Animal exploitation can take many different forms, mostly debated are testing for medical reasons and practices of slaughtering them for food.Īnimals are often abused for the reason that they cannot reason, cannot talk they can however suffer because they are living beings. But often it is done without a moral conscience to the animals this reason being is that they are not human. Animals are often exploited for many different uses the reason is that they are much like humans. The ethical treatment should always be humane and morally right. Why should animals die because of a scientific experiment? Animals should have right to life they are a breathing living creature, with a heart, a brain, and blood running through their vain just as you and I do. It is unethical for a human to take an Animal out of its natural habitat to be prodded, poked, tested, and in constant pain. It is utilitarian that an animal have moral rights as a human being would. Human beings should treat animals as they would want to be treated. I do not believe that the lack of intelligence in animals give us the moral freedom to inflict pain and suffering upon them. It is my belief that animals are living breathing creatures capable of feeling pain, pleasure, and suffering just as humans do. “Some individuals believe that practices such as sport hunting, the consumption of animal flesh, and the use of animals in biomedical and psychological research are unjustified and cruel in some cases, the very thought of these activities result in emotional distress.įor others, these practices pose no particular moral problem and prompt no visceral revulsion” (Galvin, 1992). People differ considerably on what they consider to be appropriate ethical treatment of animals. Other people may admit that animals are entitled to moral consideration will often give the problem a very low priority rating, never really stepping up and taking a stand against the cruel and inhumane treatment of animals (Midgely, 1983). Those who would answer that question in a negative way are believed to dismiss animal claims all together. 7) Are animals entitled to moral consideration on their own behalf? Some would answer yes, while others would say no. Moral equal theories extend equal consideration and moral status to animals. The utilitarian theory allows us to examine ethical choices and in contrast, relativism allows us to determine our course of action with ethical values. I am an animal activist and stand in favor of the protecting of animals I cannot stand for animals to be mistreated in any way. We must choose the act that minimizes pain and suffering and that will do the least harm. The approach that I most agree with is the utilitarianism ethical theory this theory suggests that there is an obvious solution that is fair, and it may be one that appeals to common sense, also when faced with a set of choices, the chosen act should have the greatest number affected by the choice (Ethics & Social Responsibility 1-7). Each person has their own point of view on how to treat animals. I will also discuss relativism as it relates to the ethical treatment of animals. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that places the focus of right or wrong solely on the consequences or outcome of choosing one action over another. I will also discuss the utilitarianism ethical theory, which is a theory that takes into consideration the interest of others. In this paper I will discuss the ways that animals are being mistreated and exploited. Things are not just black and white areas when referring to the ethical treatment of animals, there also seems to be many shades of grey. When it comes to animals the range can be very vast from extreme animal haters to extreme animal lovers, the first group can be very cruel to animals and have no concern for their welfare, and the second group has more of a tendency to treat pets as idols and worships them, treating them as equals. There are those that believe vegetarianism may be in fashion while fur coats are no longer acceptable. Often they believe that it is necessary to use animals in medical research their thought is that testing various substances on animals may lead to finding new medical solutions, medicines and treatments. They would argue that this is survival and is justified they would further argue that animals are not humans and were put on this earth for the benefit of man. Some people are “meat eaters” and consume meat at nearly every meal. When referring to the ethical treatment of animals it seems as though everyone has an opinion. There are both positive and negative sides which seem to have major contradictions. The issue of animal rights is very complex.
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