Animals Are Not Being Treated Essay

Is it ethical for animals to have the same rights as humans? During this paper I will present the views of both sides. I will try my best to give the reader a chance to come to there own unbiased conclusion. I will talk about the key areas of animal ethics. I will present the facts and reasoning behind the arguments over Animal cruelty, testing, hunting, and improper housing. My conclusion will hopefully bring us closer to answering many of the question surrounding “Animal Rights and Ethics”.

Throughout history, humans have utilized nonhuman animals for the benefit of mankind. This tendency increased as civilization developed, and presently, necessitated by staggering population growth and technological progress, human use of animals has skyrocketed. We eat them, we breed them, we use them as test subjects. Some people have begun to question the ethics of it all, sparking a debate on animal treatment and whether or not they have rights. In a paper on the subject, Carl Cohen lays out his definition of rights, explains their relationship with obligations, and uses these ideas to present the argument that manifests clearly in his piece’s title, “Why Animals Have No Rights”. THESIS

In the article America’s Food Crisis and how to fix it by Bryan Walsh it talks about how people are packing in animals into confined pens with a bunch of other animals of its kind. All the animals are dosed with antibiotics to keep from getting sick. The article explains that the waste that the animals produce on the factory farms gets disposed into open air lagoons and how it can contaminate nearby streams and creeks.

Factory farmed animals are not only poor, but also low quality. Since the animals, pigs for example, are in contact with each other so close, they are sprayed with antibiotics to keep germs from spreading. Those antibiotics are used many, many times, resulting in very low quality meat and are harmful to our human body.

The effects of factory farming is not worth the damage that is done to the health of the environment, animals, and people. The idea of a factory farm is to produce meat at a faster pace, but the way these companies accomplish this task makes life a living hell for the animals. For example, “They’re often given so little space that they can’t even turn around or lie down comfortably. Egg-laying hens are kept in small cages, chickens and pigs are kept in jam-packed sheds, and cows are kept on crowded, filthy feedlots”(Factory). The animals on these farms have to experience constant fear and agony, especially since most factory farmed animals will be genetically manipulated to grow larger or to produce more milk or eggs than they naturally would, and suffer severe pain throughout their entire life(Factory). Animals, especially cows, are being abused not only physically, but mentally as well.. For example, “just within hours of birth, calves are taken away from

Society today is more focused on the fast production of food, they don't take the time to notice what the production of their food is doing to animals.

Even though higher yields are met for demand and human consumption, factory farming is cruel to animals due to the fact animals are often subject to harsh living conditions, more susceptible to diseases and injuries and are treated inhumanely during the slaughtering process. Unfortunately, with an increase in human population worldwide, the strain on farmers to meet the demand increases as well. This in turn causes more animals to be subject to this cruelty.

This book summarizes the excruciating environment factory farm animals live in, as well as the effects eating those animals, and fish, can have on the human body. Freedman and Barnouin point out the way in which factory farm animals are treated: “There are no vast meadows or lush, green pastures,” (44). Chickens and hens are laid on top of one another in wire cages too small for them to even spread their wings inside dark buildings. This “overcrowded, stressful environment” leads to the birds getting their beaks cut off with a hot knife, because if not, the birds will angrily peck at each other (45). Cattle, on the other hand, are kept in stalls that they cannot even lay comfortably or turn around in. They are also branded, creating third-degree burns, and castrated. Even further, their horns are ripped out. Pigs experience branding and castration, but instead of losing horns, they lose their ears, tails, and teeth. Both cattle and pigs live in their own urine, manure, and vomit. This is where the use of half the antibiotics made in the US each year come in. An overuse of antibiotics causes both the animals and the humans who consume those animals to become resistant to medications. Chemicals such as, benzene hexachloride, chlordane, heptachlor, etc., all found in meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy products, correlate with obesity, cancer, liver and kidney failure, reproductive and nervous system disorders, birth defects, and miscarriages. Furthermore, chicken and fish have both been connected to colon cancer. Then, the use of pesticides began, and eventually, “...bologna and other luncheon meats had 102 different industrial pollutants and pesticides, fast food hamburgers had 113 residues, and hot dogs had 123…In comparison, meat contains 14 times more pesticides than plant foods...” (47). The European Economic Community has rejected meat from the United States multiple times, because of the contamination processes and excessive growth hormones uses. Growth hormones are used to produce more meat, which in turn

The animals should be raised and fed in a careful manner. The giant corporations such as Tyson and Cargill, that run most factory farms can make more money by squeezing as many animals as possible into small areas. Because of this, many animals die due to infection, disease or the weight of each other. These are the animals that us consumers eat almost daily. By eating these diseased foods, the consumers are exposed to many types of dangers and threats. The diseased and infected and impure animals are slaughtered without being cleaned or washed. The consumers eat those animals and are then exposed to all of the diseases and infections. These slaughterhouses should be shut down for good before human or animal life is ended because of

Catholic views on animal abuse is varied greatly. The ‘traditional’ view is that humans are made in a different image than animals. It proclaims that humans have been given ‘dominion’ over nature, meaning humans can use animals in accordance to their own needs (gen 1:28). However, many Catholics disagree and believe that God gave human ‘stewardship’ over the animals, which means we are put on this Earth to look after and care for God’s creation (Luke 12:6). There are a number of Catholic authorities that discourage animal abuse;

The health of consumers will not be endangered if we treat the animals humanely. Antibiotic resistance caused by factory

As a result of using such means to achieve a large quantity of product, animals and the environment suffer in the process. For example, the vast amount of waste livestock produces provides a breeding ground for disease. Farmsanctuary.org’s article “Factory Farming” elaborates on the harmful effects of excessive animal waste and states, “To counteract the health challenges presented by overcrowded, stressful, unsanitary living conditions, antibiotics are used extensively on factory farms, which can create drug-resistant bacteria and put human health at risk.” The Huffington Post also elaborated on this claim in “9

Animals have always played an essential role in many aspects of this world. Some people look upon these roles with favoritism, some with disgust. Animals are considered different from humans by some people because of their behavior, mannerisms or actions. Some animals are used as food by humans and other animals, while others are trapped for their furs. Many times people acquire animals for pets, only to neglect or mistreat them. For many years, the ethical treatment of animals has been a very controversial topic for moral discussion, often in reference to an ethical code or rule. In this paper, I will discuss these ethical issues identified with the treatment of animals as well as exploring these issues from a virtual ethicist’s

For the past 20 years, there has a been an on going heated debate on whether experiments on animals for the benefit of medical and scientific research is ethical. Whether it is or isn't, most people believe that some form of cost-benefit test should be performed to determine if the action is right. The costs include: animal pain, distress and death where the benefits include the collection of new knowledge or the development of new medical therapies for humans. Looking into these different aspects of the experimentation, there is a large gap for argument between the different scientists' views. In the next few paragraphs, both sides of the argument will be expressed by the supporters.

Non-human animals are given rights only because of their interactions with human beings. Without involvement with humans, animals do not deserve rights. It is through this interaction with humans that animals are even given moral consideration. We do not give rights to a rock simply because it is a creation of Mother Nature, similarly non-human animals do not have rights unless it is in regards to humans. As pointed out by Jan Narveson "morality is a sort of agreement among rational, independent, self-interested persons who have something to gain from entering into such an agreement" (192). In order to have the ability to obtain rights one must be consciously able to enter into an agreement, non-human animals are