Animal Rights

When I was about eight or nine years old, I remember my grandpa telling me a story about how he got his dog Daisy. He told me that one time he was driving down the street, and he saw a car start to slow down a few places in front of him. The people in the car had thrown Daisy out of the car and just kept going. My grandpa pulled over and then dog was lying on the ground clearly in pain. They took the dog and put it into the car gently and took it to the nearest Veterinarian. The dog was harmed, but would survive. She was very skinny and you could see her bones through her skin. My grandpa took the dog home and gave it the love and care that it needed. A few weeks later, Daisy was limping and seemed to be in pain. They took him back to the Vet and they took X-rays. Daisy had hip problems that she would have to live with for the rest of her life. To this day, Daisy still takes medicine and has to keep her play on a low in order to make it. Daisy was abused and she did not deserve it at all. Animals do not know what they are doing most of the time, so if it makes a mistake, it just can’t help it. Animals have feelings too, and people should respect that.

I know that products like makeup and cleaners need to be tested. But why is it that poor defenseless animals need to be hurt just to test something? I think that scientists should try to find other ways that are efficient in testing products, other than harming animals. Animals are bought from specialized breeding facilities. The actual number of animals used for testing is unreported, but the estimated number of mice used in laboratories is 100 million every year. Animals are forced to live in cages, cut open and poisoned for years. They have to suffer just for people to know that chemicals and products are safe, even though non-animal research methods are more accurate.

I believe that all people should be vegetarians. The farm animals live their very short lives in dark, crowded warehouses. The animals that are raised for food are drugged to grow as large as possible. A lot of those animals become so heavy that they fall under their weight and die slowly and painfully. Many of the animals that are crammed into the trucks that drive to the slaughterhouse die, and many are too sick to walk off of the truck. The animals that actually do make it are hung upside down, and their throats are slit. Many are skinned alive and chopped into pieces completely conscious. All of that just so people can eat, when there are other alternatives to eat. Vegetarians are one-ninth as likely to be obese than met eaters, and have a cancer rate that is 40% that of meat eaters. People that eat animal products are more likely to get many other illnesses including strokes, obesity, osteoporosis, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, allergies, diabetes, and food poisoning. I believe that if everyone in the world becomes a vegetarian, than slaughterhouses will stop killing animals just for the use of food.

I believe that animals do not need to be killed in order for fashion. There are other ways that you can look good, other than killing innocent animals for their fur. The fur market sales in the United States decreased by $800 million between 1987-1992. Fur is popular in mostly Milan, Italy. Fur was originally used only for warmth, not to look good. Cosmetic products are also harming animals, because the make-up products need to be tested on animals to make sure they are safe, in order to be sold. The law requires that all ingredients be tested on animals before sale. In my opinion, people do not need make-up, or fur coats to look good.

Cruelty to animals should be stopped, because animals have feelings too, and they deserve their rights. This I believe.