TALLWOOD HIGH SCHOOL

Comparative Assessment
of Animal Rights Presented
on a Global Scale
GSWLA
TESSA GREENE (183)
11/20/2014

Introduction
An old man comes up to you asking for some spare change to get something to eat, youd
probably give him the dollar you had in your pocket, if only to get him to leave you alone. What
about that stray dog that always goes from table to table in the park when families have picnics,
would you give him some scraps or would you just shoo him away claiming you shouldnt feed
strays? Why are the standard rights different for homeless humans and homeless animals? Stray
animals are sent to pounds where they are given a time limit to stay, or rather to live before they
are put down and some other unfortunate soul takes there place, granted theres a chance for
them to find a nice home or a second chance. So, how is it that homeless shelters take priority
over animal rescue shelters? Animals do have rights but they do not even compare to human
rights, so what do their rights compare to? There are thousands of stray dogs and cats throughout
the streets, all around the world. Most shelters are over run and their systems are backed, and
some countries dont even have shelters, let alone no kill shelters. In this paper we will discuss
the comparisons between America, Turkey, and Russia, on their ways of taking care of the stray
animal situations within the countries. Another topic that will be briefly discussed within this
paper will be the process that animal shelters in America do to move more animals, explained by
employees of a no kill animal shelter.

Limitations of Study
I am not an expert of my topic; I am merely gathering research to form an academic
paper on my topic of animal rights. I also have more limitations of study than just not being an
expert, these include: technological constraints and demographic constraints.
Technological limitations. Due to the nature of my topic I was limited to academic
journals, news articles, interviews with shelters, and various news stories to gain information
from. Animal rights, is a constantly changing topic, that if any books were written they would be
outdated within a few months. Being limited to academic journals gave me more view from a
science perspective as well, which I then had to translate.
Demographic limitations. I am comparing multiple countries on how they handle the
topic of animal rights, and/or what they do to take care of stay animals. However, seeing as I live
in America and not the other countries that I am comparing with it, there is room for error on
certain portions of my research that was helped out by the newspaper. There is also the bias that
may be attributed to giving America the better view point status since information is easily
required for the country I live in.
To reiterate my first statement, I am not an expert of this subject, merely writing an
academic paper to get to a concise sentiment. This means I have a bit of room for error within the
information of my paper. My biggest limitations come from technological disadvantage and
also a demographical disadvantage.

Methodology
Due to the limitations of my study I have to gain original information. My limitations of
study include technological disadvantages, demographic disadvantages. Due to my topics
changing standards and laws or regulations no books have been written with all the up to date
information so my studies are limited to academic journals and news articles. With demographic,
my fault is I live in the United States and not everywhere else in the world.

Technological DisadvantageI plan to look through a decent number of academic journals posted by university
research centers and various news articles for new information on punishments for people who
abuse their animals. To gain a better grasp on what rights are given to certain people compared to
others.
Demographic DisadvantageTo gain information on different countries and their stray population and what they are
doing for them, I plan to use Gale to help me get global media resources from said countries.
Although information may still be a bit skewed since I would have to find differing views on the
animal issues at hand.
My information is going to be gathered from various sites with varying view points from
countries around the globe. I will have a hard time demographically, but other than that I should

have an easy sailing. However, that being said my research will be original by the compression
of a multitude of information into my own thoughts and ideas.
I will be asking various questions to coworkers and other shelter workers on statistics of
animal rights. I will do this by setting up interviews with these people and recording the data
they give me.
I gathered two interviews, although due to personal issues neither wishes for their names
or corporations to be publically released. I will honor those wishes and refer to them as false
aliases. As for the other original data which I collected was gathered through various databases
such as; Gale, Proquest. I went through them all and summarized their valued input and analyzed
their deeper context by reading between the lines and doing a bit of looking up on the history of
the writers. After that process it was soon just a matter of figuring out which sources would
provide me the most accurate information for me to be able to write a well informed and stable
research paper about animal rights.

Literature Review
Francione, G. L. (1996). Rain without thunder: The ideology of the animal rights movement.
Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Expresses the ideals of Gray L. Francione with relations to animal welfare. The entire
piece is similar to a debate on both an intellectual and a psychological level, on the basis of
animal welfare. While giving some evidence provided by past nullified laws to bring animals
onto the same living standards as humans, have. Connecting with my own research for animal
rights/welfare in various countries. Francione points out key factors, that have been listed within
the paper itself, that show the evolution of animal welfare amongst English speaking countries,
primarily England and the United States of America. Although differences do appear for her
main objective in 1996 was to stop the testing cruelty of animals, where as this paper discusses
the cruelty done to animals who are abandoned or neglected by society.
Hall, A. (2014, September 29). Pit Bull Mix Who Overcame Brutal Abuse And Inspired Animal
Rights Law Honored With Hero Award. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/29/2014-american-herodog_n_5900600.html?cps=gravity
The Huffington post reports on a story of an abused Pit Bull that was awarded with the
American Hero Dog award earlier this year. Little Susie, a five (5) year old Pit Bull was left at a
park in North Carolina having been burned and beaten within an inch of her life. After a local
shelter took Susie in Donna Laurence, a young woman who within the previous year had been
attacked by a Pit Bull so viciously that she could not have children adopted Susie. Laurence
states battling her demons became easier after having developed a bond with Susie. Laurence

pursued to start up a non-profit organization called Susies Hope to help raise awareness of
animal abuse, and this later prompted the Susies law, a state bill passed by the governor of
North Carolina. This Bill allows for any person who is caught in the act of animal cruelty to be
sentenced to a maximum of ten (10) months of jail time. Connects with the paper by the amount
of time some states give for jail time as a penalty and also that all animals deserve a second
chance.
Lentz, H. (2012, September 26). Amending Turkey's animal welfare law would be bad news for
street dogs. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.ifaw.org/unitedstates/news/amending-turkeys-animal-welfare-law-would-be-bad-news-street-dogs
Article written by Hanna Lentz, debating the pros and cons of a new amendment which
the Turkish government had been thinking of passing in 2012. This amendment would have
impeded a bit on some of the current ones concerning animal welfare, had it gone through.
Although, it seems a bit strange as the amendment itself was to also help the progress of animal
welfare. By showing how the Turkish government is trying to not only educate their public on
the topic of animal welfare but also of how they are amending past laws to accelerate their
progress, shows the thoughts and viewpoint of a country other than America.
Macelle. (2014, October 10). Full Statute Name: West's Annotated Code of Virginia. Title 3.2.
Agriculture, Animal Care, and Food. Subtitle V. Domestic Animals. Chapter 65. Comprehensive
Animal Care. Articles 1 - 12. Title 18.2. Crimes and Offenses Generally. Chapter 8. Crimes
Involving Morals and Decency. Article 3. Sexual Offenses, Prostitution, Etc. (bestiality
provision). Retrieved October 23, 2014, from https://www.animallaw.info/statute/va-crueltyconsolidated-cruelty-statutes

The main concept here was taken from the laws in accordance to Virginias standards.
The overall summarization of this source would be, laws categorized under moral offences,
animal cruelty of any shape or form, and food and health within agriculture. This source was
primarily used for the generalization of how weighted penalties for animal cruelty were.
Russians in UK. (2013, August 15). Who we are. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from
http://www.lapauk.org/en/about-us/who-are-we
LAPA UK is an organization started with the intent to help neglected animals in Russia
by building shelters and trying to educate the public. Created in 2013 around the time of the
Sochi Winter Olympics this group has been able to provide care to thousands of Russias strays,
although it doesnt quite help seeing as there are over a hundred thousand strays living on the
streets of Russia. Gives the point of view of a country whose government feels they should not
educate their citizens of animal welfare, of a country who doesnt have any laws pertaining to
animal welfare.
Statistics for Cats within Shelters America [Personal interview]. (2014, October 31).
An Interview with Joan S. Doe a basic statistical run down of cats living in shelters. Life
span within the shelter, time spent there, what happens if they arent adopted, behavior, and
death rate. To give more of an inside look to how cats fair within the inner workings of the
shelter system of America, as discussed by a vet tech. who has volunteered and worked at many
shelters.
Thomson Reuters. (2014). Voluntary Manslaughter Penalties and Sentencing - FindLaw.
Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/voluntarymanslaughter-penalties-and-sentencing.html

Categorized laws of penalties for voluntary manslaughter. This was to be used as a means
of comparing the price of human life to that of an animals. A big difference within the confines
of the law for the deaths of two living beings.
Yam, K. (2014, July 23). This Genius Machine Feeds Stray Dogs In Exchange For Recycled
Bottles. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/pugedon-vending-machine_n_5606494.html
A very recent article done this past summer about new machines developed by Turkish
private investors to feed stray dogs by recycling. These machine dispense water regularly and
will dispense food out when a recycled bottle is placed in the designated area, the food is cost is
covered by the recycled plastic water bottle. Many citizens now use them in Istanbul to help the
animals eat. Showing more from the Turkish perspective and how they feel animals should be
treated and how they have adapted their lives to help in whatever ways they can.

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Body
Since before the dawn of man there have been animals, and the first recorded
domestication of animals happened somewhere, during 4000 B.C, near the first settlement of the
Sumerian Tribe located in todays India. Though, it is just within recent years that people have
started giving animals rights, but with the numbers of animals being put to sleep each year,
preventing owners from having a certain breed of dog, and the amount of poaching around the
world, laws show that animals still have limitations put upon their rights. By comparing the way
that strays are treated within Turkey, Russia, and the United States of America, we will see
almost an evolution of animal rights being displayed.
During the Sochi 2013 Winter Olympics the world was shocked to find that Sochis
Olympic village was in a state of disarray. Light bulbs where door knobs wereor werent,
faulty electricity, and suspicious water in the plumbing. But through everything the public was
more shocked to find the village was infested, not with vermin mind you but, by dogs. Hundreds
of dogs walking the streets of Sochi, Russia! Each year thousands of dogs and cats will be
vulnerable to abuse and die from neglect in shelters in Russia, due to no animal welfare
legislation. Because of that the police force is also referred to as Dog Hunters (Russians in UK,
2013). The harsh climate does not help the statistics for mortality with these stray animals.
However, there are a few private shelters within Russia, most cant offer much to the animals
because they are so underfunded. Russia also portrays animal rights activists as insane or foolish,
strays are treated no better than vermin that hang around for scraps. According to LAPA, an
organization founded early on in 2013 to helping the animals in Russia, this is caused by no
legislation regarding animal welfare. That being said with no publicly recognized legislations for
the topic, there isnt much education on the matter, which leads us to the point where Russia now

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stands. Now this doesnt stand for everyone, but a majority of the public sees it this way, as they
are overpopulated with all these strays and the government is not helping them to access their
situations. The citizens, both human and otherwise, need their governments help in this trying
time.
Meanwhile in Turkey they are currently looking at reconstructing their legislation for
their roaming dog population, whether for better or worse still remains to be seen (Lentz, 2012).
Currently they have a pretty standard legislation for their animal welfare problems, but much like
America they have their rule breakers. An issue arose in 2012 when Turkish animal welfare
activists were worried about the care given to dogs, and some began to believe and report that
dogs were being stranded in the inner city having to fend for themselves (Lentz, 2012). Now
while the people of Turkey are not overrun with tens of thousands of dogs like the people of
Russia, communities of roaming dogs are still centers for disease. The capital city of Turkey,
Istanbul, holds over 150,000 stray dogs and cats, and just like anywhere else you have the
activists and the people who believe them to be eye sores. These same people complain to the
government who is not deaf to the cries of the people, and the earlier change to the animal
welfare bill may very well be changed again to transport over five thousand stray dogs to a
wildlife park estranging them to a new environment (Yam, 2014). However, there is a law
stated in Turkeys Animal Protection Bill Law no. 5199 Article 4 subsection B,
Domesticated animals have the freedom to live according to the living conditions specific
to their species. The lives of ownerless animals should be supported in the same way as those of
animals with owners. ("ANIMAL PROTECTION BILL LAW No 5199," 2007)

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So, in the summer of 2014 what does Pugedon, a Turkish company, do that has social media
abuzz? They introduce a vending machine to Istanbul, not just any vending machine, but one
that feeds Turkeys roaming dog population in return from plastic bottles, that will be recycled.
This ingenious machine operates for free as the food and water are covered by the recycled
bottles (Yam, 2014). There Turkish government is doing the best that it can to keep its citizens,
four legged or otherwise, happy and healthy. They are taking into very deep consideration as to
what their moves for the relocation plan will be for the stray dogs (Lentz, 2012).
In the United States it is widely known that we do in fact have animal welfare legislation,
but what most people dont know are the penalties for breaking the law. In Virginia Beach
abandonment of an animal is a class 3 misdemeanor, meaning a fee of up to $500 and maybe a
month in jail, however poisoning an animal while participating in dog fights is a class 6 felony,
which equates to a class 1 misdemeanor (Macelle, 2014). However what America lacks in
penalties it makes up for in animal shelters and rescue facilities. While America does have
shelters underfunded, like the Russians, it also has commercial shelters, aka ASPCA, that are
well funded and help save animals; dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, and sometimes even birds.
Although, most cities have the ASPCA within their district some only have pounds or if they are
lucky enough to have an animal care and control center instead (J. S. Doe, Personal
communication, October 31, 2014). Now speaking from experience there is a slight difference
between a pound and a control center, an animal care and control center functions exactly like a
pound would but they tend not to euthanatize the animals, and when they do its for a better
reason than its unadoptable. I was informed by a coworker about eight months ago that the
Virginia Beach City pound underwent a transformation and is now the Virginia Beach Animal
Care and Control Center where they take better care of animals and have had less euthenizations

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within the past year alone these statistics can be found on the SPCA websites or asked about with
an employee. As previously stated I have provided a copy of last years euthenaisa report for
Virginia Beach shelters, you can find these online for most any state and it informs of how many
animals a shelter successfully adopted out and how many they put down. While it is true that
many animals are put down if they arent moving directors for shelters and transportation for
shelters have found a way around that. You see shelters will sometimes trade animals to help get
them to move, the director for Hope for Life once worked magic for a shelter in Oklahoma and
had an abused, blind, and deaf basset hound brought to her shelter and had him adopted within
less than 3 weeks (J. S. Doe, Personal communication, October 31, 2014). And it is not
uncommon for some directors to pick favourites among the animals and have some animals to
have their time extended. I was informed by Joan Doe who has worked over thirteen years as a
vet tech that the number one cause for high death rates in shelters isnt from euthiensais but from
infection or illness. She said that in some years it will just spread like wild fires and its almost
impossible to stop the spread. This year alone has been pretty bad for shelters everywhere. The
ASPCA in North Carolina had to put down all of their cats in June do to a highly contagious bug
that went around to all the cats (J. S. Doe, Personal communication, October 31, 2014). Not only
that but all throughout tidewater this summer there was a spike in FKS, Fading Kitten Syndrome.
Now FKS is the equivalent to SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, no one knows its cause
but it strikes fast and generally with kittens under 8 weeks of age. At the shelter where I
volunteer we have been losing at least one kitten from each litter or so to FKS. Those are the
things one should consider while looking at charts or databases that show influxes of deaths
within shelters, shelters report deaths of their animals to the government for not only financial
reasons but also legal purposes (J. S. Doe, Personal communication, October 31, 2014). While,

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America may not have high penalties for abusing animals they make up for it in their heavily
funded shelters, and good people who work and volunteer at them, the same people who work
the system to help the animals live to see another day.

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Conclusion
Animals, especially those we keep around as pets are a gift to many and a bother to
others. I have shared with you information on how three very different countries/cultures, Russia,
Turkey, and America, react to stray animals and overpopulation of them. The Russians dont
have much opinion on strays and/or just dont appreciate them walking the streets because they
are not being educated by their government of the problems and the critical situation that they are
in. Whereas the Turkish government is trying to appease both sides the activist and the antiactivist, by concocting a new animal welfare law that will hopefully appease everyone while
maintaining some comfort to the animals in mind. Not to mention the provisions that Pugedon
has done to help the communities see these dogs as pets rather than strays. However in America,
the laws are a tad bit too passive for the offenses but the funded shelters make up for it. The safe
place the animals can be, the sanctuary they claim as their hide out from the harsh elements of
nature, where they are taken care of and not left on the side of the road to rot. It looks like an
evolution scale although maybe America and Turkey are tied, if only they could integrate their
ideas maybe animal rights would be more than just protection from harm and nature and more
centered towards their standards of living. An Evolutionary scale can be seen if you dive into the
evidence after comparing the animal welfare legislatures of America, Russia, and Turkey.

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Work Cited
Lentz, H. (2012, September 26). Amending Turkey's animal welfare law would be bad
news for street dogs. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from
http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifaw.org%2Funited-states%2Fnews%2Famending-turkeys-animalwelfare-law-would-be-bad-news-street-dogs
Macelle. (2014, October 10). Full Statute Name: West's Annotated Code of Virginia.
Title 3.2. Agriculture, Animal Care, and Food. Subtitle V. Domestic Animals. Chapter 65.
Comprehensive Animal Care. Articles 1 - 12. Title 18.2. Crimes and Offenses Generally.
Chapter 8. Crimes Involving Morals and Decency. Article 3. Sexual Offenses, Prostitution, Etc.
(bestiality provision). Retrieved October 23, 2014, from https://www.animallaw.info/statute/vacruelty-consolidated-cruelty-statutes
P. (2007, May 11). ANIMAL PROTECTION BILL LAW no 5199. Retrieved November
23, 2014, from http://www.haytap.org/index.php20070528133mevzuatanimal-protection-billlaw-no-5199
Russians in UK. (2013, August 15). Who we are. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from
http://www.lapauk.org/en/about-us/who-are-we
Statistics for Cats within Shelters America [Personal interview]. (2014, October 31).
Yam, K. (2014, July 23). This Genius Machine Feeds Stray Dogs In Exchange For
Recycled Bottles. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/pugedon-vending-machine_n_5606494.html

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Annotated Bibliography
Francione, G. L. (1996). Rain without thunder: The ideology of the animal rights movement.
Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Shows the evolution of animal welfare amongst English speaking countries, primarily
England and the United States of America. Although differences do appear for her main
objective in 1996 was to stop the testing cruelty of animals. Written before 1996, so main goal
was stop unethical testing on animals in labs. Gary L. Francione was a heavy animal rights
activist so this is heavily biased, but it will help to get different types of view points for my
research.
Hall, A. (2014, September 29). Pit Bull Mix Who Overcame Brutal Abuse And Inspired Animal
Rights Law Honored With Hero Award. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/29/2014-american-herodog_n_5900600.html?cps=gravity
Abused Pit Bull is awarded the American Hero Dog awards. Pit Bull had been savagely
beaten and then left for dead at a park in North Carolina. Adopted by a woman, who was maimed
by a Pit Bull, and they rebuild each other. Huffington post that is reporting about the American
dog award. The Huffington Post promotes more of the better stories about animals the stories
where they are heroes or victims, rarely ever the attackers. The Huffington post in trusted
internationally. Provides a great example of why all dogs deserve a second dance and that they
can recover from a horrible life.

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Lentz, H. (2012, September 26). Amending Turkey's animal welfare law would be bad news for
street dogs. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.ifaw.org/unitedstatesnewsamending-turkeys-animal-welfare-law-would-be-bad-news-street-dogs
Discussing the pros and cons to new amendment that was trying to be passed by the
Turkish government. The new bill would nullify another bill that also helped out animal welfare
and the problems the government faced. This is an article written by a foreigner, to Turkey, and
she seems to be very much against the new bill but still manages to give a good debate for both
sides. This will be used to show concern others show for issues worldwide for animals.
Macelle. (2014, October 10). Full Statute Name: West's Annotated Code of Virginia. Title 3.2.
Agriculture, Animal Care, and Food. Subtitle V. Domestic Animals. Chapter 65. Comprehensive
Animal Care. Articles 1 - 12. Title 18.2. Crimes and Offenses Generally. Chapter 8. Crimes
Involving Morals and Decency. Article 3. Sexual Offenses, Prostitution, Etc. (bestiality
provision). Retrieved October 23, 2014, from https://www.animallaw.info/statute/va-crueltyconsolidated-cruelty-statutes
Legal structure documents which are available for public access to be better informed for
their states. Go in accordance with the state laws, very accurate and highly trustable. Will be
useful for a comparison of death of an animal opposed to a humans.
P. (2007, May 11). ANIMAL PROTECTION BILL LAW no 5199. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from
http://www.haytap.org/index.php20070528133mevzuatanimal-protection-bill-law-no-5199

Turkish legal bill that helps to provide animals the necessary living conditions that their
owners would have. Turkish legal bill, in terms of legality should hold up relatively well. Shall
help provide another view point on Turkish governments stance on animal welfare.

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Russians in UK. (2013, August 15). Who we are. Retrieved October 11, 2014, from
http://www.lapauk.org/en/about-us/who-are-we
Recently started organization that is steadily building up some ground. Holds a lot of
helpful information on its various tabs. Although it is an outsider organization, meaning not on
Russian grounds yet meant to help Russian shelters, so there may be mistakes or untrue facts
somewhere within the information. Keeping this in mind, I will use this as best as I can to help
get my view point from not only a Russian stand point but also another global standpoint.
Statistics for Cats within Shelters America [Personal interview]. (2014, October 31).
Interview with a vet tech. who for the past thirteen (13) years has been working and
volunteering at various shelters across the country. Interview was with a cat expert who gave a
brief rundown of cat statistics within shelters. Has been a vet tech for the past decade and
working in shelters longer than that, she knows the systems. This was a part of my original
research that I personally gathered and she was a great help.
Thomson Reuters. (2014). Voluntary Manslaughter Penalties and Sentencing - FindLaw.
Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/voluntarymanslaughter-penalties-and-sentencing.html
Laws and penalties of voluntary manslaughter, is pretty to the point as far as legality.
This source was used as comparison information.
Yam, K. (2014, July 23). This Genius Machine Feeds Stray Dogs In Exchange For Recycled
Bottles. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/pugedon-vending-machine_n_5606494.html

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Turkish Vending machine feeds stray dogs if you recycle water bottles. The water bottles
cover the cost of the dog food that is released for the dogs. It is from the Huffington Post, and
they generally pick sides for the betterment of humanity or animals. The article seems to be for
this machine, because they use words such as genius to describe this machine. And doesn't give
any flaws about this so there is a slight bias, although it could easily be that the machine was too
new for any minor bugs to be found out. Severs as part of my comparison for the view point of
Turkey.

Vol. 4(4), Pp. 49-59, May 2013, 10.5897/ijlp12.037, D., Journals, I. 2., & H. (n.d.). The
Application of Animal Welfare Standards in Intensive Production Systems Using the Assessment
Protcol of Welfare Quality. The Application of Animal Welfare Standards in Intensive
Production Systems Using the Assessment Protocols of Welfare Quality: Fattening Pig
Husbandry in Northwest Germany. doi:AcademicJournal.org
German testing of animals to see the effects of abuse on animals. Full report of experiment done
at Georg-August University of Goettingen by Welfare Quality. The results are helpful to an
overall review of what is going on with animal abuse. And another comparison for Germany. As
this is a universities work there may be misguiding information or even information that in
inconceivable to those outside of the university. While the information can be put to good use,
decoding it correctly would be another matter entirely.

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Vol. 7(16), Pp. 1518-1521, 16 April, 2013, Ajmr12.1053, D., Journals, I. 1., & H. (n.d.).
Frequency of canine leptospirosis in dog shelters in Veracruz, Mexico. Frequency of Canine
Leptospirosis in Dog Shelters in Veracruz, Mexico. doi:Academicjurnal.org

Reporting of statistics of heartworm levels in shelter dogs of Mexico. National investigation

done by University of Veracruz, Mexico. Comparison of dogs in Mexico. (said over 92% of dogs
in the shelters have heart worms.) This study was done by a university for the government of
Mexico, so there are possibly a few side errors and things of that nature. Possible bias to make
the country seem more in need of funding for the shelter population. This could help to further
my research in the direction of treatment of animals in shelter, or rather ensuring the animals
health.