ASSIGNMENT REPORT course introductory ethics topic animal rights

Animals have been abused cruelty Throughout history, animal rights has been a subject of concern and debate.. Some advocate for not using animals as food, clothing or other goods andothe

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY ADVANCED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

Nguyen Mai Anh Nguyen Phuong Linh Tran Quang Duy

Du Trang Linh

HANOI - 2020

https://arconference.org/what-is-animal-rights

https://www.friendsofanimals.org/program/what-is-meant-by-animal-rights/https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/animal-rights

https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/animal-rights-quotes/#ixzz6GkFXOcKHhttp://www.esdaw.eu/unesco.html

https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Animal-Rights

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-animal-rights-127600

TABLES OF CONTENTS

I INTRODUCTION

II THE CONCEPT’S OF ANIMAL TIGHTS

III THE ETHICAL VIEW ABOUT ANIMAL RIGHTS

IV ADVANTAGES OF ANIMAL RIGHTS

V DISADVANTAGES OF ANIMAL RIGHTS

VI IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORTING ANIMAL RIGHTS VII CONCLUSION

1 Animals have been abused cruelty

Throughout history, animal rights has been a subject of concern and debate The concern

in Biblical times is expressed in Proverbs 12:10: "A righteous man regardeth the life ofhis beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), was a forerunner in the use of the expression

"animal rights": "I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights That is the way

of a whole human being."

A foremost spokesperson in modern times, Dr Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) held that

"the thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition

or surrounded by a halo We need a boundless ethic which will include the animals also."The rights that both human and non-human animals have are determined by the society inwhich they live In a democratic society, it is the public that ultimately decides whichrights will be given to non-human animals Today, our society has given them very fewrights As a result, animals are subjected to an incredible array of abuses Concernedcitizens and legislators trying to change the situation propose these legal rights beextended to animals that are used or killed for human benefit Following are somehighlight examples of animal abused

First of all, in some cases, animals are abused as a pet Some owner may ignore theexistence of their pet and let bad things happen to them Sometimes, iintentional abusegoes even further Rather than ignore an animal and leave it to suffer, these peoplecommit deliberate acts of cruelty that may include physically abusing, maiming, torturing

or killing an animal Not only do the animals need to be removed from the home, butthese people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law There are too manylinks between people who commit heinous crimes against animals and people who go on

to commit crimes against people to allow these crimes to go unpunished

As for hoarding, this is often seen as the symptom of a mental health issue While theanimals need to be removed from the home for their care and well-being and the hoarderperhaps even forbidden to house animals again, the hoarder needs mental health help aswell Sadly, hoarders, if left unattended and untreated, will often repeat their hoardingbehavior again, if not many times, over their lifetime.

Animals as entertainment is a second example of animal cruelty The world is constantlytrying to invent and find new forms of entertainment, people often find pleasure inwatching animals When thinking about how animals are used in the entertainmentindustry, it seems that in most cases they are being mistreated

These animals may be whipped or beat to get them to perform a trick They may also bestressed by the constant traveling and the noise or camera flashes from the audience Someanimals in rodeos may be sent straight to the slaughterhouse after a performance Otherthings such as animal racing or fights may age an animal quickly and cause myriad healthdefects and injuries

What might seem cute or amusing to us is a terrifying reality for them They are poked,prodded, tied, starved, drugged, and kept in small enclosures just so “animal lovers” cansee them up close or watch them perform tricks Humans watch in amazement fromoutside the cage or arena while wild animals are trapped within, forced to perform Theseanimals are stripped of their freedoms and natural behaviors for our entertainment Mosttrained acts involving predatory animals thrived (and often still do) off of the potential fordanger Trainers would include whips and chairs in their act for dramatic effect In order

to perform these thrilling acts, trainers would first gain dominance over the animal behindthe scenes The most popular ways to “gain dominance” are by beating, starving,whipping, or even pulling an animal’s teeth to reduce the likeliness of injury to thetrainer Once television and motion pictures were introduced to the world, animals werepushed into the spotlight in a different way Countless movies have faced animal abusecharges These include The Hobbit or even Pirates of the Caribbean, etc

Animal testing is another example of animal cruelty These animals can be killed orpermanantly maimed through testing These includes monkey, rabbit, dogs, mice, Lawsand regulatory agencies worldwide currently require that medicines are tested on animalsbefore clinical trials on humans Millions of animals are used in these cruel tests worldwideevery year Approximately 202,000 animals were used in 2018 in Britain alone This is ontop of the millions of animals used in more basic medical research.

Rabbits are the most commonly used for toxicity and safety testing of substances such asdrugs, chemicals and medical devices They are used in skin and eye irritation studies,such as the archaic and painful Draize tests for cosmetics, personal care, householdproducts and other chemicals This controversial use of rabbits resulted in some of thefirst large-scale protests against animal experimentation in the 1970s and 1980s andpushed the scientific community to search for in vitro alternatives A number of rabbitmodels have been developed to study human diseases, the most common beingcardiovascular disease, cancer and AIDS They have also been used as bioreactors for theproduction of pharmaceutical proteins

Rabbits or any other kind of animals used in research who are suffering from pain anddistress may display a number of signs including lack of appetite, weight loss, self-mutilation, aggression, tremoring and/or vocalization The oversight on scientistsengaged in animal testing is imperfect Animals are starved, burned, blinded and gothrough painful procedures without an aesthetics

It goes without saying that animal rights can only be defended by sensible, caring people

We have to do much more to protest the unnecessary suffering of innocent creatures

2 Activist argues for animals rights.

Advocacy groups and humanitarians alike have long argued for the rights of animalsaround the world, fighting for their right as sentient creatures to a life free of torture and

suffering Some advocate for not using animals as food, clothing or other goods andothers such as vegans even go as far as to denounce the use of animal by-products.

The animal welfare view, which is distinguishable from the animal rights view, is thathumans can use and exploit animals as long as the animals are treated humanely and theuse is not too frivolous To animal rights activists, the main problem with this view is thathumans do not have the right to use and exploit animals, no matter how well the animalsare treated Buying, selling, breeding, confining, and killing animals infringe on theanimals' rights, no matter how "humanely" they are treated

Furthermore, the idea of treating animals humanely is vague and means somethingdifferent to everyone For instance, an egg farmer may think that there is nothing wrongwith killing male chicks by grinding them up alive to cut feeding costs versus yield Also,

"free eggs" are not as humane as the industry would have us believe In fact, a free egg operation buys their eggs from the same hatcheries that factory farms buy from,and those hatcheries kill the male chicks as well

cage-The idea of "humane" meat also seems absurd to animal rights activists, since the animalsmust be killed to obtain the meat And for farms to be profitable, those animals are killed

as soon as they reach slaughter weight, which is still very young

Animal rights activism is based on the idea that animals are sentient and that speciesism

is wrong, the former of which is scientifically backed — an international panel ofneuroscientists declared in 2012 that non-human animals have consciousness — and thelatter is still hotly contested among humanitarians

Animal rights activists argue that because animals are sentient, the only reason humansare treated differently is speciesism, which is an arbitrary distinction based on theincorrect belief that humans are the only species deserving of moral consideration.Speciesism, like racism and sexism, is wrong because of animals popular in the meat

industry like cows, pigs and chickens suffer when confined, tortured and slaughtered andthere is no reason to morally distinguish between humans and non-human animals.

The reason that people have rights is to prevent unjust suffering Similarly, the reasonthat animal rights activists want animals to have rights is to prevent them from sufferingunjustly We have animal cruelty statutes to prevent some animal suffering, although lawprohibits only the most egregious, extraordinary animal cruelty These laws do nothing toprevent most forms of animal exploitation, including fur, veal, and foie gras

II THE CONCEPT’S OF ANIMAL TIGHTS

1 Definitions of animal’s right

As animals’ right is a concept that is gaining more and more attention in today’s life Asthe animal’s right activists and organizations are developing, the definition for animals’right also become vary Each famous dictionaries and animal organizations definesanimals’ right quite differently, but these definitions still share the same main ideas

Both Oxford dictionary and Cambridge dictionary give the same definition for

animal’s right which is “the rights of animals to be treated well, for example by not

being used for testing drugs or by not being hunted.”

The Animal Rights National Conference, the world's largest and longest-running animal rights gathering which found in the U.S., is dedicated to the vision that animals have the

right to be free from all forms of human exploitation, including meat, milk, eggs, animal

experimentation, fur, hunting, zoos and circuses The American DieteticAssociation claims that people can be perfectly healthy as vegans People would also saythat scientific experimentation on animal, with no immediate application to humanhealth, is unnecessary because the suffering of the animals outweighs the satisfaction ofhuman curiosity Therefore, “all of these uses of animals are frivolous.”

In the book A Vegan Ethic by Mark Hawthorne, the author expressed his idea about animal’s

right as follows: “Animal rights can be viewed in two ways The first is animal rights as a social

movement to protect animals from exploitation and abuse The second is the idea that animals have the right to be treated with respect as individuals with inherent value Every animal is

someone, not something, and they have the right to live free from humans’ inflicting pain andsuffering on them We should grant nonhuman animals the right to not be treated as objects—thesame right we grant humans, at least in principle.”

According to Friends of Animals (FoA), a non-profit international animal advocacy

organization, ‘The crux of the idea known as animal rights is a movement to extend moral consideration to all conscious beings Every conscious being has interests that

should be respected No being who is conscious of being alive should be used as aresource or a commodity No being should have to be useful to humanity or capable ofaccepting “duties” in order to be extended moral consideration Indeed, what otheranimals need from us is being free from duties to us.’

2 The universal document that approve of animal’s right:

UNESCO - Universal Declaration of Animal Rights 17-10-1978

Considering that Life is one, all living beings having a common origin and havingdiversified in the course of the evolution of the species, -

Considering that all living beings possess natural rights, and that any animal with anervous system has specific rights,

Considering that the contempt for, and even the simple ignorance of, these natural rights,cause serious damage to Nature and lead men to commit crimes against animals,

Considering that the coexistence of species implies a recognition by the human species ofthe right of other animal species to live,

Considering that the respect of animals by humans is inseparable from the respect of menfor each other,

It is hereby proclaimed that:

Article 1: All animals have equal rights to exist within the context of biological

equilibrium This equality of rights does not overshadow the diversity of species and of individuals

Article 2: All animal life has the right to be respected.

Article 3:

1°- Animals must not be subjected to bad treatments or to cruel acts

2°- If it is necessary to kill an animal, it must be instantaneous, painless and cause no apprehension

3°- A dead animal must be treated with decency

4°- Exhibitions, shows and films involving animals must also respect their dignity and must not include any violence whatsoever.

Article 6:

1°- Experiments on animals entailing physical or psychological suffering violate the rights of animals

2°-Replacement methods must be developed and systematically implemented

Article 7: Any act unnecessary involving the death of an animal, and any decision

leading to such an act, constitute a crime against life

Article 8:

1°- Any act compromising the survival of a wild species and any decision leading to such

an act are tantamount to genocide, that is to say, a crime against the species

2°- The massacre of wild animals, and the pollution and destruction of biotopes are acts

Article 10: Educational and schooling authorities must ensure that citizens learn from

childhood to observe, understand and respect animals

The Universal Declaration of Animal Rights was solemnly proclaimed in Paris on 15 October 1978 at the UNESCO headquarters

The text, revised by the International League of Animal Rights in 1989, was submitted to the UNESCO Director General in 1990 and made public that same year.

3 Confusions

The concept of animals’ right sometimes cause misunderstandings There is a great deal

of confusion about the details and inference of “animals’ right” The article “What AreAnimal Rights?” on Thoughtco.com, the World’s largest education resource, raises somequestions about extends of animals’ rights’ meaning

3.1 Should Animal have The Same Rights as Humans?

There is a common misconception that animal rights activists want nonhuman animals tohave the same rights as people The issue is not whether animals should have the samerights as people, but whether we have a right to use and exploit them for our purposes,however, frivolous they might be

3.2 Animal Rights vs Animal Welfare

Animals’ right is different from animal welfare The term "animal rights" is the belief thathumans do not have a right to use animals for our own purposes "Animal welfare" is thebelief that humans do have a right to use animals as long as the animals are treatedhumanely "Animal welfare" may also be used describe the specialist view that certainanimals such as dogs, cats, or horses, are more deserving of protection than others (likefish, chickens or cows) In conclusion, animal rights are more absolute than animalwelfare

4 Famous quotes about animal’s right

I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.

Leonardo da Vinci

I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights That is the way of a whole human being.

Abraham Lincoln

One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable We shall then have discovered our souls and become

worthier of sharing this planet with them.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its

animals are treated

Mahatma Gandhi

As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.

Leo Tolstoy

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to

embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty

beings are arranged hierarchically according to their complexity and perfection, withhumans occupied the highest position; and the lower forms of life’s existence are tosatisfy the needs of the higher forms in the chain These two contrast views became themain premises for the debating about animal’s right throughout the history.

2 Modern ethical views

3.3 Objectivism, Relativism and Emotivism

Objectivism is the doctrine that some moral norms or principles are universal, which

means those norms valid for everyone, regardless of the differences among cultures orself-interests Animal’s right is now strongly supported from people in the society It alsogained the recognition of the UNESCO, a department of the United Nations, which isproved by the above Declaration of Animal Rights Lots of environmental organizationswere established to act for animal rights such as WWF, Friends of Animals From thesefacts, we can conclude that the universal view today is that animal rights should berespected all over the world Thus, the Objectivism view suggests that recognizinganimal’s right is a norm that everyone has to agree with

Cultural relativism is the view that an action is morally right if one’s culture approves

of it Moral rightness and wrongness are therefore relative to cultures: in one culture, anaction may be morally right; in another culture, it may be morally wrong The rightness

of animal’s right, therefore, depends on cultures Animal’s right tends to be respectedmore in the countries whose cultures are advanced, while it gains almost noconsiderations in the regions where cultures are still obsolete, such as in Africancountries or India

Subjective relativism is the view that an action is morally right if one approves of it.

Moral rightness and wrongness are relative not to cultures but to individuals According

to this view, there is no universal norm that people ought to respect animal’s right Therightness of animal’s right depends on individual’s self-interest It is right to a person if

that person approves of it Also, it can be right for that person but wrong for someoneelse who does not like the ideas of animal’s right

Emotivism is the view that moral utterances are neither true nor false but are expressions

of emotions or attitudes The implications of this view is that animal’s right is not a moralfacts, and it is not actually good or bad Choosing whether to respect animal’s righttotally depends on people’s emotions and attitudes towards it

3.4 Consequentialist theories

Consequentialist moral theories say that what makes an action right is its consequences.

Specifically, the rightness of an action depends on the amount of good it produces Themorally right action is the one that results in the most favorable balance of good over bad.Thus, according to the Consequentialist, animal rights is right or not depends on itsconsequences We have to analyze the goods and the bad effect that animal’s right bringsabout, and find out if the balance between them is favorable

- Utilitarianism asserts that the morally right action is the one that produces the most

favorable balance of good over evil, everyone considered According to this theory,

we have to consider both good and bad effects to the society if animal’s right isexecuted Then, animal’s right can only be executed as a reasonable level,, so that theoverall benefits of the society still exceeds the bad consequences

 Act utilitarianism says that right actions are those that directly produce the

greatest overall good, everyone considered In this case, we just recognizeanimal’s right if produce the greatest net good, and do not approve of it if theresults is not good for the mankind