Animal Rights

[April]

So I was cleaning out my computer and came across an Essay I wrote when I was 13. I get if you don't want to read all of it, especially since I was 13 and it's not that well written, so I am just going to bold the points I definitely still feel strongly about.

Also, is it bad that I have 3 debate topics? I love to debate. <_<

 

 

How would you feel, to think your only purpose is to be an experiment? How would you feel to not have any freedom, to be locked in a cage, day after day? Animal testing is a huge controversial issue to us today. Every day animals endure unnecessary procedures. You can argue in some cases it is necessary, but I beg to differ.

 

Why must animals endure suffering to benefit us? How are we really so much better than them? If a human was to be locked up or experimented on, there would be laws being thrown down, and court dates. So, why is it okay for us to test on animals? Why are they really so different from us? You can argue, well they can't speak, they're not smart enough. Is that really the reason?

 

On this note, animals aren't stupid. They are extremely intelligent. Have you ever really looked at how animals operate? Most animals can tell when bad weather's coming, and they can sense emotions. They do all that, without words, isn't that a way to measure intelligence? How are we really so much better than animals when it is us, humans, messing up the world with pollution, and we backstab, hurt or kill each other. Animals may kill, but it's all instinct and survival. Take a very close look at a dog, dogs know loyalty, something most humans continually fail to comprehend.

 

Every year in the United States alone, about seventy million animals are blinded, scalded, manipulated, and otherwise hurt or killed in many other ways, all in the name of "science". A lot of the testing is unnecessary, for example, make up testing. Look how many cosmetics we have out there now, as if we don't already have enough. So why are we continuing to put these animals through pain to make humans more appealing, to follow along the lines of the media?

 

There are many other ways of unnecessary testing, for an example, Britches. Britches was a baby monkey. Some "scientists" wanted to know what would happen if an animal had no sight for the first bit of their life, then regained it. (THAT'S beneficial to humans...) The scientists sewed Britches' eyes shut. That's not the only case like that. At the Oregon University, Barbara Gordon-Lickey sewed kittens' eyes shut, had the kittens jump from a height onto a platform surrounded by water all so she could study the effects of sight deprivation on the brain. Does this really seem necessary? Would you ever consider doing this to a human?

 

The federal government requires experiments on animals before medical drugs can be marketed. Yet, according to the US General Accounting Office, of all new drugs marketed between 1976 and 1985, fifty-one point five percent caused toxic effects in humans that required the drugs to be withdrawn from society. Animal test results aren't as reliable as you'd hope, Zomax, a common painkiller, had to be withdrawn after it caused 14 deaths and hundreds of life-threatening allergic reactions in people.

So tell me, is animal testing really worth it? Animals can feel just as we can, they deserve just as much care we'd give to humans in this kind of situation. Animals may not be able to speak for themselves, so someone has to speak for them.

 

I don't mean for this debate to just be about animal testing, but about abuse and such. Or hunting, any form of animal cruelty.

I guess you can see where I stand. I firmly believe humans are not better than animals.

 

Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage. ~Sri Aurobindo

 

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men. ~Alice Walker

 

Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow-creatures is amusing in itself. ~James Anthony Froude, Oceana, 1886

 

Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored. ~Alice Walker

 

The basis of all animal rights should be the Golden Rule: we should treat them as we would wish them to treat us, were any other species in our dominant position. ~Christine Stevens

 

Because the heart beats under a covering of hair, of fur, feathers, or wings, it is, for that reason, to be of no account? ~Jean Paul Richter

 

There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

 

I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her. ~Ellen DeGeneres

 

Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are like us." Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are not like us." Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction.

[Piticent]

Hmm...

 

1) I see you're viewing the rules of the forum. Don't worry, I'm sure you're fine...

2) It's not bad. I asked the same question, but in TDN Questions section, and everyone says I'm fine.

3) Well, depending on your education, essays at 13 can be very well written.

 

I don't have much of anything to contribute to the debate, but I wanted to say that ^_^

[-Ryan]

Hm... -pokes squirrel obsession-

I beleive in equal animal rights for every animal except the chipmunk. No one likes them. (kidding of course.)

 

 

[April]

Hm... -pokes squirrel obsession-

I beleive in equal animal rights for every animal except the chipmunk. No one likes them. (kidding of course.)

 

That's okay, according to my dreams I have Badgers are evil. I have some weird dreams...

But I do love all animals.

 

I just always think, what if humans were NOT the dominant species? Would we want to be used for the dominant species?

 

What if aliens from another planet came and treated us like animals? :eh:

[-Ryan]

I firmly beleive squirrels are secretly the dominant species. Just sayin'.

[Welcome Back Apathy]

I definitely don't believe in unnecessary pain caused to animals, or killing animals uselessly. It's a horrible thing, and it's what sets us apart from most species--most species kill for a reason.

 

However, I will say: I am in favor of hunting. So many animals kill other animals and eat meat; I don't think we're better than these animals, and we need meat to survive. And hunting is far more humane than raising an animal for slaughter. At least the animal gets to have a good life before its untimely end. Every time I pass by a lobster tank, I cringe--I think about what it would be like to be at the bottom of a pile of humans, unable to move because someone tied my hands up.

[April]

I definitely don't believe in unnecessary pain caused to animals, or killing animals uselessly. It's a horrible thing, and it's what sets us apart from most species--most species kill for a reason.

 

However, I will say: I am in favor of hunting. So many animals kill other animals and eat meat; I don't think we're better than these animals, and we need meat to survive. And hunting is far more humane than raising an animal for slaughter. At least the animal gets to have a good life before its untimely end. Every time I pass by a lobster tank, I cringe--I think about what it would be like to be at the bottom of a pile of humans, unable to move because someone tied my hands up.

 

I am okay with hunting.

Just a lot of people don't hunt and use teh meat anymore.

I know lots of people that just shoot the poor animal and leave it there. :(

I believe the First Nations got it right by using the animal. It is respectful to the animal.

[-Ryan]

Yeah, I'm fine with hunting for food, but certainly not with hunting for sport. Thats just cruel. How would you like someone walking into your house one day and chasing you around with a gun?

I don't beleive there should be seasons to hunt certain animals. I beleive hunting should be a government controlled job actually, and besides that have it be banned.

I know people who beleive poachers should be used as target practice for the military. I like that plan. xD

[Sweetdang]

SO far, I agree with whatever's been said here. Sometimes i wonder, what animals feel like. They must have thoughts and feelings, no?

And yet...

[April]

SO far, I agree with whatever's been said here. Sometimes i wonder, what animals feel like. They must have thoughts and feelings, no?

And yet...

 

you should see some of the comments this guy left on an anti animal testing banner I posted.

He even went as far to say that what humans feel for their pets isn't love when I used the argument that the animal could have been someone's pet had it been born on the right side of the tracks.

He said the only reason he'd care about his pet was cause it was his. Other than that what we feel for pets is easily replaced by possessions like iPods and such.

 

He also said the lives it saves are worth the lives of the many lost.

 

I personally value an animal's life over human's unless it is someone I know and respect as I find most of our race to be disgusting. Such as the bullies that still continued to bully that girl after her brother killed himself because of them. I saw that posted on here.

 

My question to people that have views like him...

Why is it morally wrong to perform these experiments on someone like Charles Manson but it is okay to do it on an innocent creature?

[Welcome Back Apathy]

He also said the lives it saves are worth the lives of the many lost.

Yup, that lipstick sure has saved a lot of lives! I can kind of understand with disease research, at least, but when you've killed 1 million animals to save (maybe) three human lives, is that a good thing? And so much of the research leads to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

 

My question to people that have views like him...

Why is it morally wrong to perform these experiments on someone like Charles Manson but it is okay to do it on an innocent creature?

I like this idea, honestly. IF someone has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to have committed a horrible violent crime, I have no problem with committing violence unto them. Violence that has a good end? Sold! Why should the animal have to suffer? They didn't give you cancer.

[April]

Yup, that lipstick sure has saved a lot of lives! I can kind of understand with disease research, at least, but when you've killed 1 million animals to save (maybe) three human lives, is that a good thing? And so much of the research leads to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

 

 

I like this idea, honestly. IF someone has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to have committed a horrible violent crime, I have no problem with committing violence unto them. Violence that has a good end? Sold! Why should the animal have to suffer? They didn't give you cancer.

 

 

I agree with you. And even with diseases.

 

In my essay I wrote about a pain killer that was used and created and it ended up having fatalities because Animal Research isn't even absolute.

So to me, I definitely think, it is not morally acceptable to hurt innocent creatures that can not speak for themselves.

 

Make up isn't even needed.

 

Not to mention, there is so much out there already that works. And what about companies that write on their products, NOT tested on animals? They know how to do it another way.

[Yuika]

Well, some forms of hunting are necessary. If there weren't deer hunters in certain areas, the deer would overrun the ecosystem. Most of that is our fault for introducing animals to foreign ecosystems, but we still have to deal with it. That said, I think sport hunting is awful and I would never do it.

 

Anyway, I'm not a vegetarian or vegan and I have no moral objection to eating animals--most of the time--since that's pretty natural. We're animals too, you know? We're the top of the food chain, so we eat some of those below us. Usually they're raised to be eaten. I don't really like how a lot of the animals are housed, but there are regulations.

 

HOWEVER. Animal testing for makeup/anything that isn't medicine-related is disgusting. By the way, a completely ridiculous number of companies use animal testing for their chemicals and products (http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdotest.pdf). I used to use L'Oreal/Lancôme and Acuvue contacts, but I haven't bought any since hearing that. :\ It's just so unnecessary. For the record, I friggen hate Peta and everything they do (except Lea Michele~), but it's a good list. That said, animal testing for medications that can save human lives is unpleasant but acceptable, imo.

[April]

Well, some forms of hunting are necessary. If there weren't deer hunters in certain areas, the deer would overrun the ecosystem. Most of that is our fault for introducing animals to foreign ecosystems, but we still have to deal with it. That said, I think sport hunting is awful and I would never do it.

 

Anyway, I'm not a vegetarian or vegan and I have no moral objection to eating animals--most of the time--since that's pretty natural. We're animals too, you know? We're the top of the food chain, so we eat some of those below us. Usually they're raised to be eaten. I don't really like how a lot of the animals are housed, but there are regulations.

 

HOWEVER. Animal testing for makeup/anything that isn't medicine-related is disgusting. By the way, a completely ridiculous number of companies use animal testing for their chemicals and products (http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdotest.pdf). I used to use L'Oreal/Lancôme and Acuvue contacts, but I haven't bought any since hearing that. :\ It's just so unnecessary. For the record, I friggen hate Peta and everything they do (except Lea Michele~), but it's a good list. That said, animal testing for medications that can save human lives is unpleasant but acceptable, imo.

 

I agree with pretty much everything you said.

Except without weapons we wouldn't be at the top of the food chain.

I'm not a vegan or vegetarian either.

To tell you the truth I don't see the point in vegans.

I mean animals produce milk and eggs anyways.

[Welcome Back Apathy]

 

A picture that shows how inescapable using animal products is. I kind of understand the point of being a vegan--it's not just the killing of the animal, but the inhumane housing as well--but there is no way to escape it. This is why I like the Native American idea of using all parts of the animal--and, as you can see from this picture, we DO use all parts.

[Zarii]

 

A picture that shows how inescapable using animal products is. I kind of understand the point of being a vegan--it's not just the killing of the animal, but the inhumane housing as well--but there is no way to escape it. This is why I like the Native American idea of using all parts of the animal--and, as you can see from this picture, we DO use all parts.

 

I'm staring at that and wondering why on earth is cow blood used in cake mixes?!

[Lady Lyuba]

 

A picture that shows how inescapable using animal products is. I kind of understand the point of being a vegan--it's not just the killing of the animal, but the inhumane housing as well--but there is no way to escape it. This is why I like the Native American idea of using all parts of the animal--and, as you can see from this picture, we DO use all parts.

 

I agree with the above; there really is no such thing as a vegan. Looking at the diagram shocked me; cow parts are in everything we use!! There really is no escaping it, but as the Native Americans say to use all parts of the buffalo, which is the best thing to do.

 

HOWEVER. Animal testing for makeup/anything that isn't medicine-related is disgusting. By the way, a completely ridiculous number of companies use animal testing for their chemicals and products (http://www.mediapeta...aniesdotest.pdf). I used to use L'Oreal/Lancôme and Acuvue contacts, but I haven't bought any since hearing that. :\ It's just so unnecessary. For the record, I friggen hate Peta and everything they do (except Lea Michele~), but it's a good list. That said, animal testing for medications that can save human lives is unpleasant but acceptable, imo.

 

Pretty much EVERY company under the sun is listed in that PDF file, every company I know, all toothpast companies, all shampoo and conditioner brands, air freshener brands, beauty products.EVERYTHING. Then again, this is PETA, so you really can't trust them, nor do you know if this is true or not.

 

Glad to know the makeup brands I wear are not listed though. Then again, they are mostly labled "Not tested on animals" anyway.

[AKALeenaLean]

I thought the hooves were made into gelatin not the skin. Well I'm all for animal rights as long as they're not getting harmed. Animal testing is fine in my eyes as it's for the development of science. Using all parts of an animal is good as it doesn't waste anything, though shocking as it is as I am a quasi-vegetarian but it's still good to know. Dog fighting and such is a no.

[Alice ☮]

I didn't have a chance to read everything (I'll come back to it when I have the time).

 

I just wanted to add a few things:

 

1) To the people who did their research, or went through any trouble whatsoever to realize that animals are not raised on rainbow-sunshine-happy-farms with pixie dust a leprechauns, kudos to you. Because I know that that was the exact impression that I had for many years.

 

2) I personally am vegetarian (not vegan, I guess the technical term would be ovo-lacto-vegetarian, since I eat egg and milk products), but I realize that as omnivores, having animal foods in our diet is 100% natural. The thing which isn't natural, is how we obtain said animal foods. If a deer lives it's happy-go-lucky life in the woods and then one day a hungry human shoots it and gives it a quick death, then actually uses it, without waste, that's a different story. But the things that go on behind closed doors at these "factories" is disgusting. And the only reason I still eat animal products at all is because I'm always anemic and I need the protein and iron.

 

3) YES I believe animals are equal! YES animals feel! YES some even have emotions! I've witnessed it firsthand. And anyone who says that pets are replaceable, and to even go as far as to compare them to objects, must be some sort of crazy person (seriously, I mean, there must be something wrong). My pets are like my children. Yes, children. Not toys, not mere possessions, not something that can be disposed of or replaced. And I think many pet owners would agree with me. They become family.

[Yuika]

3) YES I believe animals are equal! YES animals feel! YES some even have emotions! I've witnessed it firsthand. And anyone who says that pets are replaceable, and to even go as far as to compare them to objects, must be some sort of crazy person (seriously, I mean, there must be something wrong). My pets are like my children. Yes, children. Not toys, not mere possessions, not something that can be disposed of or replaced. And I think many pet owners would agree with me. They become family.

Whoa, who says that? No one who has had a pet should be able to say that. I cry when fish die! Let alone losing a dog or cat. They are absolutely a part of the family, with their own thoughts and emotions, like a small child. I wouldn't be able to deal with anyone who felt differently.

 

Also, that chart is pretty disturbing, lol.

[Welcome Back Apathy]

You probably don't want to read this.

 

A link to an article that is horrific. You honestly probably don't want to know. But it's a good thing to know about. Basically, fake Uggs are a bad idea.

[April]

You probably don't want to read this.

 

A link to an article that is horrific. You honestly probably don't want to know. But it's a good thing to know about. Basically, fake Uggs are a bad idea.

 

 

That is disgusting. I made it my FB status to try and show people an idea of some terrible things that can happen. I bet everyone will ignore it though.

[snowwhite]

I am joining this conversation even though I agree with almost everything that has been said so far.

 

I do not hunt and I am not interested in doing so. I am okay with the fact that some people do and they eat what they kill. I don't agree with hunting for the sake of killing. That is disgusting behavior.

 

I don't have children yet and may not ever have them. But I have two dogs and two cats and there is no one out there who can tell me they don't have feelings. They definitely do. I've seen them show happiness, anger, guilt, exasperation, excitement...it's like living with four small humans (two of which are indifferent teenagers). :)

 

I am not a vegetarian, but I try to buy all my meat locally from small butchers, who can guarantee the animals were from open farms. I also only buy cage free eggs. If you haven't seen Food, Inc., watch it. It will open your mind about where the food in the grocery store comes from, and why you should do your best to NOT eat it.

 

Animals deserve all the rights we have as people. All they want to do is survive and BE. I wish I could say the same for humans!

[Yuika]

Ugh that link is awful. ): I'm against the purchase of any designer knockoff anyway, as they're often produced in less than savory ways.

[April]

I just made a facebook link against the skinning of live animals.

 

I am against all animal abuse but hopefully some people will see what can go into the clothes they wear. :/

 

It probably won't make a difference but I have to express my distaste at the idea.