Essay, Research Paper: Position Of Animals In Today's Society

Position of Animals In Modern Day Society

Do animals have rights? A frequently asked question among our
Canadian society today. Well we, humans, have rights, and we're animals.
Should our pets and wild animals have rights? The responses differ
throughout our society. Some people believe that all animals should have
rights just like humans, but other people believe that non-human animals
having rights is just a bunch of nonsense. My essay will answer a series of
questions that have to do with the question of animal rights in Canada. It
will hopefully show how far our society has come, and about what we are
doing to protect our animals here in Canada.
First of all, how do we treat animals in Canada's society? "Humans and
animals have existed together on earth for millions of years. Animals have
been used by humans for food, clothing, tools, currency, companionship,
sport, entertainment and commercial gain. They have been domesticated,
hunted, worshipped, trained and traded. They have been used and abused."
(James, 1990, 4)
How do we relate to animals? "Humans are animals too, though many
people do not think of themselves as an animal. In general, humans treat
other humans differently from the way they treat other animals. The animal
rights movement calls this speciesism. Like racism or sexism, speciesism
describes the discrimination against one group by another. In this case
animals suffer discrimination because they are not human." (James, 1990, 4)
Why should animals have rights? "Concern for animal rights is something
relatively new. Up until quite recently, animals have been more or less taken
for granted, but since they can't speak for themselves, we, as their masters,
guardians, or protectors, must speak for them and defend their rights. It is
because we use animals in different ways -- for food, companionship, to help
us find cures for disease, and so on -- that we have certain responsibilities
and obligations toward them. We, the most powerful animals on earth, have
a moral obligation to protect and enforce their rights." (Fox, 1991, 15)
"Because they are so closely akin to us . . . I loved all warm blooded
animals, who have souls like ourselves and with whom, so I thought, we have
an instinctive understanding. We experience joy and sorrow, love and hate,
hunger, thirst, fear and trust in common . . . " (Jung, 1991, 70)
What type of organizations protect endangered species and help maintain
their rights in Canada? There are many organizations that try to protect the
endangered species. Some of these organizations are The World Wildlife
Fund (WWF), Friends of Animals, and The Fur Conservation Institute of
North America. These organizations' efforts have resulted in making the
Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1973 in Canada and another
convention in 1977 which helped the USA and about eighty other countries
establish ways to control and monitor the import and export of imperiled
species covered by the treaty. Endangered is defined as "any species that is
in danger of extinction, and as threatened any species that is likely to become
endangered within the foreseeable future." (Niven, 1967, 56)
What kind of organizations exist in Canada and the USA? In the Canada
US they have organizations to promote animal rights. "The society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is the umbrella name for about 600
separate organizations throughout Canada and the United States that seek to
assure humane treatment of animals through education of the public, the
maintenance of animal shelters, and enforcement of laws relating to animal
care." (Niven, 1967, 189)
What are the main concerns of the SPCA? The SPCA has many goals.
"The most important concern of the SPCA is animal overpopulation. In
order to reduce the number of homeless or unwanted cats and dogs that are
euthanized each year the SPCA advocates spaying, neutering, and animal
adoption. In addition to it's work with house pets, the organization places
thousands of exotic animals in zoos and wildlife preservations each year."
(Funk, 1993, A)
What are the rights of lab animals? "One of the most touchy aspects of
our relationship with animals is laboratory sciences. Some people, called
anti-vivisectionists, are at one extreme in their concern. They want an
abolition of all experiments on live animals. At the other extreme there are
those who say that it is quite all right for us to do whatever we like to
animals. They say that God gave us such a right, since it is written in the
bible (Genesis 1:26) that man has dominion over all creatures. If what is
done to these animals may produce something of educational value, adds to
scientific knowledge, or can help improve human health, they argue that it is
worth killing animals or subjecting them to painful experiments." (Fox,
1991, 77)
What else is a main concern in today's Canadian society? Vivisection is.
"Vivisection, specifically surgery on live animals for the purpose of scientific
research. The term has also come to mean any experimentation on live
animals. Many millions of animals are used world wide annually in this way.
Humane Societies question the needfulness of some vivisection, and in the
US the Animal Welfare Act of 1970 sets limits on the use of animals in
laboratories. In many cases simple organisms, tissue cultures and so forth
can be used instead." (Funk, 1993, C)
How do we think of animals today? "We think about animals as objects
whose purpose in the order of things is to serve human ends. We learn a
whole set of unquestionable beliefs and a very specified vocabulary that keep
us from realizing the abuses that non-human animals undergo to satisfy the
ends. A cow who has been killed, skinned, dismembered and ground up or
sliced is beef, leather, hindquarter, hamburger. A laboratory rat is a
research tool or model. A deer or fox on a wildlife refuge becomes a
resource deserving of conservation. Using these words, it is hard, if not
impossible, to understand non-human animals as creatures that, like
ourselves, experience pain and suffering and have complicated emotional
lives." (Carleson, 1989, 43)
I hope that my essay has made you more informed of the position of
animals in our Canadian society today. To finish off my essay, here is one
last quote. "The concept that animals have rights and should be given equal
and fair consideration elicits a predictable reaction from society as a whole. It
brings to the surface human fear of hunger, disease, deprivation, and
suffering if it means that animals should no longer be exploited for food,
fiber, and medical research. Any threat to entitlements as members of a
relatively conspicuously consumptive culture evokes the assertion of
preeminent human rights: What of our rights to health and happiness which
society today entails the exploitation, suffering and killing of billions of
animals every year?" (Fox, 1990, 240)