your lifestyle isn't conducive to having a pet in your home. There's nothing wrong with that. Consider taking one Saturday a month to walk dogs at the local shelter. Giving these animals some fresh air and companionship, even if just for a few hours, will improve their quality of life immensely.

Don't Use Products That Are Tested on Animals

Animal testing is a heinous practice that leaves animals in pain and agony for much of their lives. Imagine enduring endless rounds of product applications on your bare skin, in your eyes, and elsewhere. It's a tremendously miserable way to live.

Fortunately, many companies have gone animal-friendly, which means that they no longer test their products on animals. You can seek out these products instead of your defaults to improve the lives of laboratory animals.

Many people underestimate the value of their contribution to this worthy cause. No, you won't single-handedly take down corporations that victimize animals, but you'll show these companies that they can't have your hard-earned dollars because you don't agree with their practices. When enough people take this approach, the companies won't be able to survive.

Avoid Participating in Events Where Animals Are Used for Entertainment

This is somewhat of a gray area. Some animal events, such as canine agility and equine dressage, result from mutually respectful relationships between human and nonhuman animal. The animals aren't forced to perform; they enjoy it as much as their humans do.

However, that isn't the case across the board. Horses, for instance, are subject to animal abuse and cruelty in many equestrian events. They are beaten over fences, trained in chains to strengthen their muscles, or relieved of the bottoms of their hooves so their nerve endings are exposed.

Similarly, circuses and aquatic animal venues often beat their animals into submission and keep them in captivity where they're unable to thrive. Do your research. Before you attend an event in which animals are used for entertainment, find out how they are treated and whether the event is in the animal's best interest.

Educate Others About Animal Rights

You can become a one-person bullhorn for animal rights. Protest animal cruelty whenever you get the opportunity. If a friend asks why you don't eat meat, explain. Share animal welfare stories on social media, write your legislators, and keep up with animal news.

The more you know about animal rights, the more you can amplify the stories of people who are fighting for animal welfare. These days, everyone has a platform waiting for them. Use it to further the animal rights movement in whatever way you can.

Don't become a nuisance to your family and friends. Preaching endlessly about animal rights will only cause people to ignore you. Instead, take the opportunities as they come. Let others let you know when they're ready to hear your perspective on animal rights.

Conclusion

When animals are considered property under the law, there is no limit to the ways in which humans can exploit them. We need to change how we view animal rights and how those rights are handed over to our animal friends.

It starts with awareness and education. If you're willing to live your values, tell others about them, and spread others' stories about animal rights, you can make a real difference.
What are you doing to help further animal rights in your corner of the world?

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Animal Rights: Ending the Human Use and Exploitation of Animals

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When animals are considered property under the law, there is no limit to the ways in which humans can exploit them. We need to change how we view animal rights and how those rights are handed over to our animal friends.

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Why Are Animal Rights Important? | Moby Answers

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Why Are Animal Rights Important? | Moby Answers

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Why Are Animal Rights Important? | Moby Answers

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Running Head: NEWS STORY INVESTIGATION-ANIMAL RIGHTS ON TRIAL Final Draft

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Running Head: NEWS STORY INVESTIGATION-ANIMAL RIGHTS ON TRIAL Final Draft

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Here is my investigation of the event I chose to analyze.

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Running Head  NEWS STORY INVESTIGATION ANIMAL RIGHTS ON TRIAL John Carney Final

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References

Linder, D. (2013). The Case AGAINST Animal Personhood. Famous Trials. Retrieved September 7, 2022, from https://famous-trials.com/animalrights/2595-the-case-against-animal-personhood (Original work published 1995)

Kim, H. (2022, March 24). Animal Rights: Why Is It Important and What Are Some Examples? Sentient Media. Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://sentientmedia.org/animal-rights/

Linder, D. (2013). Animal Rights on Trial: An Account. Famous Trials. Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://famous-trials.com/animalrights/2592-animal-rights-on-trial-an-account

Birch, J. (2019, December 24). The place of animals in Kantian ethics. SpringerLink. Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-019-9712-0?error=cookies_not_supported&code=a87bbbed-ea43-42e4-9446-ebab753dddfc

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Rights for animals