Forums → WEPR → Should Animals Have Rights? Why?

Depends on how you define rights.
Somehow I predict this thread to go into a mishmash of rants about human moral that I do not wanna deal with...

I don't know. I guess they should have the rights that all living creatures have.

I would much rather answer to whether or not humans should have the rights to decide which rights animals have...

*insert rant about how humanity should be wiped from the surface of the Earth*

I don't think humans should have the rights to hurt animals unnecessarily or treat them as products. Which they do...

What kinds of rights? I mean you don't want to give apes the right to vote now. We all know what will happen then......


Sorry sorry. Anyway, right to life? Of course. Right to not be tortured? Of course again. I guess, as Zophia said, the word "right" needs to be defined more clearly.

I don't think humans should have the rights to hurt animals unnecessarily or treat them as products. Which they do...

Why not, people treat other people like products.

It doesn't, I just wanted to have my statement be acknowledged.
I suppose you can take out the "Why not".

If you want my opinions on animal rights though...get ready for NiHilIziM!!!

Well, to re-express what Drace may be getting at, we should remember that rights aren't intrinsic to begin with!

Pfff, animal rights again... humans are too self-important.

Everytime something eats, something dies.

What exactly are we doing that bothers animals that nature doesn't do? Humans chop down trees for houses WHICH WE NEED! Nature creates forest fires and burns down whole forests. On that point, humans are in someway helping animal habitats. In many cases, we stop fires from spreading.

Hmm, so what else have humans done that angers animal-loving, unhealthy vegetarians? Let's see... well, we put them in zoos, yes, zoos. Zoos can't possibly be that bad, I think they're badness (heh) is overrated. I mean, we don't only use them for recreation, we have better excuses, such as education! I'm pretty sure it would be a LOT easier to study about an animal when there is no risk of having your head eaten off. We also use zoos for research and conservation. Yep, you heard me right, conservation. Up till now, we have saved 3 animals from extinction, which isn't really something to brag about since about 20 animals become extinct everyday. But I think it's an achievement, I mean, we stepped on nature's toe instead of 20 animals dying out on the days that these animals were saved, 19 died out! Most species that are kept in zoos aren't endangered, though.

How else have we 'hurt' animals? I don't know, and I'm too tired to think about it, help me out?

Back to the main point. Think about it this way, there will always be a new superior. Which animal is the strongest? Well it might be an elephant, but it uses too much of it's strength to support its own body. It could be a king cobra, but its weak if you manage to spot it and handle it. Or it could be the balance between strength and movability, the lion. Anyway, let's use lions for our example, before they existed, there was another superior, which was overpowered by the lion. This applies to humans as well, we came, and we overpowered... EVERYTHING. The lion didn't hesitate to kill any animal in it's way, so don't give me the 'we are responsible for saving animals because we are the superior species on this planet' BS. You won't run into a lion who worries about saving other animals because it's superior to them.

I think animals still have the rights they had thousands of years ago, no change, difference.

PS: Has it ever happened to you? When you could swear there's one more step in a flight of stairs, and for a split second it feels like you're in some kind of rocket going up at 500,000km per hour, and all your organs are rushing up to your head?

If you want my opinions on animal rights though...get ready for NiHilIziM!!!

Why not, people treat other people like products.

well, im agaisnt killing animals for just the sake of killing them. like, if your not going to do something with it, why kill it?

Whenever the topic of animal rights comes up, I always have to ask, "What is an animal?" Are we talking about organisms that belong in the class Animalia or are we just talking about non-humans?
Insects don't seem to have any rights given to them at all as far as killing or torturing them.
No animal has any sort of intrinsic worth (and I would argue that humans don't either) but I guess it comes down to things to which we can experientially relate. We can attach emotions to a dog or cat's activities that we can relate to (even though we have no idea how animals experience their world) but a reptile or an insect we just have a hard time relating to them in any real or conceived way.

@Moegreche:
I actually don't differentiate between the kinds of animals... I find it equally wrong, it being hitting a horse in the head or tearing off a grasshopper's leg... Sure there are differences, and humans find it harder to relate to animals that resemble themselves (humans) less... But still.
I'm a very big fan of reptiles btw. Had two green iguanas as pets once. I were as attached to them as to my cats.

Skyla, I can see the point you are trying to make, but You cannot compare what nature is and does, to what we, as humans, have done.

Yes, some forest fires are created by nature, but how often does that happen? I would say not as often as forests being cut down by humans, which happens on a daily basis.

20 animals becoming exticnt each day? Well I'd go as far as to say 80% of those extinctions are caused by humans.

You also cannot compare the way a lion acts to the way we act. Lions hunt and kill to eat and survive. You know what we do? Pump the cows, pigs, chickens etc. with hormones, steroids and other drugs to enchance productio (getting more meat/milk/and other products.) by up to 30%. (Google BGH. you'll see what I'm talking about.) Many of those animals become sick and diseased. and they still chop them up and ship 'em out to be sold and eaten. And many more become debilitated and unable to walk, or move.

-Prop 2 in California.
You don't see lions trapping their pray, injecting them with enhanced drugs, wait a month then eat them do you? NO.
It simply is not the same.

Alright, let me put on my flame-proof armor, because I'm fixing to take a lot of heat for this:

I hunt. Why? Because I enjoy it. Not the killing, but the idea of being out there searching for your food is so original, takes you back to the old days of humanity. I use both a rifle and a bow (I prefer the rifle, though, not a great marksman with the bow :P). I do eat all my kills, but the primary reason I hunt is for sport. I eat... maybe a little more meat than I should, but no more than the average Texan. Why did I say all this? To prove a point - we are at the top of the food chain. Why should I not eat what I choose? Why should I differentiate between a plant and an animal when choosing my food? I shouldn't. I don't see this as "wrong" - you wouldn't stop a lion from eating a young zebra, so why should you stop me from eating a deer?

tl;dr - Animals have the right to be delicious.

God put us over the animals, you don't see god making the animals in his image. we are special and better then animals. now i hunt and trap animals, but i eat them too. i think that we should not hurt animals just because we can because that is a sin.

Megamickle, I could be wrong, but I think what you posted has little to do with the main topic. Although, I am curious, what do youdo with the meat you do not eat?

slightly_insane, I do not believe you should bring God into this. But I will say that your statement is flawed. Have you seen God? probabaly not. So how do you know we were built in his image? You don't. You shouldn'y believe everything you hear or read.