Transcript Document

Animal Welfare: belief that animals should be treated humanely. This
includes proper housing, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment,
responsible care, proper handling, and humane euthanasia or slaughter.
Includes the belief that animals can be used for human purposes but
that they should be treated so that discomfort is kept to a minimum.
Animal Rights: belief that animals should not be exploited. People
belief that animals should not be used for food, clothing,
entertainment, medical research, or product testing. This includes the
use of animals in rodeos, zoos, circuses, and even as pets. They
believe it is ethically, morally, and inherently wrong to use animals for
human purposes under any condition. Animals should not be used in
experiments in which diseases and various therapy methods are
studied.
-The modern animal rights movement (which began in the early 1970s)
is composed largely of people from urban areas who are vegetarians.
-In 1990, animal rights groups staged a “March for the Animals” rally
in Washington, D.C.
-America has the distinction of having the first laws on the books to
protect farm animals from cruel treatment. Passed by the Massachusetts
Bay Colony in 1641.
-The 1st anticruelty law was passed by the NY legislature in 1828.
-In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (ASPCA) was formed in NY.
-In 1906, the Animal Transportation Act was passed to protect animals
traveling long distances by rail.
-In 1958, the Humane Slaughter Act was passed and later amended
in the 1970s to include the humane handling of animals prior to and
during slaughter.
-In 1966, Congress enacted the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act
(AWA), which regulated laboratories that use animals in research.
-The Horse Protection Act was passed in 1970 and amended in 1976
to protect horses and regulate horse show businesses.
-In 1992, the Animal Enterprise Protection Act was passed to protect
facilities (like farms, zoos, aquariums, circuses, rodeos, fairs) from
intruders vandalizing such places or releasing animals from there.
Specieism: the term animal rights activists use for the belief that any use
of animals by humans reflects a bias that humans are superior to animals.
Animal rights activists believe that animals have the same rights as
humans. Animal rights activists contend that one cannot ignore the rights
of animals while advocating the rights of humans, because humans are
animals.
Animal welfare is the stand that animals should be treated humanely and
without cruelty. Animals should have proper housing, management,
nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, and
handling. Animal welfare activists believe that animals can be used in
research as long as all measures are taken to ensure that the animals are
cared for humanely.
Animal rights activists argue that modern farming is inhumane and that
eating meat is unhealthy. They contend that modern farming is controlled
by large corporations that care only about profits and not about the
welfare of animals.
Farmers have led the way in animal welfare. It has always been in their
best interest to care for animals humanely and to see that they are wellfed and free of diseases.
Farming in the US is not controlled by large corporations. Of the 2.2
million farms in the US, 97% are family owned and operated; only 7,000
are non-family-controlled corporations.
No studies can substantiate that a vegetarian diet is healthier than a diet
that includes meat, milk, and eggs.
Animals are used in three areas of experimentation:
- research in biomedical & behavior sciences
- testing of products for their safety
- education where animals are used for demonstrations &
dissections
Animal rights activists believe that animal experimentation is unethical
and unnecessary and that alternatives to animal experimentation should
be used.
Animals should be used only when no other alternatives exist. Many
people believe that animal experimentation and research hold the key to
successful cure of AIDS, cancer, and heart disease.
Animal rights activists believe that regulated recreational hunting and
trapping is inhumane and unnatural. They also believe that hunters and
trappers kill merely to inflict suffering. They would also like to see a stop
to the use of hunting dogs. Animal rights activists also claim that hunting
and trapping does not prevent overpopulation, that hunting for food is
unnecessary, and that hunting should be banned completely.
Hunting advocates note that they are the prime revenue sources for
preserving non-endangered wildlife. Hunters make up about 7% of our
population. Hunters have been largely responsible for initiating wildlife
laws and their enforcement as well as the establishment of parks and
wildlife reserves. Hunting programs are designed to harvest only the
surplus animals.
More than 7,000 groups are involved in animal protection;
400 of these are considered animal rights groups. Many of
the groups do not consider themselves as animal rights or
animal welfare groups but are dedicated to the preservation
of a specific species of animal and its habitat.