Animal rights. What rights should animals have Essay

Animal rights. What rights should animals have - Essay Example In this concept, it is illegal to use animals in any way that makes them feel pain, suffer or even die. It tries to explain to human beings that it is not a right practice to violate these rights. The concept was started in 1975 by Peter Singer in a book entitled animal liberation. It came to being after the birth of American Society for the prevention of cruelty of animals. Animal rights have been enforced in several parts of the world today. For instance, in Germany, it was voted and included in the constitution that was in the parliament’s house. The vote was aimed at adding a simple clause in the constitution to change the way in which people treated animals in that country. It is the first country in Europe to accept constitutionally the fact that animals had some rights like fair treatment and good feeding. The same has been followed in several other continents in the world and have led to a fairer treatment of all animals with a court penalty owing to the violation ther eof as discussed by CNN (2012). According to Lafollette (n.d), there are boundaries about animals that human beings should strive not to cross as opposed to treating animals in the way one pleases. It is not legitimate to mistreat animals even though they have no voice to rise. In this culture that we are living in today, animals are used as a main source of food, clothes, and research on drugs and to test the vulnerability of some appliances at home. All these can only be realized when the animal is dead or involves inflicting pain to the animal. Animals have a right against overcrowding. This implies that an animal has a right to enough space during its lifespan. This has not been followed especially by farmers who keep them for profit. Animals also have rights to enough movement. Due to the limitations of space, animals are confided in one place leading to less feeding and poor movement. For instance, chicken are overcrowded in little battery cages. The more crowded the animals a re, the more likely they are to attack each other and cause injury to one another. In an opinion, Lafollette (n. d) adds that people should use more of vegetables to reduce the killing of animals for food. Many people hold an opinion that animals do not feel pain and has led to the killing of many animals for not only food but also for scientific research and testing. When a dog is hit by a stray vehicle, the way it convulses, bleeds, and yelps is a sure proof that animals feel pain. The same way, a cat reacts even at the small attempt to step on its tail is another proof of sensitivity of their nervous system. It becomes controversial at times because there is need for nutrients in humans that can only be found in animals and the experiments that are done on animals is vital for human survival. As noted by Lin (2012), there are some myths that people hold about animal rights activists. One of these myths is that activist are more fond of animals than human beings. This is not the c ase anyway. Caring about animals does not render them more important than human beings. This is the reason as to why most animal activists are involved in humanitarian rights like hunger, poverty, sweatshops, feminism and other civil rights. Another myth is about leather materials compared to fur clothes and shoes. This is because fur can be obtained without necessarily killing the animal, but to get leather the animal has to be killed to get the skin of that animal. According to Buzzle (2012), animal rights activists are faced with the headache of controlling the rate at which animals are killed or injured. They have worked to make known their reputation just like politicians and celebrities. They