Topic 10 Animal Rights Flashcards
Animal experimentation
- many medical advances have been gained cos of animal testing eg polio vaccines, AIDS research
What are the pros and cons of animal testing/
- thousands of lives saved through medicines and surgical techniques first tested on animals - benefits to humans outweigh suffering inflicted on animals
- 50 million animals die via experimentation worldwide, also unreliable as genetic makeup is different to animals, some animals dont get the same diseases that humans do
Fox hunting
The sport of hunting a fox across country with a pack of hounds by a group of people on foot and horseback
Traditional sport of the English gentry
From 2005 fox hunting has been illegal
What are the pros to fox hunting?
- supporters argue that foxes are a menace as they kill livestock, often not for food
- hunting dogs kill foxes far quicker than by other controlled means and so this is the least cruel method of controlling them
- countryside sport that has existed for generations, and is fun (!)
What are the cons to fox hunting?
- less cruel methods to control population
- the stress and pain that foxes suffer in the name of sport during the hunt is barbaric and unfair
- studies from the early 2000s show that fox hunting has limited impact on controlling populations of foxes
Genetic engineering
The cloning of dolly the sheep in 1997 began the practise of genetically engineering animals
For example geep - half goat and half sheep, to more extreme things such as mice with human ears on their backs
What are the pros of genetic engineering
- could be hugely beneficial to humans
Eg cloned animals such as pigs could produce organs that would not be rejected by humans leading to many spare organs for donation
- some biological proteins are essential for treating diseases such as diabetes + animals could be genetically altered to produce these in milk
What are the cons of genetic engineering
- unfair to treat animals in this way
- peter singer would argue that it is speciesist using animals to help humans
- slippery slope - how far will we take these genetic modification
- can result in the animals having diseases and a short lifespan, as more susceptible to certain illnesses
How might some Christians use the bible to support animal rights?
- bible makes it clear can use animals, but fairly
- some may make distinction between using animals for essential and non essential things (medical research and food > circus entertainment + cosmetics)
What does genesis 9:1-3 say about animal rights?
‘All animals.. will live in fear of you”
Some use this to say that animals do not have rights + we can do what we like with them within reason
What might Christians do to support animal rights?
- buy only free range products or meat with the RSPCA freedom food label
- avoid products tested on animals or aren’t cruelty free
- choose to be vegetarian or limit eating meat
- traditionally Christian’s avoided meat on Fridays and during Lent
What does Proverbs 12:10 tell us about Christian responses to animal rights?
‘ good people take care of animals, but wicked people are cruel to theirs”
Believe that you should support animal rights as God has commanded them to take care of animals
What does peter singer think about animal rights?
- Animal experimentation = speciesism
- believes that it isn’t true that suffering inflicted on animals is compensated by benefit to humans as so many millions of animals suffer each year
Why does evolution make people support animal rights?
- humans just same as animals
- just more sophisticated
- must support animal rights
Why do people support PETA etc?
- believe that animals have same rights as humans
- dont have right to abuse animals in any way
