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Animal Rights And The Rights Movement Essay

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Is the human race ready to sacrifice lives in order to protect the welfare of animals? Is the human race ready to justify trading human lives for animal lives? Even though we should make every effort ensure that animals are not wantonly harmed in research, animals certainly do not have the same rights as humans do. Many animal rights activists condemn research on animals, citing that it is inhumane. But prohibiting research on animals would be even more inhumane. Research on animals has eradicated many diseases and saved the lives of millions, and discontinuing doing so will generate disastrous consequences. Because of extremely advantageous health advancements that have benefited, and will continue to benefit, the lives of human beings, research on animals should continue to be allowed.
In 1877, the American Human Society was founded in order to improve the lives of human beings, but it expanded to include advocating for humane treatment of animals (Yount 42). Animal rights movement gained momentum during the 1960s, when a widespread mistreatment of animals in labs was uncovered (Yount 47). In response to wide public discontent, Congress passed the first animal welfare law – the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act in 1966 (Yount 42). The act itself did little to help the animals that were being mistreated in labs, but it did establish a frontier for the animal rights movement. The act had little practical applications, because it did not cover rats, mice, and birds, which

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