Miranda Salazar
Livoni
Capstone, Period 1
10 January 2016
Draft of Three Claims
Previously throughout mankind, the sacred idea of each human being belonging to a soul has been a huge argument for viewing other creatures as inferior. It was popular belief that animals did not contain this holy entity that would entitle them to better treatment from humanity. Many people believed that “As human beings were above animals in this hierarchy they were entitled to use animals in any way they wanted” (Animal Rights). This idea is seen as outdated and as secularism is becoming more prominent throughout society, “This argument is no longer regarded as useful, because the idea of the soul is very controversial and unclear, even among religious people” (Animal Rights). This leaves many people skeptical about any beings having a soul, since it is scientifically impossible to prove the existence of souls. Therefore the defensive argument that animals are inferior to human due to supernatural ideology, such as souls, remains at a standstill with modern science.
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Many people do believe that animal abuse is a problem within society that should be monitored, but granting animal rights is an effective way to diminish physical abuse. In fact, “Animal abuse is one of the most reliable indicators of domestic violence and abuse of children” (Akhtar). Individuals who practice animal abuse are usually associated with similar types of abuse towards other individuals within their life. By passing laws that would grant animals rights and protect them against abuse, America would also be targeting individuals who habit domestic violence towards their wife and
Animal abuse is a growing but preventable problem that occurs every day. There are many different types of animal abuse. One example is when the person intentionally harms the animal and the other example is when the person just can't meet the animal’s needs. There is a law on how many animals a person can own but not everyone can afford to get their animal fixed and when they multiply it gets out of control. There are many laws against animal abuse but since animal abuse is not considered a violent crime people do not care about the consequences. Animals are not considered as valuable as humans which is why the topic is brushed off ,but statistics show that a percentage of animal abusers also abuse people around them.There are states trying
The rate at which animal cruelty occurs is at an alarming 71% in the United States according to ASPCA. Every 60 seconds, another animal is abused by a caretaker. Overall, cruelty encompasses neglect, abuse, abandonment, sexual abuse of animals and animal fighting. Due to efforts by organizations such as PETA, ASPCA, HSUS in educating and providing awareness to the topic of animal cruelty, many more individuals have become more aware of their actions against animals. In conjunction with these listed organizations, states such as Maryland have adopted legislation to help combat animal cruelty and serve as advocates for animals. The three most rigorous forms of animal abuse that need to be tackled are as followed, neglect, hoarding, and
Animals are smart,caring, adorable, loving, and sometimes they’re even heroes. For example, a woman name Kathie, a paraplegic, got saved by her Rottweiler from an exploding vehicle. When the dog saw her owner endangered near the fire she quickly took action and pulled on Kathie’s jeans and got her far enough from the flaming vehicle so that she wouldn’t get hurt. Even though not everyone’s pet is a “hero” it doesn’t mean that animals should be neglected, abused, abandoned, or starved. This is why there are laws prohibiting any person from inflicting, causing, or, permitting, unnecessary pain or suffering to be inflicted on any animal. The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals Act makes it a crime to beat, kick, torture, mutilate, or cruelly kill an animal. Unfortunately, this still continues to be a major problem in the United States.
1. ATTENTION GETTER: Millions of animals are abused each year. Over a million of these animals are abused or killed just due to the involvement with domestic violence. Despite animal cruelty being a felony which can result in jail time for over 15 years and 500,000 dollars in fines, it is still an issue which occurs on a daily basis across the United States. It is important for these animals to not go unnoticed, which can be achieved if society became more enlightened and educated on the topic of animal cruelty. (Pacelle, 2011).
Everyday, every second that passes by, animals across the globe are mistreated in their so-called “home”. Stop animal abuse! Abusers of animal are five times as likely to harm humans. Nearly half of the time victims who stay in violent households do so because they are afraid for their own animals. Countless more never leave the home for their very reason. This issue should be further looked into by identifying states with poorly laws against animal abuse, the wrong doing of taking advantage in the use of human resources, and having absolutely no heart in having a friendly companion.
Every 60 seconds an animal is abused. Dogs, cats, horses, and many other types of animals are being neglected and tortured everyday, yet resulting in few and minor consequences for the perpetrators. Animal abuse is prevalent in the United States and has been an ongoing issue since the 1970's, and prior to. Society as a whole has chosen to avoid the facts and arguments about animal cruelty, because to some it is seen as acceptable and typical. It becomes much more frowned upon when people actually see the results of the cruelty, especially in the media.
In her essay Speaking of Animal Rights, Warren (1987) argues for the weak animal rights position, which holds that non-human animals have weaker rights than human beings because non-human animals do not have the same moral status as us human beings (383-4). This is due to their lack of the ability to “reason well enough to function as autonomous moral agents” (385), which she believes is a requirement for being moral of human beings (384-5). In this essay, I will argue that Warren’s weak animal rights position misses the entire point about speaking of animals rights and we should instead recognize non-human animals as our moral equals and grant them full moral rights in virtue of their entitlement to dignified existence , rather than basing moral equality and rights upon rationality, as Warren indicates.
The third and final view, is the Matter-of-Degree view, meaning people believe that intrinsic value is not all or nothing, but a matter of degree. This belief is, in substance, between the two previous all or nothing views I stated before because it maintains that whereas human people have moral status, non-human animals do have some lesser moral status. Of all three views, many people fall under this belief system as we see this as the most plausible. We know there is a wide range of “conscious” animals out there, some at the higher end of the
Animals are an important and valued part of many families and cultures. In many households, animals are considered members of the family, receive Christmas and birthday presents, and are cared for just as a human child would be. Opposition to animal cruelty has even become a sort of universal value in American culture(Kordzek 604). But animals are uniquely vulnerable to abuse, and despite this they still do not receive much needed protection from the law. The penalties for animal cruelty are not frequently severe enough to even deter one from harming an animal. This is dangerous not only for animals, but for human beings too. Animal cruelty and domestic violence have been proven to correlate in countless ways, and recognizing animal cruelty as a serious criminal offense and a form of domestic violence would serve to protect both animals and human beings from needless acts of violence. Instituting stiffer criminal penalties for animal cruelty and increasing the protective measures for victims of abuse is necessary to further the protection of both animals and human beings.
Mahatma Gandhi once said “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way its animals are treated.” These words directly oppose how animals are truly treated in the world today (McDonald 30). On the news I hear about animals abuse almost every day whether it be someone leaving their dog in a locked car with the windows rolled all the way up on a hot summer day, a farmer storing their animals in tiny cages in their own feces while they wait for the day in which they are taking back to the slaughter house, or even a famous person using animals for entertainment by throwing them into a pin and making them fight to the death. These cases of animal abuse are covered closely by the media and often televised, but these
Religion has always played an instrumental role in the foundation of society, 17th century France perfectly exemplifies this heavy reliance on religion when faced with the dilemma of animals souls. European life, along with Descartes theory on animal souls, depend exclusively on the presence of God, if animals souls were to be proven, the trust in God would be diminished along with any justification given to humans for the treatment of animals, leaving the question of true human purpose.
Often times, people think of animals as another member of their family. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Every year, there are nearly one million animals getting abused and suffering at the hands of human beings. Animal cruelty occurs when someone harms or ignores an animal purposely. “The most common types of abuse are neglect, hoarding, shooting, fighting, beating, etc” (Humane Advocate N.p.). There have been cases in which justice has been served, such as the case of Michael Vick. Sadly, there are many cases in which justice is not fully served. However, there are organizations that are committed to helping these innocent animals such as Peta, to end animal cruelty. Based on studies and animal shelters, it is evident that animal
Each year, the most extreme cases of animal abuse receive media attention. Yet, the animal cruelty problem is more widespread than is reported in the media. Animal abuse and neglect is a nationwide issue, affecting thousands of animals nationwide. Cruelty to animals is defined as the infliction of physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, beyond what is necessary. There is a need to stop abusers from acting in such a horrific manner–preventing the neglect and suffering of the animals. What causes animal abusers to act in such a cruel way towards animals? How are cases of animal abuse being managed, and how should cases be handled? Finally, does the status of animals in society contribute to the rate of their abuse?
Animal rights are an important topic to discuss and review. The trouble is the vast diversity of how people see humans and animals and how they are different and yet the same. Animals are in every aspect of our lives in how they are utilized to make our lives easier, to sustain us, or as a pet. Unfortunately, the line of animals and humans blurs as the widely known belief that we are a derivation of an animal and we should treat them as we would ourselves. This viewpoint, however, can be taken to an extreme as we see pets that can be pampered quite a bit. Relating back to the four authors in our text, there is considerable controversy on how animals should be treated. While some interesting positions arise with the various authors, to
Did you know about 10.2 million women and men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner in the U.S. every year and 62 percent own at least one pet? 71 percent of domestic violence victims reported that their abuser also targeted their animal(s). In another study of families who are under investigation of suspected child abuse found that pet abuse had