What is our Blog Wall?

This page includes blog posts from our various team members! Differently from our “Get Info” tab, this page is dedicated to our own personal claims. Get to know our individual passions and opinions surrounding animal politics and liberation.

What do you think about these topics? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @OuiAreALP or using the #ALP

POSTS

• Author: Whilen Morales

• Author: Whilen Morales

Consider animals’ deaths and how some ethical associations should be avoided. Peter Singer stated that “most human beings are specialists to kill other animals when they would not kill human beings” Humans create a hierarchy and put us right on the top. Animals suffering tyranny is just a small contribution to the argument for their freedom. It is incredible how animals are not free only because of humans’ needs. Those needs are not only food, but the desire to kill them. Animals must be freed to allow them to live their deserved lives, free of pain. “Similarly, because of the association of anti-AR (Animal Rights) attitudes and religious attendance and denominational affiliation with political conservatism, frames that may be viewed as liberal should likely be avoided.” (Austin and Flynn, 150) Churches and religious associations oppose this unethical treatment. Considered not agreeing to Animal Rights and yet having a religious attendance is also unethical.

• Author: Kayla Battle

Zoos aren’t the most fun place for an animal to be in the first place, let alone zoos with unruly visitors. The animals involved have no choice, but to be stuck in these cages. While it may be a lot to ask for them to be set free, it shouldn’t be too big of an ask for visitors to respect their space. People in zoos can accidentally offend or disturb an animal with their behavior. People are often free to wander zoos alone or in small groups, so they are essentially unsupervised. Guidance can be very important in a space like this, especially because children are often amongst those wandering. Studies argue, “education could be the link between reducing negative visitor behaviour and thus improving animal welfare” (Orams and Hill, 1998; Bexell et al., 2013; Sherwen et al., 2014). There is a natural correlation between how the animals are treated by those around them and with their feelings and wellbeing. Although signs show a level of effort to protect the animals, the unreliableness of partakers’ actions is apparent. To protect the animals’ wellbeing they must tame the visitors. After all, these are zoos, not barns (although nice barns might be a better alternative).

• Author: Jenneta Deljanin

There are lots of laws in place that are made to help/protect different species of animals in the United States. Most animal protection legislation occurs at the state level as well as a handful of federal laws. Additionally, some cities and counties pass ordinances to protect animals. Usually, state animal protection laws focus primarily on companion animals (dogs, cats, birds, etc.), though there are some state wildlife protection laws in place as well. Now, each of the fifty states has a felony animal cruelty law on the books. There are laws regulating how long animal shelters must “hold” stray animals before they can be adopted. There are also laws about how frequently pets must be vaccinated against certain illnesses like rabies. States often also have some regulations concerning the commercial breeding of companion animals. There are even some laws that allow pets to be included in domestic violence protective orders. Though state and federal laws are important, it is the local laws that not only protect the animals in that area, but they can also allow for more expansive protection laws to come in the future.

• Author: Kiara Battle

In America, animals are classically identified as property or food in law. No matter how sentient or sentimental your pet is, it is not lawfully considered individuals. Consequently, they can’t be filed as codependents on your taxes, so despite all the care, love, and money you put towards your pet, it’s nothing more than chattel. Moreover, no different from an apartment lease (something you sign up for and are obligated to take care of). Beyond household animals, farm animals (other than birds because birds are excluded from livestock laws) 

With language so explicitly denying the personal interest and individuality of nonhuman animals, how can we expect any growth in the animal rights movement? This is not to say that American laws have even been particularly mindful of wording; specifically, referring to laws that address the African American population as ⅔ human or immigrants as “aliens.” Nevertheless, in order to see true systemic change legal language needs adjustment.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.