Animal Rights - what's your opinion?

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In the overprotective pets thread the topic of animal rights came up and so we don't derail the OP's thread, I thought I'd start one here about it.

What is your opinion of animal rights and why? Also how far do you think they should go?

Please lets be nice and not call others names or get overly emotional about this topic. It can be a touchy one for some people so I'm asking this up front. Nobody is about to go out bow hunting right this second and nobody is about to go throw blood on an innocent person's coat either, so we can keep it to just debate. Or discussion.

Anyway, I'll chime in with mine later.

That commercial animal farms are inhumane and the product gross,I have family that raised broilers and they would not eat chicken.Battery egg production also s@*ks.
I don't believe in experimenting on them,use humans that are willing to get paid for it.
I don't care about vintage fur but unless you live somewhere really cold it looks better on the animal.My ex did trapping,it is cruel.
I don't care if someone responsible hunts,we have too many deer here because there are no large predators to thin them.They can get a disease called chronic wasting if there are too many.But trophy hunting is stupid cause you can't eat the horns.And people that cut off just the hams and loins and leave meat to rot should be beaten.
Pet stores s@*k because most animals are sold as disposable playthings.
If you have a permit for a car you should need one for a pet.No more dogs tied to trees,mandatory spaying and neutering.Keep your cat indoors so it doesn't decimate the wild life.
Big fines for idiots that have herds of starving horses and cattle.And jail time.
Ditto puppy mills.
No need for vivisection of animals,there are models of what a fetal pig or bull frog looks like.Some schools use those.
Same fine for animal abuse as assault on a person,most people who will beat a dog will hit a person.
I don't care if people eat meat,we all get eaten by something in the end,worms,carrion beetles,etc.We are all just food for something else in our own time.
I just think that all beings should at least get some enjoyment out of life.

What does animal rights even entail? I do not think people should purposely mistreat animals but any idea of rights beyond that seem rather silly.

I don't think animals have rights per se, but it does reflect on our character regarding how we treat them. We put the human in humane. I have no problems eating them or wearing leather, and I am grateful to the Temple Grandins of the world who design humane meat processing plants, etc.

I don't believe in animal 'rights,' at least as far as groups like PETA take it, but I'm a strong proponent of animal 'welfare' laws. I agree with most of what MissLizard says. The one part where I will disagree is that dissections (NOT vivisections) really are necessary for learning proper A&P. Computer simulations or videos just don't cut it, if you're going to try to be cutting on something real that will be harmed by your mistakes later.

I will add that faux fur can be made *very* realistic now; I love fur, but I can stim just as happily on my faux fur throw as I could on something that had been taken from an animal's back.

Why not? What makes human beings so special that they can have rights but non-human animals not?

Do animals have the right to live freely and comfortably and not be caged?

Do animals have the right not to be experimented with?

If they don't, why not?

For me, rights is all arbitrary stuff dependent on what is favored when and where, and dependent on current moral standards and views of the overall society/culture.

NAVS ( National Anti-Vivisection Society)has really good info on this..There should be plenty of unclaimed cadavers or why don't more people donate their body to science?I'm an organ donor and both my kids are,I don't care what they do with it,I hope it helps someone.
www.navs.org

If a man aspires to a righteous life,his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.
Albert Einstein

Animals deserve some respect. No human deserves to live a life with nothing but fear and pain, and no animal does either.

However, I've never felt guilty about eating meat, and I'll tolerate some hunting for sport as long as its controlled.

That being said, pets shouldn't get beaten by their owners, and the animals we raise for food should not have to live in inhumane conditions.

That's my stance on this subject.

Animals have the right to remain tasty, that's all.

I don't think animals have rights. They aren't sapient.

^^^^^^Ive seen animals that were a lot more sapient than some humans.
And of course they are sentient beings.
I have crows in the yard that are more sensible and pleasant to be around than a lot of people.
But I do agree that a good porterhouse is tasty.
But I try not to harm anything,even bugs have the right to crawl around.

If other animals were sapient (having wisdom), I think we would have heard about it by now. That would be a scientific breakthrough.

No, most animals are not sentient by a reasonable definition. I define sentience as self-awareness, which most animals appear to lack. Not very many animals can pass the mirror self-recognition test. Only hominids and a few others can.

I know that the animal rights people define sentient as being able to feel pain, but that renders the term meaningless, as most members of the animal kingdom can feel pain.

Humans, as far as we know, are the only sapient species on the planet. However, I am willing to accept that the lower hominids may be sentient.

If it is doubtful that humans have rights, how much more doubtful is it that non-human animals have rights?

ruveyn

Animals lack the ability to freely enter into private and social contract, and thus the notion of institutionalized rights for animals is absurd. Rights cannot exist without responsibilities and obligations.

Also, PETA kills animals. 'Nuff said.

You can assign responsibilities to animals as well.

Toddlers also lack that ability, but I think most people feel they have rights.