A detailed look at animal rights
“Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one for whom the torture and death of his fellow men is amusement in itself. -James Anthony Froude, Oceania, 1886
Primitive men lived in harmony with nature, including the animal and plant world; and it is only after the spread of civilization that the rights of non-human organisms were endangered. The differences between Homo sapiens and other animals are myriad, but evolution teaches us that we are at a fundamental level bound by profound similarities.
Any practice that does not respect the rights of these animals is wrong, regardless of human need, context, or culture. The Hindu religion has enshrined respect for nature in three basic elements, viz. faith in God, non-dualistic vision of Purush and Prakriti and a set of rules for duties and worship. Animals and birds are thought of as not only Vahanas or Vehicles on which God rides, but also much more useful. Singer in his book Animal Liberation (1975) wrote that animals must be given moral consideration about their capacity to experience suffering; excluding animals from such consideration is a form of discrimination known as ‘speciesism’.
In the use of animals in research, it must be recognized that, contrary to human experimentation, consent can never be given; therefore, the animal knows no reason and sees no benefit to be derived from its use. Although man and other animals are known to be beneficiaries of research, it is the animal under experimental study that experiences the pain and the results of the procedures, and does not know when the pain might end or ease.
Animal rights advocates argue that animals should no longer be considered property or treated as resources for human purposes, but should instead be considered as legal persons. The phrase ‘animal rights’ refers to legal rights and not moral or personal philosophy; changing the conditions that animals suffer from human abuse. They deserve autonomy in all its forms, prohibiting humans from hunting, trapping and confining them. The right to physical integrity encompasses the right not to cause further bodily harm by interventions such as genetic engineering or extremely unhealthy forms of breeding. Wild animals must be able to maintain a natural balance without being disturbed by humans. Pets deserve a kind human touch.
The Spanish Government’s step in granting the right to life, freedom from arbitrary deprivation of liberty and protection from torture to our closest genetic cousins, the great apes, is recognition of the theory proposed by the great philosopher Pythagoras, who believed in the transmigration of souls between humans and not. -human animals.
Gone are the days when we could find lions, tigers, elephants and rhinos in large numbers in the forests of India. Humanity often fails to give animals the respect and rights they deserve, they are treated as lifeless and insensitive scientific specimens and items we manipulate for our convenience and for vanity. Herbert Gunderheimer commented that researchers often justify vivisection by its effects on human life, but these tests provide no protection against dangerous products. Jonathan Balcombe discovered that even simple contact with lab work scares animals. Furthermore, he discovered that vivisection labs cause pain, misery and death to animals and must be actively opposed.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine issued the statement that physiological stress levels are increased among animals undergoing experiments. The animal research project involves a potential violation of six widely subscribed norms and moral values. These are as follows: respecting animals as they are, doing good science, being a good citizen, having responsibility for future generations, having responsibility for the environment, and showing respect for people’s lifestyles and religious orientation. . Section 4, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Acts, 1960 provides for the establishment of the Animal Welfare Board of India. smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale pioneered the creation of the Board, based in Madras. She directed the activities of the Board for almost twenty years until her death in 1986.
What Peter Singer has commented we must remember “Are animals themselves incapable of demanding their own liberation, or protesting against their condition with votes, demonstrations or bombs? Human beings have the power to continue oppressing other species forever, or until we make this planet unfit for living things. Will our tyranny continue, proving that we really are the selfish tyrants that the most cynical of poets and philosophers have always claimed us to be? Or will we rise to the challenge and demonstrate our ability for genuine altruism to end our ruthless exploitation of the species in our power, not because we are forced to do so by rebels or terrorists, but because we recognize that our position is morally indefensible? one of us, individually, responds.”
Animals, as sentient beings, have shared life with us since our birth. They became food for us, a means of entertainment, protector, etc. Despite the fact that animals have not really interfered in our lives, we, for reasons like research and product manufacturing, resort to ruthless use of them. Centuries of exploitation and discrimination have passed; now we must discern the value and worth of non-human beings.