ANIMAL RIGHTS
INTRODUCTION
What’s an animal?
Biologically, it’s a living being that has its own movement and that compounds the fauna and consequently the Earth’s biomass.
Juridically, animal is considered an own movement being.
But do the animals have rights? The answer is affirmative and it’s what we are going to demonstrate.
This is an easy question to be answered by those who have the conscious that the animals are living beings, requiring respect as any other.
But there are some people that think animals are mere objects, using them in heavy works, as children toys or irregularly in scientific studies. Besides, they practice cruel acts without any signification, if it can be said that there is a signification for ill-treating someone.
On the other hand, preservation has been bringing preoccupation since the humanity origin, being remembered by us the biblical act of Noah, putting a couple of each animal specie on its ark.
Moreover, the fact of a specie being extinct, causing damage to the food chain and, consequently, causing damage to the human, makes the fauna’s preservation being object of our conscious, as something coming from the own human. Another point to be observed is about moral and ethic responsibility. There isn’t a reason for animals being in precarious conditions or suffering bad treats.Bad Treats
Ill- treating animal is a crime? Before answering this question, it’s necessary knowing what’s the meaning of ill-treating them.
As it’s on Longman Dictionary, the meaning of ill-treat is to be cruel to; maltreat.
Juridically, ill-treating animals for Brazilian legislation is (some of the acts considered in the law):
- practicing abuse or cruelty act in some animal;
- maintaining animals in anti-hygienic places or where they have an impossibility for breathing, moving or resting, or depriving them of air or light;
- obliging animals to excessively work or bigger than its power and for each act that results suffering, because demands some efforts of them, which are impossible without any punishment;
- beating, injuring or mutilating voluntarily some organ or tissue of economy, except the castration, just for domestic animals, or another operations practiced in the animals benefit and the ones for man’s defense, or in the science interest;
- abandoning animal that is ill, hurt, worn out or mutilated, and also not giving to it everything that is possible, including veterinary assistance;
- not giving quickly death, without long suffering, for each animal which exterminating is necessary for consume or not;
- killing for consume or making it work in advanced period of gestation;
- making the animal travelling by foot for more tan 10 Km, without giving it rest, or working more than 6 continuous hours, without water and food;
(Some other ways of ill-treating animals can be found in the Brazilian legislation about this subject, and can be read in the Portuguese part).
All Rights ReservedContent: Renata de Freitas Martins
