Animal Rights

[Susan9608]

The Case for Animal Rights

Why talk about animal rights on a guinea pig forum? The answer is simply – the same principles that we apply here to guinea pigs, that is the fact that we are anti-breeding, anti-showing, pro-rescue, committed to quality care, etc. we apply to *all* animals, and those principles make up the basis of animal rights.

“Animal rights” is a very broad term used to describe a complex issue. Many people don’t understand what animal rights means, and associate the term with Nazis, fanatical terrorists, or doped up hippies. So we’re talking about animal rights now to help dispel those perceptions and get people thinking about what animal rights really means. Here’s the low down.

What do you mean by animal rights?
While the animal rights cause is complex and multifaceted, it can be defined rather simply. People who support animal rights believe that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for any other purpose. Every animal is entitled to consideration for its best interests.

So what? They’re just animals – who cares? A great many people care. The animal rights movement is gaining in popularity, members, and financial backers. Vegetarianism is on the rise. And why care about animals? Because human beings *are* animals; we’re mammals. And animals, including humans, are sentient beings who feel pain and experience fear.

Yeah, but there are suffering people, too. Why don’t you care about them?
Who says we don’t? The animal rights movement is not one of exclusion; you don’t have to care about animals at the expense of people. Helping animals is no more, but no less important than helping people.

Didn’t the Bible say that God gives us dominion over animals?
This is a religion-free forum, so what God and/or the bible say is irrelevant in this discussion. Dominion, however, is not synonymous with tyranny. Kings and queens may have dominion over their subjects, but that doesn’t give the king or queen the right to maim, torture, kill, and eat their subjects.

Animal rights activists are crazy people that do things like blow up buildings.
The animal rights movement, as a whole, is a very peaceful movement, which prefers to use education and evidence to further its cause. In any large movement, however, there are always factions that endorse the use of violence. Contrary to popular belief, though, there have not been any animal rights movement related deaths or injuries. The animal rights activists are the ones who have been hurt or killed. A few examples are Dian Fossey, Chico Mendez, and George Adamson.

So what about eating meat? We’re designed to eat it.
Whether or not human beings are designed to eat meat has been hotly debated. A typical carnivore has long, curved claws, large, pointed teeth, and a short digestive tract. Human beings have flat, flexible nails, small canine teeth, and a long digestive tract, which is a system much more conducive to biting into and digesting fruits and vegetables. But whether or not we were designed to eat meat is a moot point because we don’t *have* to eat meat to survive.

What do you mean, you don’t have to eat meat? How else do you get protein?
You don’t have to eat meat to survive; just ask any vegetarian. Most Americans get too much protein, actually, which can lead to diseases such as osteoporosis and kidney failure. You can find protein in a variety of sources – whole wheat bread, oatmeal, mushrooms, beans, corn, and peas, for example. Unless a vegetarian only eats junk food, the prospect of getting too little protein is unlikely. And the health benefits are tremendous. Both the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the ADA (American Diabetic Association) have endorsed vegetarianism has a very healthy choice. Vegetarians have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and high blood pressure. When you pass on meat, you save more than the animals’ lives – you may save your own.

Oh please, farm animals aren’t treated badly. If they were, they wouldn’t make good food.
Yes, farm animals live the high life, crammed into their tiny environments, stripped away from their family members, deprived of anything resembling a natural life. Factory farm animals don’t lay more eggs, produce more milk, and gain more weight (hence producing more meat) because of humane treatment; they do those things due to genetic manipulation, the routine administration of medications such as antibiotics, hormones in their feed (including DES, a known cancer causing agent), and environmental manipulation (such as the forced molting of chickens by artificially altering the lights). It would be a great life, if it weren’t so horrific.

But if you don’t eat meat, then you have to eat plants, and plants have feelings too!
There is absolutely no evidence to suggest this. Plants have no central nervous system, nerves, or brains, which means they have no capacity to feel pain. Unlike animals, plants can have “body parts” ripped off which then grow back, thus a plant can be harvested many times before it dies. If you care about plants from an environmental stand point, then you should consider a vegetarian diet. Most of the grains and legumes grown go to feed cattle. The less demand there is for meat, the less plants and environmental damage will be needed.

But Hitler was a vegetarian.
Actually he wasn’t. He embraced vegetarianism at times to relieve symptoms like excessive gas, but he wasn’t a vegetarian. He wasn’t even much of an animal rights activist. During his Nazi regime, an anti-vivisection bill was proposed, but never passed. Animal experiments and human experiments were conducted simultaneously at various concentration camps. But, the merit of an idea can’t be determined by the character of its proponents. And there are plenty of “good” vegetarians out there – The Dalai Lama, Joaquin Phoenix, and Moby, to name a few.

If animal abuse was so bad, it would be illegal. And there are laws to protect animals.
Legality is not a guarantee of morality. Just think of all the things that used to be legal in this country – slavery, child labor, the oppression of women. These things are currently illegal because laws change as public opinion changes. But the ethics are not arbitrary. And there aren’t a many laws to protect animals as you might think. Farm animals are exempt from most protections afforded animals under the law. The Animal Welfare Act protects lab animals, but it excludes birds, rats, and mice. It also looks into housekeeping things like cage size and cleanliness, not the actual treatment of lab animals.

But animals are just animals; they aren’t intelligent.
Intelligence doesn’t allow one person to abuse another person. A MENSA member is not allowed to punch an individual with Down’s syndrome just because the MENSA member is more “intelligent.” Animals are “just animals”, but they feel pain and experience fear just like you do.

So where do you draw the line? How do you decide which animal deserves your care and compassion and which deserves to end up on your plate tonight at dinner? That’s an individual call, of course, but keep in mind that just because you can’t end all suffering doesn’t mean that you can’t end any. The fact that you are here, looking to better the care for your guinea pig, is one of the first steps towards a more peaceful, more accepting, and more loving existence.