Together we can protect animals and land through law!
Tasnima Tanisha
Animals are not ours to harm and abuse just because we can. They are not our playthings, but sentient beings in their own right. In the United States, people often say that they love animals and that they consider their pets to be part of their family, but many draw the line at animal rights. Isn’t it enough that we treat them humanely? For animals, having rights is everything. If animals have their rights they would not be trapped, beaten, caged, transported, harmed or killed. By granting animals rights, the sum of suffering in the world would reduce dramatically.The Department of Agriculture issued the 1966 Animal Act even animals used in commercial farming are entitled to a certain base-level of treatment.
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Author: Whilen Morales
How is animals’ freedom violated and infringed? Is it even possible? Although it sounds exaggerated, it indeed is violated and infringed. Around the world, there are clubs specializing in selling animals called auction houses, which oversee selling an animal at the highest possible price. A lot of rich people, animal lovers, hunters, etc., attend these auction houses to make bids about a specific animal. “Everyone’s got a budget. You want an elephant; we can get you one. You want lion or buffalo, that’s easy.” (Scully, 47) these animals that will subsequently get killed, be kept in captivity, or be raised in a more “humane” environment, which will not work or happen due to the background they have: bad-treatment, stress, pain, among other things.
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.
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