Source Animal Protection Institute
www.api4animals.org
"Animal rights" is a concept based on the belief that
humans have a moral responsibility to treat animals with respect, and
that the interests of humans and animals should be considered equally.
This means that in any decision that could potentially affect the life
of an animal, that particular animal's interests should not be dismissed
simply because it is inconvenient for us to consider them.
Although it may not always be easy to determine
accurately the best interests of an animal, we can safely assume that
animals generally prefer to live, to be free from pain, and to express
their natural behaviors. The failure of humans to consider an animal's
needs/interests as equal to those of humans is an expression of
prejudice called speciesism.
Defenders of speciesism often argue that humans are
superior to other species because of their greater intelligence. Taken
to its logical extreme, this argument would imply that humans with
higher I.Q. scores should have more rights than humans with lower I.Q.
scores. However, in western society, we have developed the sensitivity
to extend basic human rights to all humans, whether or not they meet any
criteria for intelligence, capacity, or potential. But animals are
commonly experimented on without their consent, and even killed, for
food or for many other reasons, if it suits human purposes. This gross
inequality is what we are trying to address with the concept of "animal
rights."
Another common assertion is that humans are superior to
animals because we possess the capacity to understand morality, as well
as the ability to determine right from wrong. Since animals appear to
lack these same abilities, it is argued that humans are not obligated to
treat them in any particular way. However, if only those who are capable
of making and understanding moral judgments were to be accorded basic
human rights, then infants, young children, and the severely ill or
mentally challenged would be excluded. It is equally logical to affirm
that, since humans are the only ones who can make moral judgments, that
it is our responsibility to do so on behalf of the animals.
All animals, including humans, have the ability to
experience pleasure and pain. Unfortunately, humans have tended to
inflict tremendous amounts of pain and suffering on animals without any
consideration of how this affects the animals themselves. By making
compassionate daily choices, you can help end widespread animal abuse
and exploitation.
WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO EAT
Every year billions of animals are raised and killed for
human consumption. Unlike the family farms of the past, today's factory
farms are high-revenue, high-production entities. On a factory farm,
animals are confined to extremely small spaces, which allows farmers to
concentrate on maximizing production. Because this type of overcrowding
breeds disease, animals are routinely fed antibiotics and sprayed with
pesticides. They are also fed growth hormones to enhance productivity.
These chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones are subsequently passed on to
the environment, as well as to consumers of meat and dairy products.
Beef - About 41.8 million beef cattle are sslaughtered
annually in the United States. For identification purposes, cattle are
either branded with hot irons or "wattled," a process in which a hunk of
flesh from under the cow's neck is cut out. Raised on the range or in
feed lots, cattle when large enough are crammed into metal trucks and
taken to slaughter. On the way to slaughter, these cattle may travel for
hours in sweltering temperatures with no access to water. Animals unable
to stand due to broken legs or illness are called "downers" by the meat
industry. Downers are electrically prodded or dragged with chains to the
slaughterhouse, or left outside,
without food or water, to die.
Pork - In the United States each year more than 115
million pigs are raised on factory farms and slaughtered for human
consumption. Factory-farmed pigs are raised in crowded pens which are
enclosed inside huge barns. The air in these barns is filled with eye-
and lung-burning ammonia created by urine and fecal waste collected
below the floors. Breeding sows (or "animal production units") spend
their lives in metal crates so small that they cannot turn around.
Denied adequate space and freedom of movement, these sows often develop
stereotypical behavior, repetitive movement such as head bobbing, jaw
smacking, and rail biting. At the slaughterhouse, pigs are stunned
(often inadequately), hung upside down before their throats are cut, and
then bled to death. If workers fail to kill a pig with the knife, that
pig is carried on the conveyer belt to the next station, the scalding
tank, where he or she may be boiled alive.
Chicken - Every year approximately 8.785 billiion
chickens are raised and slaughtered for human consumption in the United
States. Crowded and unable to express natural behavior, chickens begin
to peck excessively at each other. Rather than solve this problem by
providing adequate space for the chickens, farmers "debeak" them, a
painful procedure where the bird's sensitive upper beak is sliced off
with a hot metal blade. Chickens raised for consumption have been
genetically altered to grow abnormally large. As a result, many broiler
chickens' bones are unable to support the weight of their muscle tissue,
which causes them to hobble in pain or become crippled. At the
slaughterhouse, chickens while still fully conscious are hung upside
down by their feet and attached to a moving rail. Birds missed by the
mechanical neck-slicing blade and boiled alive are called "redskins" by
the industry.
Eggs - There are more than 459 million egg--laying hens
in the United States. Of these, 97% are confined to "battery" cages --
tiny wire boxes roughly 16 by 18 inches wide. Five or six birds are
crammed into each cage. Battery hens are forced to produce 10 times more
eggs than they would naturally. When egg production slows, farmers use a
method called "forced molting" to shock the hens into losing their
feathers, which causes them to begin a premature laying cycle. "Forced
molting" involves starving the hens and denying them water for several
days' time, during which many hens die. To keep hens from pecking each
other in their crowded cages, farmers "debeak" them. Male chicks,
considered by-products of laying hen production, are either tossed into
plastic bags to suffocate slowly, or ground into animal feed while still
alive.
Milk - About half of the 10 million milkingg cows in the
U.S. are kept in confinement. Dairy cows are forced to produce 10-20
times the amount of milk they would naturally need for their calves.
This intensive production of milk is extremely stressful, and as a
result many dairy cattle "burn out"
at a much younger age than their normal life expectancy,
and up to 33% suffer painful udder infections. To continue milk
production, a cow must bear a calf each year. Although calves elsewhere
stay with their mothers for a year or more, on the dairy farm they are
immediately removed from their mothers so that the milk can be sold for
human consumption. Calves are sold to the beef or veal industry or
become replacements for "burned out" dairy cows.
WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO WEAR
Leather - By-products of the beef industry aree defined
by the parts of the cow that are not consumed by humans. These include
hooves, some organs, bones, and skin. Skin (leather) accounts for about
half of the by-product value of the beef industry. Like meat, leather is
a product made from animals that experienced the horrors of factory
farming, transport, and slaughter. Besides the initial environmental
hazards from raising cattle (deforestation, erosion, water use and
pollution, wildlife eradication, etc.), the leather industry uses some
of the most dangerous substances to prepare leather, including
formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, various oils, and some cyanide-based
dyes.
Wool - Sheep raised for wool are subjected to a lifetime
of cruel treatment. Lambs' tails are chopped off and males are castrated
without anesthetic. In Australia, where 80% of all wool comes from,
ranchers perform an operation called "mulesing" where huge strips of
skin are carved off the backs of lambs' legs. This procedure is
performed to produce scarred skin that won't harbor fly larvae, so that
the rancher can spend less time caring for the sheep. The shearing of
sheep at most wool ranches can be a brutal procedure, as workers are
encouraged to shear as quickly as possible. As a result, an estimated
one million Australian sheep die every year from exposure. Sheep that
are no longer useful for their wool are sent to crowded feedlots and
then transported to the slaughterhouse.
Fur - Each year more than 40 million animaals are
senselessly tortured and killed to satisfy the dictates of fashion.
Wild-caught fur is obtained by setting traps or snares to capture
fur-bearing animals. Once an animal is caught it may remain in the trap
or snare for several days starving or slowly strangling. Farm-raised fur
comes from animals kept in tiny, filthy cages, deprived of adequate
protection from the elements. As a result, animals develop stereotypical
behavior, including pacing, head bobbing, and self-mutilation. The
techniques used to kill animals on fur farms vary. Small animals such as
mink are killed by neck snapping or "popping." Larger animals such as
foxes are electrocuted by placing a metal clamp on the snout and forcing
a rod into the anus, and then connecting the metal to a power source.
Some animals are forced into bags or boxes and gassed with carbon
monoxide or carbon dioxide.
WHAT HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS YOU CHOOSE
Despite the modern alternatives to animal testing,
millions of animals suffer and die each year for the "good" of cosmetics
and household products. No law in the U.S. requires cosmetic, household
product, or office supply companies to test on animals, but many
companies do so to protect themselves against liability. (More than 550
companies do not test on animals.) However, animal testing does not
necessarily make a product safe for humans. Most animal tests were
developed over 50 years ago and are significantly flawed and inferior to
modern alternatives.
WHAT YOU CHOOSE FOR ENTERTAINMENT
Circus - Animals used in the circus spend thee majority
of the year imprisoned in small cages or on chains, traveling from show
to show. The training endured by circus animals is almost always based
on intimidation; trainers must break the spirit of the animals in order
to control them. It is not uncommon for an elephant to be tied down and
beaten for several days while being trained to perform, and tigers are
chained to their pedestals with ropes around their necks to choke them
down.
Rodeo - Horses and cows used in rodeos are aabused with
electrical prods, sharp spurs, and "bucking straps" that pinch their
sensitive flank area. During bucking events, horses and bulls may suffer
broken legs or run into the sides of the arena causing serious injury
and even death. During calf-roping events, a calf may reach a running
speed of 27 miles per hour before being jerked by the neck to an abrupt
stop by a lasso. This event has resulted in animals' punctured lungs,
internal hemorrhaging, paralysis, and broken necks.
Greyhound and Horse Racing - Once greyhounds begin their
racing careers, they are kept in cages for about 22-1/2 hours a day. The
cages are made of wire and are barely big enough for the dogs to turn
around. Dogs that are considered too slow to race are sold to research
facilities or killed (20,000-25,000 each year) -- very few are adopted.
Racehorses are bred for one purpose -- to make money. Because of this
motive, horses are often forced to run even when injured. More
racehorses are bred than can prove profitable on the racetrack. As a
result, hundreds of racehorses are sent to slaughter every year.
Zoos and Aquariums - While zoos and aquariums may appear
to be educational and conservation-oriented, most are designed with the
needs and desires of the visitors in mind, not the needs of the animals.
Many animals in zoos and aquariums exhibit abnormal behavior as a result
of being deprived of their natural environments and social structures.
Some zoos and aquariums do rescue some animals and work to save
endangered species, but most animals in zoos were either captured from
the wild or bred in captivity for the purpose of public display, not
species protection. The vast majority of captive-bred animals will never
be returned to the wild. When the facility breeds too many animals they
become "surplus" and often are sold to laboratories, traveling shows,
shooting ranches, or to private individuals who may be unqualified to
care for them.
YOU CAN HELP
Volunteer - Volunteering for local animal groupss or
shelters is a great way to help animals directly. Many organizations are
always in need of enthusiastic people to help with fundraising, petition
circulation, animal care, and public education. Volunteering for your
public official's election campaign can also be very effective, as long
as you let the official know why you are volunteering for his or her
campaign and what animal-related issues are important to you.
Educate Others - By sharing the information in this fact
sheet, you can teach others to choose a compassionate lifestyle, thus
making the world a more humane place for all animals, human and
non-human. Talk to your co-workers, family, and friends about your
compassionate living choices. Our experience has been that the most
effective way to increase sensitivity toward animals is through
credible, persuasive arguments presented in a non-confrontational
manner. A variety of fact sheets and brochures on animal protection
issues are available from API to help you do this.
Write Letters - By writing letters to your state and
federal representatives and senators, and urging them to support
legislation that protects animals, you can help strengthen legal
protections for animals. Elected officials work for you, so it is
important that you share your thoughts on issues with them. Companies
and businesses are also concerned with how the public perceives them, so
let them know! Also, by writing letters to the editor of magazines,
local newspapers, etc., you can share personal views and educate others
about animal issues.
You can send a handwritten or personally typed postcard
or letter, simply expressing how you feel, the reasons you feel the way
you do, and what action you would like to see taken. Be clear and to the
point. You may also call or send email, although a personal letter is
considered more effective. Letters to representatives and senators
should include the bill number when asking them to vote a certain way,
and be sure to address only one issue per letter. It is also important
to send thank-you letters when a legislator, company, business, or
individual acts on the behalf of animals.
Adopt Responsibly - When choosing a companion animal,
always rescue from a shelter, breed rescue, or from an individual who no
longer wishes to provide care for his or her companion. Make sure that
you are prepared to provide a lifetime of food, veterinary care, and
love for your new animal companion.
JOIN API's ACTION ALERT TEAM
API offers members and other supporters the opportunity
to become involved in key animal protection issues on a national level
and in their state and local community. Activists who join our Action
Alert Team are contacted when the need arises and asked to take actions
such as writing and calling public officials and businesses, circulating
petitions, or planning and attending special events and meetings.
Alerts cover a variety of animal protection issues and
are sent by both U.S. mail and email. You don't have to be a member of
API to join our activist team. To sign up for API's Action Alert Team,
see the API website at
www.api4animals.org
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