Animals and Their Legal Rights - Essay Example

Animals Rights Since inception, a common perception prevailed that believed in “dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle and over all the world and over every creeping thing that creped upon the earth” [1]. However, mankind started treating animals as their property in many ways. Mankind was never entitled to use animals for entertainment purposes, to say the least. The realization has been around in this regard and throughout centuries people have raised voices for animal rights The first instance in this regard was noticed in 1635 when legislation was brought to the forefront that opposed the use of sheep fur for wool-making [2].

The British Philosopher John Locke gave the idea of animal rights and negated the concept of torture on animals. God has created living beings in a way that limits their abilities and hence makes them directly prone to weaknesses. Weaknesses could be in different forms. It could be in form of mental shortcomings or physical shortcomings. All living creatures are susceptible to pain and suffering. While human beings are gifted with the tongue and can raise their voice against any oppression and suffering brought upon them, animals are devoid of the tongue to express their discomfort and are given limited wisdom.

They are termed sentient creatures. Regardless of animal or human being, anything that falls in the category of living being had to be treated with affection and mercy, and no torture, and no exertion is permitted in any law whatsoever. Religions all over the world have been of the message that anything that falls under the category of a living being had rights in terms of being treated with clemency and mildness. The first to raise their voice on this front and create awareness was English Philosopher John Locke; through his writings, he provided an explanation of natural rights John Locke gave us separation idea between natural rights and legal rights.

He identified and defined natural rights as life, liberty, and property. According to the concept of animal rights, just like human beings animals feel both pleasure and pain, they experience emotions and get adapted to certain environments and people, and therefore they cannot be treated like stones and rocks in any way. They should not be used as helping material without the consideration of them being living creatures. An analogy in this regard is usually made between infants and mentally challenged human beings, regardless of their state, we all treat them with affection, we do not deprive them of any rights, and the same must be applicable to animals.

The animals may not be able to raise their voice for their respective rights but human being superior creatures gifted with brains and consciousness, have a serious responsibility that obliges them to make laws that protect animals in various ways. These include the right to live freely, birds must not be caged, nor should their wings be clipped, and dangerous animals should be left in the wild because that’s their world. They may not be able to express their hunger and thirst in words, but their food must not be cut out, and if domesticated, food and other means must be provided to them on an hourly basis.

Different animals have different rights in different paradigms, The sea life has a different set of rules that must be followed if animal rights are to be given to them. No mass Fishing should be done in the sea, on land the small animals that pose no harm to mankind must not be disturbed in any way. Birds in the sky must be allowed to fly in the sky. In modern times animals are being used for various reasons on an experimental basis. The use of animals for experimental reasons in scientific measures is another serious issue in the modern day.

They are being tested and tried with different painful methods and are tested with types of medicines that have a severe negative effect on them. The use of animals for such reasons must be stopped at all levels. The animals are used in multiple ways that can be subject to their misuse. The first and foremost is food, A large section of the world population exists that is totally vegetarian. If they can survive why not those who are meat lovers? Another serious offense in this regard is the purpose of entertainment, this includes the horses and camels being used for racing reasons, the brutal fights being fought in different parts of the world on an exhibition basis, and various beautiful birds being caged and put in the display.

Large wild animals are put in zoos for public exhibition. Finally, the clothing issue includes the use of animal skin and fur for human clothing. It ranges from snakeskin to sheep fur. Human beings can survive and live without the use of all three factors mentioned that serve as maltreatment of animals.