"It is possible to commit an immoral act against a non-human
animals." In order to commit an immoral act against a non-human animal, one
must define the word "morality". According to the definition it means
conformity to the rules of right conduct,. On the other hand immorality means
wickedness or evil (random house dictionary). So in reflection a wicked or an
evil act against an animal is an immoral act also. I believe that it is possible
to commit an immoral act against an animal because they are creatures just like
us. They feel pain and emotions just like us humans. When someone violates our
rights, we get hurt which often results in some kind of action. But animals are
helpless, they can't take any action because they are less intelligent then
humans. However I do believe that humans are the supreme beings on this planet
and that we are on the highest evolutionary scale, but still that does not give
us the right to commit wrong acts to the animals. Some of the wrong or immoral
acts that I strongly oppose to are animal experimentation, entertainment
involving animals, hunting and finally habitat destruction. Animal
experimentation is unethical due to the suffering and death on animals in the
laboratory and that they have a right to be free from such exploitation.
Vivisection is the practice of experimenting on animals which started due to the
religious prohibitions on human dissection. When religious leaders finally
lifted these prohibitions, it was too late, vivisection was already entrenched
in medical and educational institutions (internet). The author of the article on
"animal experimentation is unethical" also opposes vivisection because
he believes that is "morally wrong, cruel & fruitless." He also
believes that they are characterized by scientific limitations, the most
important of all the difficulty of transferring results to human beings with any
degree of reliability (Bender 55). There are many reasons to oppose vivisection
for example the enormous physiological variations among rats, rabbits, dogs,
pigs, and human beings. An experiment in 1989 was performed to determine the
carcinogenicity of fluoride proved this fact (internet). Approximately "520
rats and 520 mice were given daily doses of the mineral for 2 years." Not
one mouse was adversely affected by the fluoride, but the rats experienced
health problems . "As test data cannot be accurately transferred from a
mouse to a rat, it cannot be argued that data transferred from either species to
a human (internet). Some other reasons to oppose vivisection is the deliberate
infliction of burns on animals, and research in psychology. In a study, guinea
pigs were for 3 seconds in 100 degrees Celsius water (Bender 56). How would you
feel if somebody immersed you for 1 second in hot boiling water? Would you feel
any pain? In psychology research, countless animals have been "surgically
dismembered, drugged, starved, fatigued, frozen, electrically shocked, infected,
cross-bred, maddened, and killed in the belief that their behavior would shed
light on human behavior (Bender 57). These things mentioned are morally wrong
because they are evil in nature. As evil in nature as animal experimentation
sounds, so is the entertainment business involving animals. I believe that
animal circus is perhaps the most cruelest entertainment of all because the way
animals are treated. I don't understand what kind of charm or fun people get out
of watching animals do humanly acts. Why do we want animals to be more like us
when they are perfectly fine being themselves? When we watch the circus, we only
see what goes on in front of us, but what goes behind the scenes is a completely
different story. Some animals are beaten to perform better, they are chained to
iron poles so they won't run away. These animals are wild, and they need their
space, and if they don't get their space, these animals react in a negative way.
We often see on T.V. elephants running on the streets if kept under confinement
because animals like elephants do have emotional feelings. Elephants also mourn
for the dead and are observed to be around the dead for several days which
proves that elephants have emotion. Other entertainment involving animals are
also immoral such as bull fighting, hound racing and cock fights because it is
unnecessary and causes much blood-shed to the animals (Disilvestro, 90) Another
example of immoral behavior towards the animals which also causes blood-shed is
hunting for pleasure and conservation. It is cruel and inhumane to kill animals
for fun because they have pain, they have families. Many elephants are hunted
down just so the poachers can make money with their beautiful ivory tusks. Some
hunters even try to take their tusks while they are alive (Dicilvestro 96). Just
try for one-day to put yourself in the animals position. See how it would feel
if a hunter tried to take your nose or fingers or hair etc., just for the sake
of money. Hunting is one of the major causes for extinction in animals. Another
example of extinction is the destruction of animal habitat. Imagine if one day a
bull-dozer pulled up right in front of your beautiful serene-looking house, and
in a blink of an eye, destroyed your house completely without any warning. How
would you feel? What kind of emotions would you be experiencing at that
particular time? What if your whole community (city) was destroyed in this
manner without any explanation or warning? Ok so it was an order for the
government to build a new highway, and your house just happened to be in the
way. The government probably will say "hey, it is our right to do so, it is
for our economical development of the society." Well just because it is
their right and for the benefit of economical development, dues not mean that it
is right! Just because the government has more power than you, doesn't mean it
is fair to destroy what you call home. This act would be considered highly
immoral due to the fact that it was wrong. Now imagine yourself in an animals
shoes, whose homes are destroyed everyday by the minute. Hundreds and hundreds
of acres are destroyed by the minute, leaving the animals homeless. We say that
animals don't have emotions or don't feel pain, but that is to the contrary.
Just because they are of lower intelligence then us, that does not give us the
right to destroy their homes. In conclusion, we have to become more aware of the
significance wild-life has on us we have to educate ourselves about why animals
have to be treated kindly. The issue of animal rights is most definitely a moral
issue because morality deals with what is right or wrong. Being cruel and evil
to animals is simply immoral.