Animal Rights and Human Health

Paper Summary:

Animal welfare theories hold that while animals have interests, those interests can be sacrificed if there are some human benefits that are thought to justify that sacrifice. As against this, animal rights activists believe that animals have the same rights as human beings, which include the right to life, freedom from ownership and confinement, and from use as a food source or subject of medical research without consent. This paper researches the arguments of both animal welfare and animal rights theories before attempting to draw any conclusion on the subject.

From the Paper:

"Ethical standards of behavior have evolved along with human understanding of the value of life. Indeed, this fact is evident in the historical evolution of the human right to life, liberty, and dignity, which was followed by the belief that life in all its myriad forms should be valued. In fact, it is the latter worldview, which now forms the basis of the controversy over the use of animals in medical research and experiments. Currently, this controversy revolves around whether animals have as much right to life as human beings. Depending on the standpoint taken on this basic issue, arguments range on a continuum between animal welfare and animal rights."

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