Protecting Animal Rights

Animal rights is ethically justified, in the fact that it's basic principle lies in the foundations of the value of life. If you believe that animal rights is unjustified then you also have to believe that human rights is unjustified. What makes someone care about another persons life? What makes me care about your life? Why are murderers sentenced to prison? Society as a whole puts value on life...and those that do not value life (like the murderers) are removed from society, and made to suffer the consequences. If you look at it from that perspective, you will see the major error in a previous debate. We do have a moral responsibility to protect animals. Because we, as moral agents have the ability to think, make decisions, and also decide what is morally right or morally wrong. If we lived in a world where animals had no rights, it would then be acceptable to have dog fights, mutilate animals bodies for the fun of it, kill a neighbors pet, have sexual intercourse with an animal, but obviously that is not the case. We live in a world that believes animals should be protected to some extent. That is why there is punishment for any of these actions that I stated above. The question is, what rights do we as people have? No living creature, including humans are born with inherent rights. These rights have been given to us by a society that can and have made moral decisions regarding the value of life. For example, what makes a mother obligated to breastfeed her child? A mother is morally responsible to provide her child sustenance. If a mother wasn't morally responsible for her child's well being, her child would surely die. A mother does decide that it is ethically right to breastfeed her child, that her child does have the right to life. If mother's, as a whole, decided it to be ethically wrong to breastfeed their children, arguing that it was their bodies undergoing the breastfeeding, and that they shouldn't have to perform any acts that were against their own will, our species would eventually become extinct. This is just one example I have provided that supports the fact that humans do put value on life. It is this moral responsibility (deciding to one's self whether or not something is right or wrong) that makes us, as a society, responsible in deciding what is right or wrong for all other species. Moral responsibility exists within all humans at some point, in some shape or form, this can not be argued. It is whether we decide to do what is right, or whether we decide to do what is wrong. It is through these choices that we ultimately have to suffer the consequences of our actions. In an earlier debate, I was surprised with the voting poll. Most agreed animal rights to be ethically unjustified. If animals rights are unjustified, so are our rights as humans. Who says that we are entitled to freedom of speech? Who says that we have the right to pursue happiness? Who says that we have the right to live? The Constitution of Independence are laws which were created by a society to give us our basic human rights. Laws are put into place to create harmony, order, and community within a society. As our society consciously evolves, so does it's moral obligations. Laws are evolving and changing everyday. Things that were once accepted may not be accepted today. Animals have more rights today because we have decided that animals deserve these rights. Animals deserve these rights because humans value life. This is not to be confused with the levels of value. For example, an individual values their own life over another person's life. An individual values their immediate family over another individuals family. An individual values the members of their own society over members of another society. Humans value human life over any other species life. Another example, if a child and a dog were in the middle of a road and a car was heading towards them and there was an ability to save one, we would save the child. The question then, is what if there was the ability to save them both? Most would try to save both. Another point that supports the value we have placed on life. In conclusion, I personally enjoy living in a world where people have taken moral responsibility for animals. I like living in a world where individuals are punished for their crimes against animals. I like living in a world where people are protecting the extinction of certain animals. I am glad there are shows like Animal Cops. I am glad that there are organizations like PETA, which bring some of these horrific things to light. I am glad to say that we have people who love animals so much that they are willing to come into harms way to save and/or protect them. I am glad that laws have been established to punish those who maliciously harm animals. It sure beats the alternative. You can imagine that world all on your own.