We have evolved from being a weak and foolish species that struggled to obtain any type of animal meat, into a species that is now capable of getting meat by simply driving to a nearby grocery store. As the years have passed by humans have assumed the positions as the dominant race on planet Earth. With this authority we are faced with many moral and ethical issues in which we are responsible for discussing with the entire human population. The moral issue we will be focusing on is whether it is our obligation as humans to expand the circle of morality to include nonhumans.
This statement simply asks us to what extent will we allow for animal to have rights, are we obligated to accept nonhuman animals to be on the same level as we are. I myself believe that animals are entitled to basic animals rights that protect them from cruelty. I would say that I am against animal cruelty based on the fact that I believe animals have feelings and are aware of what is going on around them. Since I believe that animals are sentient beings this leads as to why I am also against experimental testing on animals and the mass production of meat in American.
One of the many controversial topics that is debated among many is the question of whether or not animals are sentient. It is my belief that animals are able to experience basic emotions such as joy, happiness, sadness, grief and especially fear. Animals are very intelligent beings that are aware of what in going on around them. Many would argue that if animals are so aware why do they allow for humans to fed them harmful things or take them to terrible places for them to be killed. The answer to that is simple, animals trust us to fed them safe things and take them to safe places.
They are like children, aware yet they do not know all the dangers of trusting everyone. Many people including scientists do not want to admit or declare to the world that animals can perceive emotions and are conscious of the world around them because doing so would arise much dispute surrounding the topic of animal rights. Scientists have conducted over 2,500 studies that help prove that animals experience pain and emotions, though aware that if they are to come out with truth all industries that are involved in the harming of animals would be hurt economically by consumers refusing to purchases products.
I myself believe that animals should have rights in the sense that they are protected for inhumane acts upon them. For animals to have human rights like you and I is naive to even consider, they will alway be a main source of food. Another possibility as to why we have yet to expand the circle of morality to include non humans, would be the human races stubbornness to admit that we are not unique when it comes to our ability mental capacity for complex forms of sentience and consciousness. When it comes to using animals as subjects for experiments like testing cosmetics and medicine, I have to disagree with it.
I understand that animal testing has in the past helped advance our knowledge in medicine, but out of the hundreds of experiments conducted on millions of animals how many have actually been successful? It is my belief that the reaction an animal’s body may have for a particular drug may differ from a human’s reaction making them poor test subjects. Evidence that helps prove my statement would be the incident were in 1999 the FDA had approved of drug used for arthritis by the name of Vioxx, after it had been tested on monkeys and had passed all animal trials.
In 2004 there was a recall for the drug after having found that it doubled the risk of heart attacks and death, along with 38,000 reported deaths caused by the drug. This incident has now come to be known as the worst drug disaster in history. Basing a drug’s safety for humans on whether or not it passes animal trials is not logical nor smart, that is why we also have human trials. Yes, human trials, no matter how many animals are tested on, there will always be the first human to test the safety of the drug before the FDA approves.
During human trials 95% of drugs that were established as safe on animals fail when used on humans. When will scientist and humans finally admit that human bodies are far more complex than animals and that experimenting on them is not helping us anymore. I say not anymore because in the past simple illnesses have been cured by experimental testing. Though as of now we are trying to cure complex illnesses such as cancer, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease the truth is we are just wasting these poor animals lives.
As for the testing done for cosmetic products, is there even an argument for this? It is plain out cruel and unnecessary, it is not helping advance us in any way that is important or beneficial to the survival of the human race. Speaking of the benefits humans have or do not have, leads as to why I believe that the mass production and consumption of meat on a daily basis in American should be examined so that all can take into consideration the effects it is causing to the animals, the health of our people and the environment.
When animals are being slaughtered for mass production of meat in factory farms their treatment towards the animals are horrific. The health of these animals are neglected do to the fact that these factories do not want to spend a lot of money. According to a leading expert in the field of Integrative Medicine, Dr. Frank Lipman claims in 5 Reasons Why You Should NEVER Eat Factory-Farmed Meat (2010) that the food given to the animals during their time on the farm can range from a mixture of “… garbage, stale cookies, poultry manure, chicken feathers, bubble gum, and even restaurant waste.
Not only is there nutritional diet bad, but they are also injected with hormones and antibiotics causing them to be in poor health when they are slaughtered and sold to consumers. When consumers digest this meat they are at risk of contracting diseases and even building up resistance to antibiotics drugs if they consume high amounts of meat. This truly horrifies and disgust me, the fact that the meat industry is fully aware of what they are doing yet they allow for the meat to be sold. Let us not forget that the environment is too being affected negatively by the mass production of animal meat.
When hundred of livestock is packed into a small area you can expect the feces amount to be high, the only way to dispose of it in a cheap manner is by moving it to a nearby area. Overtime the manure will accumulate and begin seeping into the ground, causing water and soil pollution. Even though I consider this mass production as wrong, I will not attempt to argue that the consumption of animal meat should be terminated considering that I myself eat meat and it has been part of almost every human’s diet for years.
I do not believe the consumption of animals will ever disappear entirely, though I do hope that the amount consumed/produced will decrease as we strive towards a better and healthier future. Over the recent years the human race has been evolving into are more intellectually superior race. With this superiority comes the responsibility of taking care of every being on Earth. Although that is not what we are doing, the human race being as selfish as we are have claimed Earth as our own and treated as such.
Though that many be true we must stop treating other living being on this planet as though the Earth does not belong to them as well. We treat animals and the environment like they are resources for us to do as we wish with them, when they to are here on Earth to enjoy it. I believe that once we realise this they world will become a more peaceful place. I suppose that this happening is not going to happen in our lifetime, do to the fact that we are sadly and embarrassingly still have problems understanding human rights and equality for all people.
In conclusion I do believe that animals should be accepted into the circle of morality, mainly because that are indeed sentient yet have not evolved to be capable of expressing it as sufficiently as humans have. We must remember we were once like them, we were caveman capable of only expressing basic emotions and thoughts. As far as the rights they have it can never be on the same level as human rights. Using animals as experimental test subject should be put to an end for the simple reason that it does us not help find cures major diseases or work at all.
We should treat these animals with as much respect and treat them as humanely as possible when on “farms”. Free range livestock is better for the health of animals, for the environment and the health of the nation’s people. Lastly, accepting that Earth does not belong to only us and that we not that different from these animals can help lead the planet into a time of peace and prosperity. And who knows maybe one day extraterrestrials will see that humans are finally ready to know about the existence of new species around the universe, knowing we will be open minded and will treat them with respect.
