Animal zoos are a large form of animal entertainment. The only real purpose is to entertain people and make money. Whenever you go to a zoo you can see that the animals are bored and restless (Hurley). They do not have the freedom and movement of their natural habitat they are obviously deprived of (Hurley). “To confine animals is to basically put them in prison” (Hurley).
“Speciesm is the belief that humans are inherently superior to animals”(Hurley). They believe that animals exist solely for satisfying human requirements (Hurley). Not only is it arrogant, but the logic behind it is also disturbing. The belief that humans are superior to all other things is not so different from white supremacist’s beliefs (Hurley). It is almost as if we are justifying racism and prejudice.
“Meat is not a thing”(Hurley). “It is an animal who has been slaughtered, dismembered, and neatly packaged” (Hurley). The Human Slaughter Act is a law proposed to pick up conditions for slaughter houses (Hurley). “However, it only protects them from suffering during the actual slaughter” (Hurley). It does not protect them from and exploitation that occurs facing the slaughter.
The consumption of meat is not only harming animals but our bodies and the environment as well (Hurley). Animal manure, polluted water, over – grazing, rain forest destruction, animal suffering, soil loss, and global warming are some of the effects of meat consumption (Hurley). “Millions of acres of land are cleared each year to raise animals for food” (Hurley). “Land where cattle and other animals graze becomes a wasteland. It cannot sustain growth” (Hurley). So many resources are wasted during the meat production process.
“Animal experimentation is never justified” (Hurley). “Conscious monkeys are forced to inhale toxic smoke” (Hurley). “Improperly anaesthized dogs are subject to invasive surgery” (Hurley). “Blinded cats are dropped into vats of water” (Hurley). Guinea pigs are coated with substances that eat through their organs. Practice of using animals in medical research is impossible to justify. “Superior power of humans does not give us right to keep animals in isolation and put them through harmful experiments” (Hurley). “The reliance on animal testing to ascertain the safety of chemicals instills a false sense of confidence that prescription drugs we take are safe” (Hurley). “Many drugs that are safe for animals was later found to have harmful side affects on humans” (Hurley).
“It takes sixteen coyotes, eighteen lynx, sixty mink, forty-two foxes, and forty raccoons to make a forty inch coat” (Kullberg). “Animals raised on fur farms are trapped in tiny cages their whole lives” (Kullberg). “Caged mink are so deprived of normal activity that they often self-mutilate” (Kullberg). Like humans, animals undergo anxiety, fear, and disease.
Auctions are legal and problematic. “They serve as reputable breeders”(Rock). No other state has as many dog auctions as Missouri (Rock). “Society says auctions are cruel because dogs are kept in metal cages for hours, sometimes deprived of food and water” (Rock). Animals are sold like they are cars. “Any Missourian who is civilized and has a reasonable grasp of the responsibilities to provide descent care to companion animals is going to be horrified by the auctions” (Rock). A dog is sold about every fifty-eight seconds and replace the sold dog with a new one almost immediately (Rock). “Some dogs sat in their own feces, a bull terrier cowered in a corner, and an Italian Greyhound shook almost uncontrollably” (Rock).
You can do a lot of things to help promote animal rights. First off, don’t wear fur. There are seventeen million animals trapped each year for clothing in the US (Kullberg). Don’t shop at department stores that support fur boutiques. “Speak out against fake fur and support legislation to ban cruel leg-hold traps” (Kullberg). Adopt a dog or a cat from a pound or a shelter. “You will be boycotting puppy mills and saving animals from being put to death” (Kullberg). Take good care of animals. Many suffer when you crop their ears or tails. “Protect your animals and never leave them alone in a car” (Kullberg). Animal rights are very essential and must to be acknowledged.