Should animals have rights?

76% Say Yes

Animals are living creatures
Who are we to take our own man-made Christian beliefs and apply it to a species which was here on
Earth a long time before us? Just because we have a different type of human morality, it doesn't mean that
animals aren't moral? What we think is moral, we have been made to believe over time by our own
society. There is no right and wrong.
We are humans, we are animals.
Should humans have rights? Most of you would say yes. Just because we are at the top of the food chain
does that give us the rights to take animals rights away? Think of it this way, you are a human, you are an
animal so if you kill another human you go to jail, right? Is that any different from killing an animal?
Think about it, its not any different. We are animals, they are animals, its exactly the same.
Humans are animals
We are animals as we evolved from apes who are techniquely animals, so saying animals don't have rights
is like saying humans don't have rights. Since when did we not have any rights? We sort of rule the planet,
and we are not letting animals do what they want and we need animals to survive, so why say they don't
have rights?
yes they should
Animals should have rights. A life is a life and it should be valued, no matter what you are. Animals
cannot speak for themselves and for that reason we need to protect them. Animals are just as important
and protecting them is something we should take pride in, it is our responsibility.
Animals deserve better.
They don't deserve to be treated the way they are. Animals are living creatures just like us humans are.
They don't need to be tortured or suffer for us. Animals were made on Earth just like us. I'm sure there are
other ways we can still benefit from them without them having to go through pain and suffer. They might
not be able to speak like us, but they can walk, eat, sleep, etc. Just like us. Things need to change.
Seriously, have a heart.
They are just like humans.
Yes! Animals are very similar to us humans. Yes, they may have fur, tails and four legs, but they eat and
breath. They feel sadness, pain, happiness, etc. Just like humans do. They are innocent and they deserve a
chance. They are not asking for forever, they are just asking for a chance. All they want is for someone to
love them and for them to love for their short lifespan. They deserve everything we do. They are like our

children, like our family. When we are down, they know it and they comfort us. Therefore, they deserve
rights. Animal abuse needs to be put to a stop.
Animals Have Rights!
Animal rights is the belief that animals have an intrinsic value separate from any value they have to
humans, and are worthy of moral consideration. They have the right to be free of oppression,
confinement, use and abuse by humans. They have life and hence right to be treated well. By respecting
animal rights and having consideration for animal welfare we also support ecological balance.
Animals deserve rights.
Everyone makes a unique contribution to this world we share. We, humans, have our part too; to maintain
the balance of life by treating all living things as you would to your friends and family. Animals are just
like people. They have feelings and emotions.
They don't deserve to be treated the way they are. Animals are living creatures just like us humans are.
Animals are living things just like us humans.
Animals should be given rights simply because they are living things. The opposition has stated that
animals should not be given rights because they do not contribute to the society of today. However, I
disagree as we should give animals rights and respect, because they are like us in many ways. Human
beings, too, would not like it if they were treated badly by others of a higher power than them. Living
things have the bodily autonomy to do what they please because they have ownership of their body.
Having ownership of their body, we have to give them rights for the things they can do. Animals are like
humans too, in the way that they have emotions and are able to feel pain when hurt is inflicted upon them.
Therefore, we human beings should not be selfish and we should treat our counterparts with equal respect
as they deserve.
They are alive, like us.
Animals are alive. They feel pain. They think. They have emotion. Have souls. Why should they be less
than us, only because we are dominant? Are we still ruthless barbarians, who only keep things if they are
useful? No. We are past that. We have luxuries, like bought food, comfort, jobs and family. Why can't we
share these?

24% Say No
"Animal rights" is substantially nonsense:
Animals can't distinguish between good or bad, they have no free will, they just follow their instinct. You
can't convince a tiger not to hunt when it's hungry, not even if the potential prey would be someone's
baby. This is because the tiger can't see it's *doing bad* by hunting your baby, so it cannot *make a
choice*, between feeding its stomach or sparing the life of a baby. This means the tiger has no free will.

On the other hand, obviously, if the tiger kills a baby, it is not guilty: the tiger simply cannot choose. This
is the most obvious difference between an animal and a human: the ability of choosing on a moral basis
(what is better and for whom) implies the birth of the term "right", the inability to do so implies the
inapplicability of any rights. This is the main reason why animals cannot have rights.
Meat is a vital part of nutrition. If god wanted everyone to be a vegan, he would. To
have put animals on Earth.
I LOVE this. Vegans are always saying that animals deserve rights. LOL. S, a wolf that slaughters sheep
is nature. It's a fight to survive. Is nature, and what God wanted. I am NOT encouraging animal cruelty.
Cruelty is making animals suffer for no reason. Hunters are those who kill animals for meat. A vital part
of nutrition. Introducing predators to an environment unbalances it. Predators kill off all of the animals we
need to eat. This is why I do not care if predators are killed. What good are they doing for the
environment? We do NOT need animals killing off animals needed to be hunted.
Nope!
The freedom to be REQUIRES in its evaluation a responsibility to defend the freedom of others to be.
Animals do not pay taxes. They do not defend the rights of people unless specifically trained *against
their wishes* to do so, and even then do not have the capability of understanding WHY they do so. In
their inability to even contemplate the existence of the mind of another, they have forfeit their entitlement
to freedom, in the same way as a ROCK has no such entitlement. Further, animals are not sufficiently
novel contributors to the public welfare of any objectively defined society. As such, animals are property,
extensions of humanity for humanity's sake. So long as the action is not a existential threat to some class
of animals, or an existential threat to the sum of things and property which comprise the corpus of a true
human (as long as you are not depriving someone else of allotted property), we ought be free to treat
animals as we see fit, be it through castration, imprisonment, sexual usage, or otherwise. However,
arguments CAN be made that specific usages, particularly abusive ones, often cause them to be far less
useful to the purposes which we keep animals for. To that extent it can be seen that it is a DUMB idea to
abuse animals, in the same way as it is a DUMB idea to cut upon oneself, and the costs of such actions
should not be borne by society but solely by the person who makes an informed decision to do something
dumb.
No they should not
Animals don't deserve to have rights like the rest of us. We have worked hard to earn the rights we have
now as humans. But animals make no contribution to society besides feeding us. They don't pay taxes,
they don't have jobs, they just use energy and resources that we are working hard to sustain. The only
benefit they really give to us is food and a few other environmental things. But they don't help the
development of our communities. We give them food and shelter in exchange for the few benefits they
provide to us, but I don not believe animals have earned their own rights.
I disagree :\
Think about this: If animals were to have rights, do you think they would choose to be experimented on
or not for medicine purposes? The answer is obviously no. So, now that we don't have animals to

experiment on, would you like to volunteer yourself as the experiment subject? Also, if animals do have
rights, won't everyone have to become vegetarians? I am pretty sure that animals are not be willing to
sacrifice themselves to satisfy the human race's stomachs. Besides, we cannot even communicate with
animals. How are we to know what rights they want? If they can even comprehend what is the meaning of
rights in the first place.
"Rights belong to moral agents, and animals lack moral agency. Driven by instinct, they lack the higherorder thinking skills that enable people to choose between courses of action." (adapted from Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
No noo noooo
Animals should not have rights because without us humans testing on them we wouldnt have make up
products.. Medical break through.. Or other body products we use. Yes they deserve respect and love. But
we truly need it. Because without it we wouldnt have the things we have and need
I say no because
If a wolf kills a lamb that is considered nature but what if man kills cow is that nature? Or is that cruelty
to animals? I think we should protect them but giving them rights will do as much good as children's
rights. If they are broken nothing is done about it.
Animals ARE DUMB
Animals are dumb and not human so they should no hv rights. Humans are no animals because we are
samrt and animals are dumb. I know that im right becuase humans have a higer iq than animals. IF YOU
THINK ANIMALS AND HUMANS ARE EQUAL THEN WHY CANT THEY VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rights are earned.
The argument for animal rights seems to stem from the fact that humans are themselves animals, and
extend to state that animals should thusly share our rights. Well the truth is that not all humans have the
same rights, and many humans in this world have no rights at all. The reason why we have rights is
because groups of people banded together and fought, bled, and died to get them for us. To extend those
rights to animals on a whim (and thusly limit human rights to treat animals as we see fit) is insulting.
Saves mass lives
I believe that animals should be tested on because, obviousley we need them for research and to save
mass lives. Smallpox was eradicated from earth thanks to animal testing and if animal activists got their
way, domestic animals woud become extinct so i believe animals SHOULD be tested on. HA