Animal Rights
The Committee to Protect Dogs says state records show that since 2002, 728 greyhounds have been injured racing at the state's two tracks ("Animal Rights Fight"). Every day millions of animals are harmed and killed with no purpose for it. Whether it is to watch dogs fight, or simply make clothing, it happens. The owners of these animals are using them strictly to make money and they could care less if they were to die. Although the animals death may not have been intentional, the owner should still be charged with a crime. An animal of any kind is a living creature, as are we. If a human is murdered, the criminal is charged and sent to prison. So why shouldn’t the same thing happen if an animal is killed?
Recently, Suffolk County passed a bill regarding animal abuse, making them one of very few to do so. Legislator Jon Cooper of D-Lloyd Harbor was one sponsor of the bill. "There are sick individuals out there who are preying on innocent animals," he said. One aide added he would definitely be signing to pass it ("Animal Protection Bill"). People out there will do anything just to make fast money, and the worst part about it some of them find enjoyment while doing it. The United States has gone dozens of years without stopping people from harming an animal or ending it’s life. Most states still let animal cruelty happen without any punishment. But now Suffolk County has made a change. The bill states that any Suffolk County resident who is charged with animal abuse needs to file their name, address and a photo with the registry to stay on the list for five years. Also, if any person convicted of this crime is to be charged for further abuse, an additional five years on the list is added to their sentence ("Animal Protection Bill"). Although it took a while for any state or county to pass such a law, it is finally happening. It had to start somewhere and hopefully this start leads to more and more areas adapting a similar law. However, there is always going to be those few people that do not want the law passed because they actually have reasoning for animals to be used as a money making profit.
One person who would be against passing a bill for animal rights would be John Pappas. One holiday season, Pappas decided to hand out real fur coats to the poor and homeless. He had planned to hand out two hundred fur coats to people in a parking lot one Tuesday afternoon. "We are keeping people warm with fur coats. It's not a disgrace or against the law to wear fur coats or drive nice cars,” Pappas had stated ("Furs for the Homeless"). He had hoped that animal-rights activists would realize it is not such a horrible thing to use animals to make clothing for human beings. There are people out there on a daily basis who do not have homes to live or a place to be warm. They suffer in the harsh weather conditions and certain people are trying to stop them from getting warm, fur coats. Some would think he would have tried handing out these coats discretely to avoid any problems, but Pappas said he wanted to hand them out in his parking lot "to get a little publicity." He even sent a press release to Newsday. Dawn Hernandez of Port Washington, an anti-fur advocate, said, “Naturally it is admirable for anybody to help the homeless, but when you have a press release attached to it, the gesture reeks of exploitation and opportunism." In her opinion, Hernandez seems to believe Pappas went about his well-being in the wrong way. If she were to do it, she wouldn’t have been sending out a press release to Newsday as he did. Helping the homeless is a good cause and it should not be a necessity to have everyone know. Even animal-rights groups had donated fur to the poor! But the media relations manager for the group, Jenny Woods, said those furs had been defaced for the event ("Furs for the Homeless"). Animal rights laws could be a difficult controversy, considering each person has a different opinion, but no animal should be killed to benefit us.
Large dog breeding facilities, also known as puppy mills, are often protested against to try and stop the selling of animals for large amounts of money. The people in these puppy mills breed many dogs a day, and have one dog give birth to multiple litters of puppies. They then proceed to sell the dogs for a very high cost. Recently, investigators discovered a puppy mill with terrible conditions. Some dogs had been covered with ticks and open wounds all over its body. Some were living in pools of feces. It is thought that any human being would be completely against any animal living this way, but that is not true. Investigators who are supposed to be stopping this often do not. Some say the Agriculture Department who is supposed to enforce the Animal Welfare Act sometimes ignores repeat violations, waives penalties, and does not sufficiently document the poor treatment of these dogs ("USDA Fails to Crack"). In one case, an inspector stated that twenty seven dogs had died at a breeding facility after inspectors had visited it and cited multiple violations. This means that people are not doing enough. If dogs are being mistreated and the inspectors know about it, it should be stopped. These animals are suffering, some even dying, and all the breeders care about is making the money. They know they can get thousands of dollars off of one puppy, so they continue to breed. The living conditions of these many dogs could lead to illness and sometimes death. Some people could buy this puppy and it could end up with a life threatening disease all because of the breeder. These people do not car about how the dogs are living and if they are happy or not. They just want the money.
On the other hand, having many animals could be helpful when it comes to animal research. Most people have heard of rats being used as test subjects in a science laboratory. And recently fifteen billion billboards around the world have been posted with the quotation, "Ever had leprosy? Thanks to animal research, you won't." Many researchers used these billboards to promote the use of animals to test drugs and other devices. This promotion even expands beyond billboards to TV commercials, Facebook postings, and Twitter ("Science Takes Case"). Instead of having humans be the guinea pigs of scientific testing, why not let animals? From 2000 to 2008 the percentage of Americans who supported animal testing dropped 16%, leaving on 54% of Americans to support it. Majority of people assume that using any living animal to test them for drugs or medical research would harm them, but in reality that is not true. Until anyone views what actually happens, no one will understand. And Dick Bianco understands this. He had heard people calling these testing sites where animals were tested “dungeon chambers.” Obviously he know that was not true, so he was determined to prove otherwise. "So I bring high school students to my lab,” Bianco said. He lets students see that they are not dungeon chambers. He brings them through to see the laboratory and the animals to try to change the publics opinion on animal testing. Since it’s difficult to get adults to come through, he figured he’d start with the children and hopefully they will spread the news to their parents. One way the animals are used for testing is with the heart. Doctors can not open up a human to insert a plastic valve because eventually, that human would have to die, so instead they used a sheep. The operation is nearly painless, but the sheep would be terminated a few months later and a necropsy, the animal version of an autopsy, will be performed to see if the valve is compatible ("Science Takes Case"). If people would notice that this could help humans in the future, there would be less unnecessary protests against it.
A recently famous incident includes the Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick. A few years ago he was known to have beaten and abused multiple dogs. He was a strong supporter of dog fighting and because of this, he was punished, just like any person should be. Vick was placed in prison for nearly two years and once he was released he “vowed to make the most of his opportunity as a football player and to become an advocate for animal rights causes” ("Vick eager for second"). He was involved in many illegal dogfighting acts where the dogs were either hanged or drowned., but once released from prison he had said that he realized it was “wrong and unnecessary.” "I figure if I could help more animals than I could hurt, then I'm doing my part," he said ("Vick eager for second"). People can change, and sometimes a punishment as harsh as jail can put a person in their place. Nobody knows for sure, but Vick seems to be a changed man. Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles owner, claims to be “an extreme dog lover.” Some may question why he took Vick back after the crimes he committed. One thing that Lurie stated was that Vick had to actively be a part of programs that promoted animal rights. Lurie will most definitely make sure that Michael Vick will never again take part in dogfighting.
If an individual is punished for their wrongdoing, they may actually learn a lesson. However, if people are getting away with beating dogs, or letting them live in horrible conditions, the crimes will never stop. Dog owners will continue to breed and sell the puppies for thousands of dollars, and dogfighters will still be watching their dogs die. Until the United States government passes a law stating that anybody caught abusing an animal in any way will be sent to jail, nothing is going to change. Millions of animals will continue to die or become ill on a daily basis for no reason at all.
