For centuries, animals have been inhumanely treated as mere objects detained by humans, as if animals are lesser than humans. Animals are being mistreated all around the world, yet this issue is far beyond what most of the population initially assumes. Animals have not only been tested on, but some people are not emotionally/mentally able to take care of a pet or farm animal and unfortunately choose to abuse them. It is important that our society acknowledges the mistreatment of animals and take action. But a controversial question is: should we go as far as granting animals their own rights?

Animal testing goes back to as early as the BC era. It has been noted that ancient Greeks didn’t question their morals whenever they did animal experiments. Physicians in this time period would perform vivisections (surgery on live animals) for medical research. Presently in 2018, animals are still being used to benefit human’s selfish desires. For example, in the cosmetic industry, over 100 cosmetic brands test their products on animals. Every year in the US, over 100 million innocent animals suffer from animal testing, including mice and rats. Can you imagine how large that number would be if worldwide statistics were included? Not only do these animals suffer abuse, but at least 1 million of these animals are killed as a result of experiments taken place in the labs. During animal testing, scientists inject their products into the animal’s face and especially their eyes. Imagine being captured to be tested on without your consent. Instead of testing on animals, cosmetic companies should strive to use organic ingredients. Often times, animal testing is only 43% accurate, so why are hurting these animals if the results are so low? Although animals can not talk, they too have similar mentalities as us, and it’s society's responsibility to acknowledge this.

Marc Bekoff, a physiologist, stated in one of his articles that animals are more similar to humans than most people imagine. Animals fall in love just like us and communicate to their kind just like us. We have to be more aware of these similarities and respect them like we wish to be. So why do we treat them so poorly? The problem that animals face today is that humans feel the need to be superior to animals.  

There are many owners that abuse their own animals. The fact that pet owners abuse their pets are not only concerning but plastered on social media, yet no one does anything. Almost 70 million dogs and 74.1 million cats are abused in their own homes per year, and these statistics only display domestic violence in the US. Society can’t take away pets from their owners to solve this issue because it would cause an uproar. However, if we are able to inform society about animals going through domestic violence, we could find a solution to save them.

Adding on to this issue, it's also important to take the meat industry into account. Although veganism isn’t desired by everyone, animal cruelty does take place in the meat industry beyond getting slaughtered. Unfortunately, some farms are often times aggressive when it comes to their animals. Farmers could develop a serum that would kill the animals but in a painless matter which would give a different perspective on the meat industry.

Humans, unfortunately, are not highly informed on what occurs to animals because they do not see the negativity in the media. We are ignorantly neglecting the well being of animals because we are not educated. If we treated animals humanely, it wouldn’t be necessary to give them set in stone rights.

Animals do not have to carry the same rights as humans, moreover, their lives should be cared for. We don’t necessarily have to give animals certain rights, but we should let them live their own lives without humans collecting them as pawns. Not everyone cares about the treatment of animals, but when you acknowledge the data, how can you believe these animal killings are morally correct? What we should do is project the truth of animal cruelty in order to better educate our society. Although this won't give animals rights, it is a step towards giving animals the acknowledgment they deserve as beings.