The animal rights movement began taking shape right around the time when humanity began to master its environment and people’s lifespan lasted longer than ever before. With never-before-seen luxuries and an improvement lifespan, the homo sapiens suddenly had the time to ‘think’ and so they did.
Although human abuse was seen as customary and vastly ignored, the treatment of animals began to gradually garner the attention of those who began to believe that animals had rights, -the same ‘rights’ as humans- in the hopes that things could change for them. But what exactly are rights? Can a ‘right’ be quantified, documented, observed, and tested? Can a ‘right’ be looked at by other rational beings and -in consensus- be determined to exist? Could a ‘right’ be established to exist if we ask the 5W’s (who, what, when, where, why) of writing?
The truth is that a ‘right’ is merely a human concept, a made-up amalgamation of our left and right side of the brain going back and forth seeking to rationalize the world around us in the hopes that we can act in a way that benefits us. It is all subjective at the end of the day, and to think otherwise is a betrayal of what makes us human; our ability to process the world in a rational way by using logic and empirical thought to come to conclusions.
But establishing the objectivity of something subjective such a ‘right’ or a ‘feeling,’ is merely the beginning. Just like how ‘rights’ are subjective, so is the tendency of humanity to treat certain species differently across a variety of jurisdictions across the globe.
In Asia, Africa, and many parts of South America, we see that dogs aren’t bathed, spayed, or neutered or even chipped, instead we see that they are simply another dish in the vast food repertories of these continents. Why? Well, because humans in these regions tend to be poor and so they need to find a cheap way to get their calories and dogs fit the description.
On the other hand, in the west, a dog is seen as a miracle from the good lord himself and so they must be protected at all costs! Don’t you dare not having them chipped, neutered or even bathed unless you want the cops at your house. Breeding them en masse to make a profit is okay, breeding them to fight other dogs is not okay. Want to kill your dog? Not okay! Want the vet to do it for you? Very okay!
Cows, pigs, chickens etc. are bred en masse in the west and all across the globe to create a never-ending supply for food for us, the human race. How come they have no ‘rights’?
What makes certain animals favorable and what makes other animals savory? I’m just asking ’cause I know nothing will ever change, humanity is just riddled with aging teens.
The average joe cannot even define what a ‘right’ is as each person has its own iteration of what a ‘right’ is so it is ridiculous to think that a one-size-fits-all solution is how we should live by.