Argument about animal rights and welfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Argument about animal rights and welfare - Essay Example He argued in 1785 that humans have responsibilities only toward other humans, and that "unkindness to animals is opposing to mans obligation to himself (Thomas A. Mappes, 2002 ). We have the ethical obligation to take care of the rights of animal and need to work as much as we can, for their welfare. We need to ask ourselves about what kind of legacy we would leave for our children. What impact would it have on our future generations? Animals have an equal right to live on this earth with us. When we do give our efforts for the promotion of animal rights and welfare, we are doing our part in their protection and preservation(Richard H. Corrigan & Mary E. Farrell (eds.)). Jeremy Bentham, even though deeply opposed to the idea of natural rights, argued, following Rousseau, that it was the aptitude to suffer, not the skill to reason, that should be the standard of how we treat other beings. If sagacity were the criterion, many humans, including babies and disabled inhabitants, would also have to be treated as though they were things. We must be ready to be the saviors of animals, inform and educate people about the rights and the welfare of animals. The best way to start this is by giving lectures in educational institutions, on the neighborhood level, on the city level, and on the larger level, by both going to places personally, and also by using all the methods of media and communications technology that we have developed so far. We need to train people and impart knowledge of animal rights and welfare, to pass on this knowledge about animal rights and welfare, so that people know the facts, and are able to separate facts from fiction (Orlans, 1998 ). Following the perception of Peter Singer who argues, are predicated on the aptitude to suffer, and nothing more, and once it is recognized that a being has interests, those interests must be given equal contemplation. The degree to which animals can suffer is consequently a key