Resolved: In the United States, justice requires the recognition of animal rights.

Affirmative NegativeI affirm. Rights of non-human animals in the U.S. are justified. Animals are sentient beings according to the Treaty of

Amsterdam. Thus, animals are entitled to the same rights as humans with respect to freedom from cruelty, harm, enslavement, and exploitation. What does it mean to be sentient? Put simply, it means the ability to feel, perceive, or be conscious. In short it means to have subjective experiences. In animals this implies the ability to experience pleasure or suffering. What human would not suffer if he were used as fodder, experimented upon, or be made to entertain the public without his consent? If an activity causes undue suffering to someone, the activity is morally unacceptable. If animals are capable of suffering, it is, then, morally unacceptable to cause them undue suffering as well.

In order to win this round of the debate, the negative has the burden of proving that justice does not require the United States to recognize that animals are entitled to the same rights as humans. I contend that since humans are interconnected with all living things and animals are capable of feeling pain and pleasure, animals should not be treated differently. To do so would set the human species above all other species; in other words, it would establish the principle of humans as the superior species. Treating animal suffering differently from human

I negate. Although non-human animals should be treated humanely, giving them rights equivalent to humans is not justified since human rights are based on the capacity to reason, not solely on the ability to have consciousness, suffer pain, or experience pleasure. This capacity to reason has put man at the top of the food chain since reasoning has allowed him to counter superior force through rational thought. Should we hinder man's progress, welfare, and health through the prohibition of using animals for our own purposes? I think not. Although animals are sentient, this does not mean they should be given freedom from humans use as tools to improve human life.

In order to win this round of the debate, the affirmative has the burden of proving that justice requires that the United States recognize that animals are entitled to the same rights as humans. I contend that humane treatment of animals for human use meets the moral test of not causing undue suffering and is justified on the basis of man's stewardship over other living things, and, most importantly, because of its necessity for the future well-being of humanity. Thus, the value I support is necessity. This value is best supported through the value criterion that the alternatives to animals for human use are, in the main, inadequate substitutions.

Animal Testing Perspectives. Dunnett, Helen. Views on what is a sentient being. retrieved from World Wide Web February 18, 2013. animal testing perspectives.org/news-and-interviews/ethics/views-on-what-is-a-sentient-being.

suffering is considering one’s own species as superior to all others which is morally indefensible. Thus, my value is equality between animals and humans. I seek to defend this value through the value criterion of elimination of animal suffering through viable alternatives to the use of animals for the purposes of food, experimental subjects, and entertainment. If I can prove that adequate and viable alternatives exist, then there should be no impediment to granting animals equal rights. Contention One:Animals are raised in inhumane conditions and slaughtered through cruel methods. Such treatment defies the rights of all sentient beings.

First, let us examine how animals are raised under cruel and inhumane conditions. Industrial farm-raised animals live in deplorable and cruel conditions their entire lives. Some have never seen daylight or have sat in their own urine and feces or have not been exposed to or have had access to their natural habitat, or have had shelter.

Animals raised for food are inbred for generations with a different appearance and behavior from their wild counterparts.

Some of these animals would have been better off from human intervention.

-According to the Sierra Club, in the U.S., millions of egg-laying chickens in industrial barns are confined and live in tight metal cages, termed "battery cages." The chickens in these cages are stacked atop one another. Hens artificially molt or

Contention One:Animals are necessary for adequate human nutrition and the development of useful products and medical knowledge. Presently, many humane methods of raising and slaughtering animals exist and allow us to pursue continued use of animals for the betterment of human welfare without impinging unduly on the welfare of animals.

First, animals can be raised humanely and in some circumstances domestic animals are better off under human care.

-First, let us look at the circumstances created by centuries of domestication of farm stock. Animals raised for food have already been bred for generations for this very purpose. Most of these animals can't survive or even breed without the aid of human beings. Animals raised for food are inbred for generations with a different appearance and behavior from their wild counterparts. Many would not survive in the wild.

-When resources permit, most of these animals breathe fresh

lose their feathers because they are systematically starved. (Clean Water and Factory Farms: Inhumane Treatment of Farm Animals. Sierra Club. Retrieved from World Wide Web March 2, 2013. columbia.org/pdf_files/ husbandry.pdf.)

-Broiler chickens are bred to have heavy breasts and are housed in industrial barns. There can be over 20,000 of these types of chickens confined on such an industrial farm. Many of them are incapable of standing and die of thirst because their heavy breasts inhibit them from obtaining water. (Clean Water and Factory Farms: Inhumane Treatment of Farm Animals. Sierra Club. Retrieved from World Wide Web March 2, 2013. columbia.org/pdf_files/ husbandry.pdf.)

This treatment is not limited to chickens. Thousands of cows are confined in concrete encased feedlots. To artificially boost milk production, cows are often injected with hormones that cause a debilitating amount of bone loss and painful infections. The cows are milked by mechanical devices as much as three times per day. (Clean

air, eat well, and breed in safety from predators. In contrast, wild animals are uncertain of their next meal or of their safety from the elements and predation.

-Moreover, a movement now exists which seeks to raise livestock and poultry under the most humane conditions possible. Animals raised under the Certified Humane Raised and Handled Program

based on guidelines established by the organization, requires that

1. Animals receive plenty of space, a sheltered environment, and gentle handling to prevent

them from becoming stressed. 2. An abundant supply of fresh

water and fine grade feed without added hormones or antibiotics comprises their nutrition source so they can be healthy.

3. Cages, tie stalls, and crates are among the prohibited practices, and animals must be provided freedom to engage in their natural

instinctive patterns of behavior.

For example, chickens are able to flap their wings and dust bathe, while pigs have enough space to roam and root. (http://www.certifiedhumane.org/index.php?page=overview)

Also, a nest box must be provided to hens.A nest box allows a hen to be removed from other chickens permitting the hen to be in her own solitary place, which allows her to lay eggs without interferences. Hens have a strong urge before laying their eggs to build a nest and the Animal Care

Water and Factory Farms: Inhumane Treatment of Farm Animals. Sierra Club. Retrieved from World Wide Web March 2, 2013. columbia.org/pdf_files/ husbandry.pdf.)

-Swine or pigs are confined in large numbers on factory farms and spend their lifetime in tight metal pens often standing on slated concrete floors which may cause discomforting pain to the animals. The pigs also breathe in almost toxic levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from the manure stored under the pens which they reside in. (Clean Water and Factory Farms: Inhumane Treatment of Farm Animals. Sierra Club. Retrieved from World Wide Web March 2, 2013. columbia.org/pdf_files/ husbandry.pdf.)

-In addition to these cruel living conditions, the National Cooperative Grocers Association states that animals are sometimes mutilated on U.S. factory farms. For example, the beaks of chickens are often cut off so they do not peck at each other. -Moreover, animals raised in factory farms often don't receive fresh air, sunlight, adequate clean water, or healthful or nutritious food.

Standards requires that theproducers use nest boxes that provide a substratethat encourages the hens to perform this behavior.

-Additionally, The Animal Welfare Approved program and food label promote the well-being of animals and the sustainability of humane family farms and meat plants.

The local food movement and increasing awareness of the public, who increasingly are turning to organic, antibiotic free foods and grass-fed animals indicates that humane practices are possible and are being observed.

Besides the more humane animal husbandry methods increasingly being practiced, humane methods of slaughter are enshrined by federal law.

-The law that is currently enforced by the USDA is the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act (HMSA) of 1978, which made mandatory the humane slaughter and handling of livestock in USDA inspected plants.-This law requires that livestock be rendered insensible to pain on the first application of the stunning device before being shackled, hoisted, cast, or cut. -This means that the animal must be unconscious and unable to feel pain before its veins and arteries are severed, so they bleed out, before it is shackled and hoisted into the air, or before it is dropped onto a table or the ground.

(Humane Treatment of Farmed Animals. National Cooperative Grocers Association. Retrieved from World Wide Web March 2, 2013. ncga.coop/newsroom/animal- treatment.)

Now let us examine the slaughter house practices in the U.S. Are they any less cruel? Death is often mechanized and some might argue unnatural. The animals have no choice but to face their fate at the hands of mankind's lust for flesh. In the wild these animals would have a fair shot at survival and would use these instincts to their fullest potential.

-Although the Humane Methods of Slaughter Acts, of 1958 and 1978 state that animals slaughtered in USDA inspected slaughter plants for food must receive proper treat- ment and humane handling, it has no provisions for awarding fines or penalties and is generally not enforced and is routinely ignored by slaughter plants. As a result, inhumane practices continue.

( United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library. Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. USDA. Retrieved from World Wide Web February 2, 2013. awic.nal.usda.gov/ government-and- professional-resources/federal- laws/humane-methods-slaughter- act.)

-Thus, The death of captive animals is quick and the pain is short and instantaneous. In the wild, it would be painful and drawn out.

-Moreover, their death has a purpose in serving in the sustaining of life. In captivity, these animals serve that purpose in the most effective way possible.

One example of inhumane practices towards animals during slaughter are the billions of chickens and turkeys killed for food in the U.S. These birds are shackled upside down, paralyzed by electrified water, and have their throats cut over mechanical cutting blades while they are conscious. Millions of other chickens drown in tanks of scalding water. (Cruel Slaughter Practices. The Humane Society of the United States. Retrieved from the World Wide Web March 2, 2013. humanesociety.org/issues/ slaughter/)

Mechanized death of an individual of a species, not just of our own species, can be a harrowing experience and is never desirable. Consequentially, animals of all species should not be mistreated or harmed when mistreatment or harm to the animal can be avoided.

Contention Two: Consuming the flesh of poultry, fish, and meat is unnecessary since alternatives for healthier nutrition exist and the production of goods derived from animals is possible through the utilization of plants and other sources in our environment like minerals and fossil fuels.

If eating meat, fish, or poultry is required for a healthy diet, it would permit eating humans or cannibalism. If the nutrition argument excludes cannibalism, reasons must be offered

Contention Two: Unfortunately, adequate alternatives to animals for human uses do not yet exist and we have no choice but to deny animals the same rights as humans. As long as we utilize every method available to ensure humane treatment of animals, this must be our course.

Since the industrial revolution, animal protein has had to be produced in a manner to ensure maximum efficiency to sustain an ever-growing population of

for defending why some kinds of animals and not other ones may be eaten

A healthy diet does not require eating meat, especially if dietary supplements include it. A careful combination of vegetarian foods can ensure proper nutrition. One can receive proper nutrition by eating grains with legumes which together provide enough protein required in a person's diet, grains which provide B vitamins which are required in a person's diet, and vegetables which provide enough vitamins and minerals including iron.

-A plant based diet is easier on the environment. To feed animals requires more acreage for plants and creates waste

Just because we can eat meat does not make it right. Values do not follow from facts. Some natural things are not morally acceptable for humans to do even though animals do them. For example, hamsters will eat their newborns.

Alterative sources for products from animals exist and should be used.

Examples of alternative sources for products from animals include: synthetic hormones; plant based cosmetics; natural fibers such as linen, cotton, rayon, and synthetic fibers; plant oils in place of animal fats; and synthetic tri-basic calcium phosphate which is an alternative to bone ash.

humans.

Animal protein is the most efficacious method to ensure proper nutrition. A healthy diet requires essential nutrients. Protein, iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and calcium can only be attained by meat, fish, and dairy products. Attempting to achieve the same level of nutrition through a plant-based diet requires careful combinations of types of plants and usually must be supplemented to ensure complete proteins and minerals are obtained in an individual's diet. Therefore, meat, fish, and dairy in moderation are necessary for a healthy diet.

In fact, meat eating is human nature. Humans have been meat eaters since the dawn of time. Humans are omnivores-suited to eat both animals and plants-prehistoric ancestors ate meat and this was essential for human evolution and they used the entire animal. Therefore, not eating meat is unnatural.

Useful products depend on animal sources and often have a lower impact on the environment.

After their deaths, almost all of the animal is utilized: the best for the rich, the second for the middle class, the third for the poor, the fourth for dog food, and the fifth for fertilizer.

One example of a product made from animals is perfume. Certain perfumes can not be produced without animals such as musk which comes from the civet cat, ambergis which can be obtained only through killing whales, and castor oil

which comes from beavers.

Animal gelatins also are derived from animals. These are used in a wide range of foods. These include:

animal fats which are used for shortenings, pastas, butter, and dressings;

Products made from animals are also used to process foods, such as bone ash which is used to refine sugar, animal fats which control foam in the production of maple syrup, and gelatins which clarify beverages

Scientists find in some cases, natural products work better than synthetics; Natural products may help conserve resources. Glue made from cow hide is preferred in binding books, can withstand high temperatures, and has the ability to dissolve in water which makes recycling possible. Conversely, synthetic glue melts in intense heat and is insoluble.

Other useful products made from animals are leather, silk, wool, feathers, and fur. These are resources which are renewable whereas synthetic fabrics are obtained through finite sources like petroleum which causes pollution.

About 45% of each individual animal is used to make products other than food.

Additionally, 350 pharmaceuticals come from animals.

Contention Three:

Experimentation on and vivisection of

Contention Three:

Experimentation on and vivisection of

animals is unreasonably cruel and unnecessary because alternative scientific methods exist.

Results from animal experimentation are not applicable to humans. We should conduct research on human, cell, and tissue cultures, and on voluntary human subjects. Just because one species reacts to a drug or chemical a certain way does not mean another species will respond to it the same way. Animals kept in unnatural conditions won't get active or consistent results.

There are replacement alternatives to animal testing for cosmetics and medicine.

-Synthetic skin (Corrositex) can be used in place of animals to test animals for skin corrosivity -Computer modeling can replace certain kinds of animal use. This form or method of testing is instituted, at certain medical schools and biology classes, for example. -Humans can replace animals in some research. For example, human clinical studies and epidemiological studies can provide effective answers and results to problems. Improved statistical design can also provide strong, conclusive answers and resolutions to problems.

The purpose of animal testing is often trivial and unnecessary. For example, is it worth blinding rabbits so we can have a new mascara?

Today, cosmetics testing may rely on computer modeling, in-vitro tests, and trials on human volunteers.

animals are beneficial and necessary for acquiring scientific knowledge about ways to cure and treat disease, for product safety testing, education, as well as for developing new surgical techniques.

Humans are the largest group used for research and experimentation. If humans are used for research why are animals not being used too? Huge clinical trials are done on human volunteers.

The use of animals is prevalent because they share 200 common diseases with humans. Certain testing can not be accomplished without the use of live organs and tissue. There is no way to duplicate complex disease in a culture or to enable a computer to analyze the effects of drugs on a system. Mammals are the best subjects because they share the same biological systems with humans. (Using animals in research. Explorable. Retrieved from World Wide Web February 18, 2013. explorable.com/animals-in-research.)

Animals are necessary in the place of humans in cases where scientists need to minimize environmental variables. We can not isolate humans.

Scientific breakthroughs have resulted from animal research including vaccinations, anesthesia, antibiotics, and numerous medical treatments for various diseases.

Animal research uses humane methods.

-85% of research animals

(source for above: FAQs in Alternatives to animal testing. Retrieved on February 18. 2013 from @ltweb.jhsph.edu/resources/faqs.html. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)

Cell culture toxicology methods give accuracy rates of 80 to 85%.

92% of drugs passed by animal tests immediately fail when first tried on humans.

The most common diseases are lung cancer from smoking and heart disease which can not be reproduced in lab animals.

Results from animal tests are routinely altered radically by diet, light, noise, temperature, lab staff, and bedding.

(Source for data above: Does animal testing help human medicine? Retrieved February 18, 2013. Vivisection information network: animal testing and science-the facts. www.vivisectioninformation.com/index.php?p=1_8_all-you-need-to-know-in-33-facts.)

Experimental surgery on animals is cruel and inhumane.

bred for laboratory use are rodents. -Most lab tests on animals are simple single type tests. These tests include change in diet, drawing a blood sample, and administering a drug.

-Animals are given anesthetics if the procedure is invasive.

Scientists follow three R's. These are refinement, reduction, and replacement. -Refinement of testing must be arranged so animal distress is minimal -In reduction, scientists must Reduce the number of animals in experiments whenever possible. -Replacement incorporates the concept that if when possible, the scientist must replace animals with other adequate research methods.

The use of animals in research is heavily regulated.

Care mandated through regulatory guidelines dictating how animals are housed and treated including veterinary care, pain management, and measures to make sure animals do not suffer during experimentation is implemented.

Research on animals requires permission from an ethical committee.

(all arguments above taken from explorable. com website listed above)

Experimental surgery on animals saves lives. Why should a human die needlessly from an experimental treatment or disease? What more divine a purpose can an animal serve than to save a human life!

Most animals raised in captivity have short lives and breed prolifically. Humans take a much longer time to grow and mature to volunteer to be guinea pigs. They take eight months of gestation time and produce only one offspring at a time. A rat or rabbit takes only a few weeks to gestate and produces several offspring at one time.

Some animals like pigs, dogs, and primates have certain physiological traits close to humans. These animals serve as pioneers and martyrs for cures for diseases as well as increasing the advancements in technology for science and medicine.

Laboratory animals are generally taken care of well and live in clean, sterile environments.

If there were not a need to test on animals, then we would not do it. Medical research is an arduous process. It requires time, expense, and animal sacrifices.

Animal research accounts for 70% of Nobel prizes in the fields of physiology and medicine. Medically speaking, we would still be in the Middle Ages if it weren't for animal research.

Contention Four:

Using animals for entertainment purposes is immoral because animals should have freedom which nature intended them to have.

Contention Four:

Using animals for entertainment purposesis not a reason for concern as long as the animals are treated humanely and are

Cruel treatment of animals used for entertainment purposes include: enslavement and physical harm, rodeos, bull riding championships, bullfighting, and Sea World.

Animals used for entertainment are placed in these categories: animals used for generating profits on the long term, on the medium term, and on the short term.

The primary reason people keep animals for entertainment is to generate profits. Other than awe and bloodlust that is the prime directive.

Animals for the long term are intelligent (programmable) animals that can have their wills broke to man's indomitable will, such as primates, dolphins, orcas, seals, elephants, bears, large felines, dogs, and horses. Their owners provide food, shelter, and safety from the outside world.

Animals used for the medium term are usually bred for their speed. These are domesticated animals that are usually taken care of with food, shelter, and plenty of athletic training. Humans act as coaches for these animals to help them reach their athletic and profit earning potential.

well-cared for.

Asian elephants, horses, dogs domesticated circus animals, and other circus or show animals have a long tradition for entertainment purposes.

Animals used for entertainment are usually placed into three categories:

They are used for performing for food, racing for profits, or used for fights to the death (arena combat, Gladiator tournaments).

Animals that perform for food are usually highly intelligent mammals such as primates, dolphins, orcas, seals, elephants, bears, large felines, dogs, and horses. The harm in this kind of captivity is psychological enslavement, and in many cases physical and emotional abuse. Animals born in captivity never know what it is like to be a free animal.

Animals used for racing profits also undergo the same conditions at a higher stress level. They literally die from exhaustion or are punished for not performing to the expectations of their owners. These include horses and dogs bred for their speed.

Arena animals are usually male animals exploited for their natural territorial behavior. This at one time included humans (in some ways still does). Animals exploited for arena purposes or for the purpose of being in a tournament are bulls, horses, dogs, roosters, snakes, fish, and even spiders and insects. These animals are bred for one purpose, to kill the other animal for its survival. These animals undergo all the stresses of

the above animals and have short, violent lives. (ARTSONEARTH.COM)