Animals Equal With Humans: Should Animal Have Equal Rights

As we know, all lives are equal. In the process of evolution, human beings have achieved more than any other species. However, the situation of animals is getting worse and worse because of human beings. People gradually emphasize human rights, but also began to realize that animals should have their own rights. What kind of rights do animals need? Should animals have the same right like humans?

‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ has a fairly complete interpretation of human rights, it tells us that All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights., without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law and so on. Human rights are protected well because We care about these rights. But animals also care their lives, because they don't speak the language, it's easy to ignore their feelings. Nowadays, most animals don’t have the right to choose what to do or where to live. To human, creatures like pigs, cows, chicken, fish and other species are born as human food. The documentary: Slaughterhouse. What the meat industry hides, taken by Aitor Garmendia showed us the tragedy at animal slaughterhouses. As we know slaughterhouses are the places which ‘turns’ land animals to meat. In the five freedoms, the commission summarized the current standards of animal welfare affecting legislation around the world: animals should be free from hunger, thirst, restlessness, pain, injury and disease, fear and pain, and they must be able to perform normal activities. Although these slaughterhouses have high quality equipment and use seemingly humane methods of delirium, their countries also have sound legal systems. Slaughterhouses are real factories of death and are one of the largest and most systematic forms of violence against animals. The meat industry, aware of the growing concern about animal treatment and the need to whitewash its increasingly ugly image, deceives us into believing that animals in slaughterhouses are now treated humanely, but this is a complete lie. In fact, for land animals, there is no 'well-being' this is the premise. By means of electric shock, shock and so on, rapid brain death, and then keep alive with a heartbeat, bleeding, this is considered humane slaughter. The real goal is to prevent animals from struggling during slaughter, which can affect the quality of the meat. Excessive struggling can lead to anaerobic muscle movement, and the lactic acid accumulation caused by anaerobic exercise can affect the final quality of the meat. It's not about comfort.

Analysis of causes and consequences

Actually, animals also have different ‘levels’. This kind of animal level It's not like hierarchy in nature, it’s the level that makes people pay attention. Pets like cats and dogs, which live with humans have the highest level, most people find it difficult to accept that cats and dogs were tortured. Animals like cows, pigs, chicken which raised by human have the lower level, so the events that happens at Animal slaughterhouse may cause the attention of a few people and take seriously. That means people only care about the rights of animals concerned with them, animals like sharks is a good example, people kill sharks for their skin and fins. In fact, there are not many people raise sharks in the world. So animals like sharks and lions which people don‘t raise have the lowest level. That means most animals can’t inspire compassion. It causes why animals needs rights as human: they need the right to choose how to alive.

Relevant well thought out and successful comparisons between causes and consequences. As mentioned above, people will feel uncomfortable with cruelty to cats, dogs, and poultry. After searching nearly 30 animal organizations, I found that people are more protective of mammals than of any other species. Most animal organizations committed to protect animals like cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, and other mammals.

Some of the organizations focus on protecting birds. Only a few organizations pay attentions to protect creatures in the ocean, and these organizations are both the biggest animal organizations in the world (world wide fund for nature, Oceana, etc.) Maybe trying to protect sea animals pay more than the one on the land. We can find that these organizations are trying to help animals out of trouble. Japan is a big country, it has its own culture, but some of its culture has condemned by many animal organizations. A Japanese culture is eating sashimi, especially the one made of dolphin’s meat some of them will made of whale meat. There is a documentary called ‘The Cove’.(taken by Louie Psihoyos) This movie showed the world How did the Japanese kill the dolphins in cold blood. The town of taiji became the birthplace of Japan's traditional whaling method when fishermen in the town of taiji invented spear-hunting during the Edo period in the early 17th century. In modern times, whaling is an important source of income for the local people. Commercial whaling was banned by the international whaling commission in 1986, but a year later 'research whaling' is still happening and the number of dolphins and porpoises killed in Japan has tripled. On average, 23,000 dolphins are legally rounded up and killed by Japan every year. In the small town of taiji alone, more than 1,500 dolphins must be 'handled'. There are about 80 aquariums in Japan, nearly half of which house whales. Dolphins caught in captivity usually die within two years. And the dolphin that loses an election, became civilian dish Chinese meal. When 5,000 tons of dolphin meat appeared on the market in Japan, most ordinary citizens would never think that they had eaten dolphin meat because the package said it was ‘whale meat’. Because of the external voice are getting louder, the Japanese government have no choice but to pay lots of money to continue catching dolphins and whales for ‘scientific research’.

Perspectives

Though there are only a handful of federal animal protection laws, in 1873,The‘28 hours law’ was enacted. It was the earliest law to focus on animals felling, it requires vehicles transporting certain animals for slaughter to stop every 28 hours to allow the animals exercise, food and water.’Humane Methods of Slaughter Act was first passed in 1958, then amended in 1978. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act requires that animals be stunned into unconsciousness before slaughter, to minimize pain. Though chickens, turkeys and other birds feel pain just like other animals, they are not protected by this law. In 1966,the primary federal animal protection law-‘The Animal Welfare Law’(AWA) signed into law. The AWA mainly involves animals kept at zoos and used in laboratories, as well as animals who are commercially bred and sold like those in puppy mills. The AWA directs the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture to set minimum standards regarding these animals“handling, care, treatment, and transportation.” Dog fighting and cockfighting are also prohibited under the Animal Welfare Act, so long as the activity in some way crosses state lines. AWA protect the minimum standard for animal survival, but because of the low enforcement rigor, and AFA only support the lowest living standard, The AFA itself frequently criticized for allowing inhumane practices to go unchecked. The United States has all above animal protection laws, law enforcement on animal protection is also strict. In 2017, three Florida teenagers were charged with animal cruelty for their torture of a shark. They dragging a shark at a “high speed” through the water — prompting outcries of “animal lynching” from some activists — were charged with felony counts. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission news release said 21-year-old Michael Wenzel and 23-year-old Spencer Heintz of Palmetto, along with 28-year-old Robert Lee Benac of Bradenton, each face two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty. China also has a fairly strict law enforcement system for protecting animals，The pangolin is a protected animal in China and is endangered. A Chinese man Lin Jin-bao has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for smuggling 48kg of pangolin scales into Hong Kong, in what is believed to be city’s first case since the scaly mammal was upgraded to the highest global level of animal protection. Lin Jin-bao, 44, from Fujian province, was found guilty of trafficking the scales, said to be worth HK$189,000 (US$24,089), which were found wrapped in aluminium foil in his luggage.

Conclusion

Through the research, I found that animals really need some rights like human, although people have made some laws to protect animals, animals are still not well protected. When I search the information, it is easy to find information about human rights, but there is very little information on animal rights, it also proves that not many people care about animals, they only care about themselves.. Animals need certain right to choose how they should live, rather than being at the mercy of human beings. Now we should publicize the protection of animals, not only for cats and dogs. Only when everyone strictly abides by the laws on animal protection and has the consciousness to protect animals, the situation of animals will improve.