“When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.”
Just like humans, animals can feel pain. They do not exist for humans to exploit and abuse them, and they should be able to live their lives in peace. Simply said, the purpose of 'Animal rights' is to stop humans from mistreating and abusing animals.
In the Meat and Dairy Industry more than 29 million cows suffer and die every year. In the US, approximately 9 billion chickens are killed for their flesh each year, and 305 million hens are used for their eggs. More fish are killed each year than all the other animals combined, as tens of billions of fish and shellfish are slaughtered annually. In the Milk Industry, to produce the milk, female cows are forcibly inseminated and have their calves snatched from them almost immediately after their birth. If the calves are female they face the same fate as their mother, forcefully bred and confined for the rest of their lives. If the calves are male, they are deemed useless and either sold for beef, sent to veal facilities, or killed shortly after birth. Dairy products are not a nutritional requirement for humans. We can get all of the nutrients for optimal health from a high-quality diet that limits or contains no dairy. Is it ethical that when dairy products are not even a nutritional requirement for humans, we still put hundreds of cows through so much suffering?
Many cosmetic and hygiene brands use Animal Testing before releasing the products to the public. Terrified rabbits, mice, rats, and especially Guinea pigs have chemicals forced down their throats, dripped into their eyes, or smeared on their skin before they are killed if they don’t already die from exposure to these substances. I ask again…is it fair to torture these innocent creatures for human vanity?
Animals have been used repeatedly throughout the history of biomedical research, through Animal Testing in the Pharmaceutical Industry, which means they are used to test medicines and drugs before they are to be consumed by humans. It is inhuman to put animals through such practices for human benefit. In fact 95% of all drugs that are shown to be safe and effective in tests on animals fail in human trials because of differences between humans and animals. The truth is that out of 4,451 experimental cancer drugs, more than 93% of them failed after entering the first phase of human clinical trials even after having passed animal testing.
More effective and ethical alternatives to testing drugs on animals can be put in place, such as vitro testing. A method that allows researchers to predict more accurately how drugs, chemicals, cosmetics, and other consumer products will affect humans. Creating human cell-based, 3-dimensional tissue models that replicate key traits of normal human skin can replace animals in product development, regulatory testing, and basic exploratory research applications. If animal testing is effective for barely 8% of human drugs, is it really worth putting them through so much for so little gain?
It is not only the animals used for cosmetic testing that suffer due to human vanity; the fashion industry utilises furs, pelts, skins, bones, and tusks of animals just to make coats and purses, and jewellery that have no purpose other than to adorn and decorate humans. Even popular products today, like Nike shoes, are made out of real leather and glorified for it. Teenagers are unwittingly endorsing animal abuse by indulging in the latest trends and essentially wearing bits of an animal carcass on their feet. Do innocent animals have to be killed and skinned just to make a purse or a pair of shoes?
As of today, many countries around the world have put laws into place to ensure that animals get the rights and treatment they deserve. However, this progress is but a fraction of what we can do to end the suffering of animals. Such efforts should continue to make this a free world for both humans and animals.
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