Contents Foreword 13 Introduction 16 Chapter 1: Should Animals Have Rights? Chapter Overview: The Animal Rights Debate Joseph Lubinski Animal rights and animal welfare advocates seek to advance the protections animals have under the law, while those opposed to animal rights believe that existing laws already provide adequate protections for animals and that rights should be reserved for human beings. Yes: Animals Should Have Rights Animals Should Have a Right Not to Be Exploited Tom Regan It is fundamentally wrong to view animals as human resources to be eaten, manipulated, or exploited for sport or money because animals, like humans, have inherent value. Nothing but the total abolition of animal agriculture, research, and hunting will guarantee animal rights. Differences Between Animals and Humans Do Not Justify Denying Animals Basic Rights Lesli Bisgould All animals, including humans, are complex creatures, each with a special type of intelligence. Differences between animals and humans are not morally relevant to deciding who is entitled to basic, fundamental rights, such as the right to live and the right not be used for another s interests. 21 31 39
Whether a Right or Not, Animals Should Be Treated Morally Sam Vaknin Animals in pain exhibit all the behaviors of humans in pain, although they communicate their pain in nonverbal ways. Since it is generally immoral to kill, torture, or cause pain, this moral responsibility should apply automatically to animals. Animals Have Rich Emotional Lives and Consciousness Ross Robertson Stories and studies of animals and their relations with members of their own species, with other types of species, and with people show that animals, like humans, have rich emotions and other forms of consciousness, and possibly even a soul. 42 49 No: Animals Should Not Have Rights God Did Not Make Animals the Moral 58 Equivalent of Humans Randy Stiver Animals are not morally the same as human beings because, according to the Bible, God made humankind in his own image and gave man and woman dominion over the animal world. Animals Are Not Moral Agents and So 62 Cannot Have Rights Tibor R. Machan Animals, even if they may have a measure of intelligence and self-awareness, are driven largely by instinct rather than moral judgment, so they cannot have rights similar to those enjoyed by humans. Giving Animals Rights Is Antihuman 65 Wesley J. Smith The idea that humans are a unique and special species with intrinsic moral value is under assault by animal rights advocates, because they erroneously maintain that humans and animals have equal moral worth.
Animals Need Better Care, Not Equal Rights 73 Jon Katz Animal rights advocates suggest that people should be guardians of their pets rather than owners, but guardianship implies that pets have a free will. Instead, people should be more responsible by training and helping their pets live in a human world. Chapter 2: Does the Food Industry Mistreat Animals? Chapter Preface 79 Factory Farming Ignores the Suffering 82 of Animals Peter Singer, Interviewed by Oliver Broudy Speciesism treating other species as things or property that we use to produce agricultural products at the cheapest cost is ethically wrong because it ignores the suffering of animals. The Animal Agriculture Industry Cares About the Welfare of Animals Charles W. Stenholm Contrary to the claims of animal rights advocates, the animal agriculture industry cares about and seeks to improve conditions for farm animals because its livelihood depends on their health and well-being. Factory Farms Mistreat Animals and Endanger Human Health Kelly Overton The time has come to reconsider how we as humans treat animals. The mistreatment of animals by our factory farms is linked to an increasing number of human health issues, including mad cow disease, human resistance to antibiotics, and health consequences of global warming. 92 98
Modern Animal Agriculture Is Necessary for Low-Cost Food Sarah Muirhead The trend of keeping companion animals, or pets, is causing consumers to support animal rights for farm animals, but consumers fail to understand that production animals are necessary as a source of low-cost, highquality human nutrition. Caging Chickens Protects Them from Avian Flu Lynne Miller Contrary to the claims of animal rights activists, cage systems for chicken farms provide better care for chickens, because they protect the animals from wild birds that might carry the deadly avian bird flu. Free-Range Farms Will Not Stop Farm Animals Suffering Lee Hall Animal agriculture accounts for 98 percent of all animal suffering and killing, but animal welfare proposals, such as free-range farms, will not advance animal rights. Instead, we must challenge the very idea of using animals for food and other commodities. A Vegan Lifestyle Is Necessary to Stop the Mistreatment of Animals Bruce Friedrich Animals suffer and die just like humans, and eating them is an act of gluttony and disregard for our own health, for the environment, for the global poor, and especially for our fellow animals. Chapter 3: Is Animal Medical Experimentation Justified? Chapter Overview: The Animal Experimentation Debate Simon Festing Use of animals in biomedical research will allow development of new medicines to save lives and alleviate the suffering of millions of people. 101 105 108 116 124
Yes: Animal Medical Experimentation Is Justified Human Well-Being Requires the Use of Animals for Medical Research Alex Epstein The animal rights movement sacrifices human well-being for the sake of animals; human survival and progress demand that we kill animals when they endanger us, eat them when we need food, and use them in medical research to fight disease. Animals Should Not Be Given Rights at the Expense of Human Needs Edwin A. Locke Thousands of lives are saved by animal research, but animal rights activists ignore this fact when they improperly seek to elevate amoral animals to a moral level all at the expense of the health and well-being of humans. Mistreatment of Animals by Researchers Is Rare Tom Still The truth about animal-based medical research is that it is mostly focused on mice and rabbits rather than primates, and, thanks to government regulation and selfpolicing by researchers, instances of animal mistreatment are rare. No: Animal Medical Experimentation Is Not Justified The Value of Animal Experimentation Is Exaggerated Christopher Anderegg, Kathy Archibald, Jarrod Bailey, Murry J. Cohen, Stephen R. Kaufman, and John J. Pippin Although proponents of animal research claim that it has contributed to a host of medical advances, many key medical discoveries were instead achieved through clinical research, observation of human patients, and human autopsy. 127 131 134 137
Superior Research Methods Make Animal Testing Unjustified Alistair Currie The continuing and increasing use of animals in cosmetics testing and medical research is bad public policy because it inflicts needless suffering on millions of animals, and because new, non-animal-using techniques could be used instead. Using Animals for Medical Testing May Be Wrong for Scientific Rather than Ethical Reasons Arthur Allen Most people accept animal testing, since the alternative is to conduct medical tests on humans, but animal tests often fail to accurately predict the side effects of drugs in humans. 147 150 Chapter 4: Should It Be Allowed for Animals to Be Used for Entertainment? Chapter Preface 156 Yes: Animals Should Be Allowed to Be Used for Entertainment Sportfishing Does Not Hurt Fish 159 Dave Lear Animal rights advocates want to ban sportfishing based on studies that show that fish respond to certain stimuli, but fish brains do not have a cerebral cortex and thus cannot feel pain. Is Bear Hunting Necessary to Protect Both 162 Bears and Humans? Sara B. Miller A bear hunting referendum in Maine has residents divided; supporters say the current practice of luring bears with bait is cruel, and opponents claim the bear population will explode if the initiative passes.
Circus Animals Are Well Treated 165 James Randerson A British government report on circus animals found no mistreatment. Circus supporters argue that animal shows are part of our cultural heritage and that circus animals only perform natural behaviors and are treated as humanely as possible. Traditional Rodeos Should Be Allowed 168 to Continue Lorne Gunter Rodeo associations do their best to protect livestock, and it is inappropriate for animal rights activists to seek to eliminate a popular sport that maintains a worthwhile connection to Western tradition. No: Animals Should Not Be Allowed to Be Used for Entertainment Bullfighting Should Be Banned 171 Caroline Lucas Public appetite for the cruel blood sport of bullfighting has long been on the wane, but that doesn t stop the Spanish government from heavily subsidizing the declining industry. Sport Hunting Should Be Banned 176 Delaware Action for Animals There was once a time when Americans needed to hunt for food, but today sport hunting the killing of animals for recreation inflicts pain, injury, trauma, and death on living, sentient creatures and is at odds with a humane society. Zoos Are Unnecessary and Should 182 Be Discontinued Richard Fagerlund In an age of cable television and the Internet, where people can see and study almost any animal in the world, zoos have lost their relevance. They also are cruel, confining animals in restricted and inadequate enclosures and sometimes selling animals for extra income.
Rodeos Are Sanctioned Animal Abuse 185 and Should Be Stopped Angela Timmons Rodeos are not a sport but rather a form of sanctioned abuse and cruelty against innocent, defenseless animals; if humans want to watch extreme sports, let them beat each other, not animals. Organizations to Contact 189 Bibliography 195 Index 201