Animal rights

[PowerWizard]

Do animals have rights? If yes, what kind of rights should they enjoy?

[Beskar]

The right of ignorance.

[Rhyfelwyr]

The right to be on my plate.

[Lemur]

There are anti-cruelty laws on the books here in the USA, and limited hunting seasons, so they I wouldn't call them "rights" but they have some minor protections.

[PowerWizard]

I mean WTF is wrong with a bullfight?

[Beskar]

You clean up after them.

[tibilicus]

I mean WTF is wrong with a bullfight?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Singer

This guy tries to explain it..

Apparently, according to Singer, a bulls life has more value than an unborn baby..

[Sasaki Kojiro]

No, animals don't have rights. The argument would have to be, to what extent are we obliged to treat them humanely?

[Fragony]

Animals 'rights' is a bit of a silly concept, we need animal rules.

[Hooahguy]

No, animals don't have rights. The argument would have to be, to what extent are we obliged to treat them humanely?

while we shouldnt torture them, bullfighting and the like shouldnt be a problem.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Animals 'rights' is a bit of a silly concept, we need animal rules.

Yeah! Until the animals follow out rules, there will be no rights for them!!

Which is why murderers have rights in our society.

[Vladimir]

Animals will have rights once they draft the Animal Declaration of Independence. Then we'll know they're serious.

[Ronin]

I mean WTF is wrong with a bullfight?

I don´t think there is anything wrong with a bullfight itself....

I do think there is something wrong with people who like to watch a bullfight for entertainment....but what do I know?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Yeah! Until the animals follow out rules, there will be no rights for them!!

Which is why murderers have rights in our society.

The right to be put to death and the right to be imprisoned?

I do think there is something wrong with people who like to watch a bullfight for entertainment

I've seen clips of them...I don't think the entertainment comes from the bull being killed.

[Dutch_guy]

Animals will have rights once they draft the Animal Declaration of Independence. Then we'll know they're serious.

That'd be pretty awesome.

[seireikhaan]

Pshh. The only innate right animals have is to remain tasty.

Heck, humans don't have any innate rights.

[LittleGrizzly]

I dislike bull fighting cock fighting or any other kind of making animals fight, i have no problem with animals being killed for skin/fur, meat and just about anything else useful. I don't have a problem with animals dieing to serve humans such as rescue dogs and the like...

But i do draw the line at killing animals purely for entertainment, this may come across as kind of christian thinking but i think life is precious and we shouldn't waste it needlessly...

I don't really have a problem with hunting, i would have a problem with hunting for entertainment just to kill the animal for the thrill of the hunt, and then just leave it (though i suppose it wouldn't be wasted as other animals would consume it) I think if you are going to take an animals life you owe it to the animal to get every bit of use out of it you can...

Hunting done for entertainment and to consume the animal, or done for entertainment and to help control animal populations is fine by me...

[Xiahou]

I've seen clips of them...I don't think the entertainment comes from the bull being killed.

Eh, I think ritually slaughtering a bull for entertainment is cruel whether the people are watching it to see a bull get killed or whether they are watching to see if the matador gets killed.
Repeatedly stabbing an animal with spears until it's too weak to stand and then killing it with a sword isn't my idea of a good time.

But, on the original question- animals have no rights. They only have protections that we choose to give them.

[LittleGrizzly]

Wow, hell just got a little colder....

I have to admit watching animals fight on the discovery channel or something, that is great fun, but it has a purpose, it is not us needlessly putting an animal to death for our own amusement.

[HoreTore]

I'm all for animal rights(or rules, or laws, or magic fairies, or whatever).

We eat animals for food, yes. But what did your mom tell you when you threw peas across the table as a kid? Don't play with your food!

Cruelty is a big no. That means things like having them fight each other, hurting them for fun/sport, giving them improper care if they're in your care, etc.

I see no reason for innocent animals to suffer from some whacko's sadism. They should get a whip, gagball and a prostitute instead, like us normal people.

[Fragony]

Yeah! Until the animals follow out rules, there will be no rights for them!!

Which is why murderers have rights in our society.

Why should they have rights they don't understand. Hence rules, should be as painless and stressless as possible.

[Hax]

Animals should have rights. It is not unnatural for humans to eat (cooked) meat, and thus I can respect it if people should desire to eat meat. I draw the line at cruelty. Cruelty for your own personal pleasure (bullfighting) is sickening to me. Imagine if we were put in an arena and forced to fight eachother to the death.

Live and let live.

[Fragony]

Think about it, animal rights, how would they make claim. We don't need animal rights we need human decency.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Eh, I think ritually slaughtering a bull for entertainment is cruel whether the people are watching it to see a bull get killed or whether they are watching to see if the matador gets killed.
Repeatedly stabbing an animal with spears until it's too weak to stand and then killing it with a sword isn't my idea of a good time.

Eh, it's fun to watch for reasons that aren't tied up with cruelty. Just like those videos of bears fighting on the discovery channel. And if your against animals dying for our viewing pleasure then you should be a vegetarian--there's no significant difference between tasting pleasure and viewing pleasure.

I'm all for animal rights(or rules, or laws, or magic fairies, or whatever).

We eat animals for food, yes. But what did your mom tell you when you threw peas across the table as a kid? Don't play with your food!

If animals have rights then it is wrong to kill them for food and wrong to test vaccines and medicine on them.

Animals should have rights. It is not unnatural for humans to eat (cooked) meat, and thus I can respect it if people should desire to eat meat. I draw the line at cruelty. Cruelty for your own personal pleasure (bullfighting) is sickening to me. Imagine if we were put in an arena and forced to fight eachother to the death.

Live and let live.

Imagine if we were cast out in to the wild and forced to survive with no shelter or clothes. Imagine if we were raised in farms and slaughtered for food. Animals aren't human. Would you arrest a lion for murdering a giraffe?


People mistakingly assume that animals feel as we do, because we naturally try to assign human feelings and motives to everything we see. Today we laugh at Xerxes for having the sea whipped and poked with hot irons because he blamed it for trashing his bridge, but we still make the same mistake with animals. "life is precious" assumes that an animals life is the same as a human life, and saying that animals are "innocent" assumes a capacity that they don't have.

People assume that since they find bullfighting repulsive, that anyone who enjoys watching it must be "sick". No different from people finding homosexuality repulsive and thinking that gay people are sick.

[FactionHeir]

I'm surprised no one brought up PETA yet

[Fragony]

People mistakingly assume that animals feel as we do

Well I don't know if they do, but there is NEVER an excuse for cruelty.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

People mistakingly assume that animals feel as we do

Well I don't know if they do, but there is NEVER an excuse for cruelty.

Saying something is cruel involves assumptions. To keep a person confined to the house at all times would be cruel, but that's what you do to your cat to treat it well.

It is certainly possible to be cruel to animals, but you can't go by knee jerk reactions like animal rights people tend to.

[drone]

People don't watch bullfights to see the bull get cut to pieces, they watch bullfights because there is a chance (albeit small) that the matador will have a very bad day.

Fragony is on the right track. Animals are there for our use, but that is no excuse for making their existence, and their deaths, cruel and painfully long. We also need to think long-term about their survival and proper role in the food chain.

[Viking]

Saying something is cruel involves assumptions.

As does the opposite, naturally.

[PowerWizard]

Animals should have rights.

Going by that vague statement, I demand the voting rights of the crocodiles.