Animal Rights

IN THE LATE 17th century, English philosopher John Locke introduced the concept of “natural rights,” arguing that human beings had the right to life, liberty, and property ownership. Since these rights were given by the Creator, no government or individual could take them away. Proponents of animal rights believe that Locke's rights should be extended to nonhumans as well. Decidedly on the left of the political spectrum, they argue that all animals were created not for the use of humans but for themselves.

Advocates of animal welfare may accept the benefit that humans receive from animals, but they demand humane treatment of animals in all circumstances. Animal welfare advocates object strenuously to the practice of “intensive rearing” on factory farms where animals are too closely confined, kept indoors for their short lives, and “doctored” with various antibiotics to keep down possible infections. Over five billion animals are slaughtered each year in the United States alone.

Within the animal rights and animal welfare movements, there are various strains of thought. For instance, some advocates of animal rights object to factory farming but are willing to accept traditional animal agriculture as necessary to the well being of humans. Many animal rights activists, on the other hand, argue with some truth that if people had to kill animals before they could eat them, the incidence of meat eating would drop dramatically. They oppose both hunting and trapping. Other animal rights advocates are opposed to testing cosmetics on animals but see the benefits of using animals in medical research.

At opposite poles are the activists who reject all use of animals for human needs, even disapproving of the extermination of pests such as cockroaches and rats, and those individuals who believe in animal rights as theory but who are unwilling to commit to a particular position on what they mean by the concept.

Some animal rights advocates, known as abolitionists, go so far as to compare the lot of animal to that of slaves, who have been historically oppressed with no hope of freedom.

While animal rights supporters may vary in commitment to the cause, they tend to share certain characteristics. Most of them are white, full-time professionals with high levels of education. They are predominantly female. They are likely to be between 30 and 45 years of age and live in cities and towns rather than in rural areas. Nearly 60 percent of animal rights activists have no children, and about half have never been married. As might be expected, animal rights supporters tend to own animals as pets, sometimes several animals. Approximately 87 percent of those involved in the animal rights movement refuse to eat meat.

Animal rights advocates offer various “proofs” of animal intelligence to show that animals should be leading lives free of human interference. There is some irony in the fact that many of these “proofs” were gathered through medical experimentation. Honeybees, with brains only one-millionth the size of humans’, have been shown to have complex mental abilities. Even though their brains are only the size of walnuts, parrots are capable of learning and understanding human speech. While the memory of elephants has become part of common folklore, these huge mammals are also capable of self-consciousness and have the ability to communicate and even to solve problems. Orangutans have demonstrated humanlike behaviors that include deceitfulness and pretending. Some orangutans have learned thousands of words in sign language. A gorilla scored between 70 and 95 on human-child intelligence tests. The bond between dogs and humans has been documented for hundreds of years, and no dog owner doubts the ability of canines to show emotion and to react to potential danger. Even cats, notoriously independent creatures, have saved the lives of their human owners.

...