Animal Rights: Turning the Tables

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” Many animal activists see a strong comparison between animals used for research or entertainment and slaves (Day, 1994). Every year millions of animals are killed while being used for testing and entertainment. Some may say that animals do not have emotions so using them for these types of activities is acceptable. In spite of that, a huge question that arises is whether or not animals should have rights. This appears to be a controversial topic, considering that some people believe activities such as circuses, rodeos, and testing on animals is completely fine. It is evident that these people are unaware of what other activities are happening behind the scenes. In reality, activities such as abuse towards the animals occur during these forms of family entertainment such as rodeos and circuses. As well as, millions of animals dying or living with permanent damage to their bodies. Not only this but there are also other activities such as dog fighting, cock fighting, and other types of animal fighting which is illegal but still happens behind closed doors. These activities harm animals while people use them for their personal entertainment. If animals do have feelings and emotions what makes them different from humans, should they have rights too?
Every year millions of animals are used for experimentation, thousands of which are rabbits, dogs, cats, and primates such as monkeys and apes (Day, 1994). Researchers claim that these studies are beneficial, but if they’re so beneficial why have they not found a cure for cancer or AIDS yet? Researchers continue to test products and multiple treatments for d...

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