Animal rights is an ambiguous area. How does one define the value of a life and give it purpose? On the other hand, as a result of today’s society, fewer individuals ever come in contact with the critter that ends up on their plate at dinner time while it still retains its motor and neural function. While I have absolutely no compunctions about eating “Bambi” or beef, I do believe that all animals, including those meant for consumption should be as well treated as possible. In American society, ever since childhood, we have been taught to endow animals with human emotions and understandings. While animals certainly do experience their own range of feelings, it is on a much more primal level than our own. We have humanized animals in such a way that their natures are truly unknown to most individuals.
Is animal experimentation an unnecessary evil? I believe that for the most part it is. As in the documentary that we watched in class stated, perhaps we do not have the right but we have the need. What good is being accomplished in the knowing infliction of suffering and death on innocent creatures? What assigns life worth? Priority is given to sheep over mice, dogs over sheep and humans over dogs. Although the determinants remain vastly unclear, these assignments make sense based on so-called ‘gut instinct.’ Society today is too apathetic. One needs to question why and how, but in a world where the product is so removed from the source, we no longer take the time to analyze our world. In modern science, experimental animals are no longer altered after their birth, but in the very beginning stages while still zygotes. We have the capability to manipulate and control on a cellular level, often setting these creatures up for their demise even before they become a gastrula. On the other hand, the knowledge gained by such experimentation has great potential for good. As example, gene knockout can isolate gene function and development, identifying pathways of cancerous cells. With this beginning knowledge, the possibility of finding a cure or prevention is a step closer. When looking for an answer, it is important to find how a problem starts.
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"While animals certainly do experience their own range of feelings, it is on a much more primal level than our own."
I would tend to agree with this, if only because we have intellectualized most of our feelings. However, I think the lack of intellectualized feelings in animals allots us less leeway in our treatment of them rather than more. A being that does not understand the circumstances of the divide (humans above, animals below) is in the hands of the decider. When we decide whether it lives or dies, and we do not require it to die in order for us to live, we come across an imperative to pick the other option, I think. More thought requires more responsibility--we have no more rights to life than other sentient beings.
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