The Importance Of Animal Rights For Animals

Every second grader has gone to the zoo to see lions and tigers in their cages and learned about what they eat and a few interesting facts about the animals. What the second graders do not think about is how the animals got to the zoo and what a day in the life of a zoo animal really consists of. No American could ever imagine living in solitary confinement in any situation other than being punished for a crime in jail, so what makes that different for animals? They did not commit crimes, they did not do anything to deserve to be sent away to public zoos and aquariums to be punished. Animals are voiceless, they have no way to defend themselves and stand up for their rights. Most Americans do not see animals as creature that deserve rights, …show more content…
Lisa A. Kemmerer eloquently explains exploitative enterprises as vivisection, cockfighting, and factory farming as forms of animals used for entertainment and personal benefit in the book Sister Species. Cockfights are a disgusting form of entertainment where you can bet on a chicken while it fights to the death against another chicken. Purposely having innocent animals fight until one reaches death is an action that is completely unfathomable and stomach turning. Kemmerer explains that animals need someone to speak up for them. They need a voice because they cannot share theirs. Some humans think it is ethical to have chickens fight to the death but would never even think about having humans do that, why? Why can people treat living, breathing creatures with feelings just like humans fight to the death, all for a gamble to win a little extra pocket cash? Somewhere down the road the morals of treating all living creatures with respect and love got misconceived and it is time we change that. Diane L. Beers author of the novel For the Prevention of Cruelty explains that the words animal rights bring up mixed emotions, and moving images and reactions. Some agree while others shrug it off as if it does not matter, but most have unsure thoughts on the topic. They struggle between morals, legal and philosophical questions brought up when debating the topic. Although today there are thousands of organizations that educate the public on the rights and mistreatment of nonhumans and the issues brought along with that. Today there are more people than ever standing up for the speechless, standing up for the helpless animals who cannot stand up for themselves. These animal rights activists are working together to enlighten the minds of those who do not believe animals have