December 10, 1948 was a symbol of the victory of humanitarianism over the abuse and exploitation of the rights of the people in one of the most destructive wars in world history. It was during this time that the United Nations General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This gave the people the right to live according to the priorities they themselves identify as long as they do not infringe the rights of others.
We believe that this kind of action should not only end on the consolidation of ideas to further refine what are presently considered to be the rights of the people however it should also widen its scope. We recognize the moral imperative to include animals within this sphere of the protection that the declaration establishes. The ascription of moral and legal rights in the United Nations Declaration of Animal Rights is a logical and inevitable progression of ethical thinking.
Animals should also be afforded with the moral considerations as any other sentient being, those who have the ability to experience pain or pleasure but not to the extent of equal rights with human beings. What we mean here with giving moral consideration to animals is that we should go through a process of giving careful thoughts first before doing something with these animals and it should be with accordance to the principles of right and wrong conforming to the standards of behavior and character.
Everything in this earth is for the utility of humanity. But this does in no way shape, form, or gives any one the right to abuse, destruction, cruelty and other mischief. We have seen and experienced the exploitation of our fellow human beings in the last century. Our fellow human beings went through a number of barbarous acts which outraged the conscience of mankind. Thus, it resulted to an advent of a world with free speech and belief, freedom from fears and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people. Now, in the present century, we are having the exploitation of animals by the human beings. Our country, Philippines, has a great number of rare and exotic animals. Philippines is a mega diversity country and a global biodiversity hotspot. Our surrounding waters have the highest level of biodiversity in the whole world. However, this has been overshadowed because we are now considered as one of the “hottest of the hotspots.” According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, seven species of animals in the country are critically endangered, 13 are endangered while 30 species are considered to be vulnerable.
Animals are not merely instruments of human desires and will. They have the capacity to experience pleasure and pain, happiness and suffering. To make things clearer, let us define what is pain. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, it is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with the actual or potential tissue damage or describe in terms of such damage. Pain is a state of consciousness, ‘a mental event’ and such it can never be observed. Behavior like writhing or screaming is not pain itself however it is just an aggregate of responses or reaction or movement made by an organism in a given situation. This fact compels us to also give these animals their rights.
Nearly all the external signs that can tell us that a human feels pain can also be seen in other species, especially those who are most closely related to us like the mammals and birds. The external signs that we refer includes writhing, facial contortions, moaning, yelping or other forms of calling, attempts to avoid the source of pain, appearance of fear at the prospect of its repetition and so on. These animals undergo same physiological processes when they are in circumstances that would make them feel the pain. There will be an initial rise of blood pressure, dilated pupils, perspiration, an increased pulse rate and if the stimulus continues, a fall in blood temperature. Even though human beings have a more developed cerebral cortex compared to other animals, it is the diencephalons which plays an important role in the processing of impulses, emotions and feelings. This part of the brain is well developed in mammals and birds.
However, not all animals are capable of feeling pain or pleasure. We are referring to the Invertebrates like the worms, insects, crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crab) and mollusks (clams, snails). They have nervous systems distributed all over their body however they do not have nociceptors, central nervous system, endrogenous opioids, nociceptors connected to the Central Nervous System and they do not show response to Analgesics. These were the result of the comparative study of Dr. Gary Varner between Vertebrates and Invertebrates, “In Nature’s Interest? Interests, Animal Rights and Environmental Ethics” published by the Oxford University Press in the year 1998.
This does not mean that invertebrates are not capable of feeling pain or pleasure; they do not deserve to be afforded with their own rights. Let us take for example those who are in the state of coma. In medicine, it is a state of unconsciousness in which a person is unresponsive to external stimuli. Psychologists use Electroencephalogram signals to measure a person’s response to a sensory stimulus or to help determine a person’s level of physiological arousal. The finding of a flat or wave less, EEG in persons in coma has been interpreted as an absence of brain function and used as a legal evidence of death. However, we recognize the fact that these people should not be given less protection however they should be given more. Their right should not be denied rather it should be reinforced. We owe a very special responsibility to the people who are not able to meet their self-actualization needs and maximize their full potentials here in our society. We recognize the inherent value of these invertebrates in attaining the rights of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature which is one of the state policies in the constitution. If we are to pursue different treatment to the human beings and animals, it would only show unjustifiable justification.
The difference of species is not acceptable to justify the meaningless exploitation and abuse for food, entertainment and other commercial activities. We believe that we should concentrate not on the race, nation or the species that experience the actual suffering. It should not be aggregated. For example, 100 units of pain inflicted to one person is greater than the same unit of pain distributed to 100 persons. We should put our concern with the maximum sufferer. Pain is pain regardless of its host.
We should give moral considerations to each activity that uses animals. First is the use of animals in medical research. This activity should be regulated. Animal experimentation is performed for medical and scientific purposes. Animals are placed under controlled laboratory conditions and are carefully monitored. Researches can be conducted through experimentation using simple life forms like bacteria. However, there have been better results achieved using animals. Many animals serve as good models because they perform many functions similar to humans such as breathing, eating, and reproducing.
Animals are continually being used in laboratories for experiments, mostly to test products for human benefits. Scientists use animals to study numerous drugs, vaccines, and medical procedures. For example, scientists use the eyes of rhesus monkeys to test the effect of marijuana on humans. Cosmetics companies rub their products on the skin of animals. Some companies, like those who produce household products, force animals to inhale products in the form of aerosol sprays. They are also being used to study the causes of human diseases and to determine the safety of cosmetics, pesticides and other household products. The results from animal testing are being used as a basis for determining whether these products are fit for human consumption or not.
Animals and humans differ from each other. This makes the results from the experiments unreliable. These results can make researchers form false assumptions of the effects of drugs and can sometimes even make the illness worse. For example, during the early 1950s, vaccine production using cell cultures from monkeys resulted in exposing humans to possibly dangerous monkey viruses. During the 1960s, scientists concluded that animals that inhaled tobacco during the experiment did not develop lung cancer.
There are better solutions such as studying the occurrence of diseases in large populations, and the factors that affect its spread and worsening. Clearer and possibly more accurate medical observations can also be achieved through autopsy studies, cell cultures, endoscopies and biopsies. Endoscopy is being used by physicians to monitor, identify, and even treat medical problems. Biopsies are used to determine the causes of diseases like tumors and cancers. These can certainly be a great help in determining the causes of human diseases and may provide the appropriate cure.
Medical Research should be ceased if it is immoral and inflicts inhumane pain to animals. We are not promoting to stop the use of animals in medical research. What we want is to have regulation. If we will do the suspension of all medical researches involving animals, it would surely lead to the deprivation of pleasure among those who would benefit from the research. In order to maximize the principle of utility, the medical research should continue although in a humane manner as possible.
Animals are used for human consumption. We need them to fulfill our need which is food. Filipinos are mostly Christian; in the Bible God said that human has dominion over other animals. Hunting and killing animals for food is not wrong. We can eat meat unlike in other religions. God also indicate which kinds of animals were suitable for human consumption like chicken, duck, cattle, pigs, goat, deer, and fish. Even in the Quran, The mercy of Islam extends beyond human beings to all living creations of God. Islam prohibits cruelty to animals. Islam laid down humane slaughtering regulations. Islam insists that the manner of slaughter should be that which is least painful to the animal. Islam requires that the slaughtering instrument not be sharpened in front of the animal. Islam also prohibits the slaughtering of one animal in front of another. Fourteen hundred years ago, long before the modern animal rights movement began with the publication of Peter Singer’s book, “Animal Liberation,” in 1975, Islam required kindness to animals and cruelty to them a sufficient reason for a person to be thrown into the Fire!
When killing animals, one must carefully discern the purpose and attitude. We can only consider it lawful if it is done as part of the religious rituals of an established religion or sect or a ritual required by tribal or ethnic custom of indigenous cultural communities. Another is if the animal is afflicted with an incurable communicable disease and when the killing is deemed necessary to put an end to the misery suffered by the animal. One more is if it is done for population control. We emphasize that the killing of the animals shall be done through humane procedures at all times. We have been reiterating that in every activity that we do that includes animals. We should make sure that we give them humane treatment. What we mean is that in doing and performing all things in any way that will alleviate the suffering of animals and promote their welfare. Humane treatment of animals is based on understanding of their natural behavior. There is a direct connection between respect for natural animal behavior and protection of the environment. Animals are also part of God’s creation and should be treated with a certain amount of respect.
Next is the use of animals for entertainment like circus, zoos, Marine Park and cock fighting. Circus animals are placed in cars and chained when not performing tricks. Trainers use instruments like whip and bull hooks to torture animals to obey in the ring. In the zoos, animals live in small cages. Older Animals are dumped by popular zoos and ended up in tiny filthy cages at roadside zoos across the country or in canned hunts, where hunters pay large sums for the guaranteed kill of an exotic trophy animal. Moreover, new caught wild elephants in zoos are fatal. In marine parks, marine animals live in small tanks for several years. In the process of catching animals, the mother is killed to get the babies. There are also cases wherein dolphin trainers kill dolphin and select the ones that fit the desired criteria for public display. We also have exhibition of cowboy skills here in our country. Rodeo horses and bulls have bucking straps cinched tightly around their abdomens. Cows and horses are often prodded with an electrical ‘hot shot’ while in the chute, to rile them, causing intense pain to the animals. After the rodeo, injured animals are carted off to the slaughtered plant. We can also see in our country that wealthy businessman or landowners and government leaders are mostly involved in cockfighting. They enjoy gambling without noticing the cruelty they bring to the animals. Chicken are drugged to be more aggressive.
To avoid these cruelties, we should not allow person, association, partnership, corporation, cooperative or any government agency or any instrumentality to establish a zoo, circus, for the use of animals unless the facilities of such establishment for animals are adequate, clean and sanitary and will not be used for, nor cause pain and suffering to the animals. We should also ensure that the training as well as the transport of such animals in any form of public or private transportation facility should provide these animals maximum comfort while in transit and minimize, if not totally eradicate, incidence of sickness and death and prevent any cruelty from being inflicted upon the animals. We must make certain that in the transportation of these wildlife and all other animals, they should be provided in all cases adequate, clean and sanitary facilities for the safe conveyance and delivery. They shall be provided with sufficient food and water for such animals while in transit. In the case of cock fighting, we cannot cease this activity in our country because cock fighting has been a part of the Filipino Culture. If we are to stop this form of entertainment and a source of income for some Filipinos, it would go against the human rights which is the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community stated in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration if Human Rights.
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