Man’s best friend, the dog, is proof enough that human beings can be good friends with animals. Animals are born to Mother Nature like a human child and have rights to live. It is time we observed and respected animal rights. Animals have rights like humans do to live freely and enjoy the earth, at least before human beings destroy what it has to offer. Just like a man can be best friends with the dog human beings can become friends with other animals too.
Human beings have God-given role to protect the earth and control other living things. At the same time, human beings have become the relative threat to other animals because they slaughter and kill them for their products. Human beings have the potential and the ability to form lasting friendships with animals because animals have feelings and rights. Animals need protection from humans and other animals as well. They need the feeling of care and room to connect with others.
Animals also make friendships and can be seen interacting in different ways. They even have the capacity to remember their names when they are called. This means that we should treat them with a little more care and sympathy because they can feel the pain and other feelings. According to Alice Walker, animals do not enjoy restriction and being dragged around. Human beings need to be a little friendlier to animals. Even if we do not see the value of the animals' freedom, maybe our emotional feelings that they show to us should motivate us not to harm them. Human beings should protect the animals at least to save them the pain of losing their loved ones. This is because human beings protect their friends and comfort them when they lose their loved ones.
In order to protect animals and their loved ones, it means that we have to change our eating habits. Being a vegan is no longer just about health issues and avoiding the toxicity associated with animal-based foods. Being a vegetarian is aligned to the idea of saving animals from depletion. Many species have been declared endangered while others are probably distinct because of human activities. In some states, animal hunting is prohibited because human beings can no longer control their urge to kill. In a bid to protect animals, Vegans feel that going back to plant consumption would be the best way to discourage killing of animals for their products. Veganism is much more than just the food; it involves the protection of the animals and discouraging use of animal products.
As vegans, we can fight for animals’ equality and rights like human beings fight for equality and rights. However, humans apply discrimination and racism while dealing with animals all the time. Some animals like the dog are given special treatment while others like the donkey are mistreated all the time. Even in a single species, human beings continue their oppressions through racism. For example, the Pitbull is a very common species of dogs which has been discriminated in the U.S. and across the Americas for ages. The Pitbull was initially bred for dog fighting activities which are a form of discrimination. However, even after dog fighting was banned, the Pitbull is still being discriminated with claims that it registers the most human attacks in America. Animals should be given equal rights regardless of their species, family, genus, or race. According to Singer (2), all animals are equal which implies that they should be treated equally.
Why should human beings treat some animals like friends while others are treated like slaves? Farm animals like donkeys and cows are treated like slaves. The oxen are used in farming for all the hard work. When such animals are injured, they are taken to the slaughterhouse and turned to food. Their skin and hide are used for the production of leather. Is anything the cow should be treated better than a dog, the dog does not even provide mean when dead, not even its hide can be used for other purposes, yet the dog is treated as a friend and the cow as the slave. Animals should at least be given some equality. Who said a pig cannot be a good friend to humans? Why is it that humans view some animals as being better than others? Animals should be given equal treatment.
Like human beings, animals should have rights in addition to equality. Animals should have protection from oppression that is often taken away from human beings. If human beings have rights that are naturally provided by their existence, the animals do too. According to Alice Walker, we do not know what nature has planned for us. Walker argues that we should stop the actions of cruelty like dragging animals around . This is because they too reside on the same earth that the humans do. They too live in the same nature that provides human beings with rights naturally. Animals deserve care and treatment. They should be given basic rights like the rights to shelter, food, and freedoms like that of choosing their food. They should have rights to play with other animals. They should have the rights to interact with people and their animal friends in order to develop relationships and feel loved. Animals should have the most important right provided by Mother Nature, the right to live.
Acknowledging animal rights will make it easier for human beings to treat animals like friends. Animals are friendly to humans. According to Peter Singer (1), the practice of killing and eating animals amounts to torture. If we are to become friends with animals, it is us who need to change. Laura Fraser (2) stopped being a vegetarian because she thought meat was sweet. Plans are also sweet and that is not reason enough to kill an animal. It is the human beings who need to use other sources of food and use machines for farming other than animals. Animals have the ability to make and keep friends just like human beings. Animals are our friends.
Works Cited
Fraser, Laura. "Why I Stopped Being a Vegetarian." 2000.
Singer, Peter. "A Vegetarian Philosophy." n.d.
Singer, Peter. "All Animals Are Equal." n.d.
Walker, Alice. "Mothers Day: Dear Mr. Novak." 2004.
