Essay Example on ASPCA: Protecting Animals from Cruelty Worldwide

Introduction

Worldwide animals encounter unthinkable cruelty; thus, an organization like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ensures that the anti-cruelty law enforced serves to minimize cruelty there is to animals. The ASPCA was a representation of the other humane institutions that came up throughout the U.S to protect all animal species. Today hundreds of laws have been passed on all levels the federal, state, and local to make sure that animals are protected and provided for their well-being. The ASPCA has public policies through the citizens' initiatives, the legislative process, and consumer education campaigns. The main objective of the essay will be to give insights on the current public policy, explain on the issue of animal protection and its relevance to our lives, while providing summary on both sides of the problem and ultimately give the prescription of what the government should be doing to see off the current public policy on animal protection.

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The Current Public Policy on Animal Protection: Reinforcing Anti-Cruelty Laws and More

The current public policy on animal protections prioritizes on issues that include reinforcing the anti-cruelty laws and associated penalties to all who have animals face unthinkable cruelty. Besides the current public policy also has horses protected from slaughter and hindered from any entertainment related abuse from human beings. All animal species are to be provided for protection; thus, for the current law, it ensures it passes the cost of care policies for those animals seized and held up in any legal case. People have also gone an extra mile to get entertained through animal fighting like the dog or cockfighting; thus with such current public policies, then animals often are protected. Besides, animals are to be treated in the right way, and the public policy comes in to ensure animals are supported by coming up with and expanding the subsidized low cost or no cost spay and neuter initiatives to ascertain immediate treatment when they fall ill. ASPCA mission has always been to ensure animals are better protected, and from such enacted public policy it has had its priority on the issue that addresses on working to attain a healthy, sustainable future for our federal system protected burros and wild horses (Holst, Alexander, and Pim , 12).

Animal Protection: Recognizing Animals' Rights and Relevance in Our Lives

Animal protection is one issue that most people neglect with ideas that they are just animals, but what people fail to understand is that animals too have rights and are not to be subjected to unspeakable cruelty. All animals are to live free of suffering or pain as it is also their right, as much as humans tend to top the food chain it does not justify us to be the only ones with rights but animals too. Animals make up for the living things, thereby creating a balanced ecosystem that should have any living thing earn the needed consideration and have the rightful place to create the balance. Animals do not have a voice thus makes them sentient beings, therefore, calls for we as humans to offer them protection, thus accord them a voice, and that is where the animal rights concept comes in. Animal welfare is our key responsibility because we as humans are inhabitants of the universe to have living things, especially animals protected. It is our role to have coming generations handed responsible care of our natural environment, and that includes the animals as well. A scholar acclaimed that the basic equality principle does not need the same or equal treatment but merely equal consideration (Regan, 18). Similarly is the case with animals their degree of suffering is much the same as that of humans since they also feel lonely, fear, pleasure, and motherly love. It is, therefore for us as humans to consider that we are morally obliged to consider the animals when we want to do something that will interfere with their needs.

It is relevant to our lives to ensure animal protections because animals are important to us because they serve as our workers, companions, food, eyes, and even ears. Most people have domesticated animals; some are wild while a number are endangered following human activities. It is only appropriate we take proper care of these animals because they are valuable to us. Animals perform a vast diversity of task from transportation, assisting the blind and to hunting that has been there even in this era of automotive. From the illustrations by Egyptians, oxen pulled plows and cattle were used as draft animals. Also, there are the service dogs animals that give their senses it could be hearing or smelling to assist the individuals with disabilities while in other instances, conduct law enforcement duties (Francione, Gary and Anna, 25).

Exploring Both Sides of the Issue: Animal Rights vs. Utilization Argument

The issue on the discussion is animal protection of which is debatable because a side says animals have rights too and are to be protected whereas the other differs. However, in summary of both sides of the issue is that no claim is right or wrong, both stand to bear arguments. For the first position is that animals have rights and the disagreement comes in when others claim that if non-human animals as well have rights. In accepting the belief of animal rights then that would call for not having animals undergo experiments, people then should not breed animals and later kill them inhumanely for food or even medicine. The animals' rights doctrine to have them protected will call for no utilization of the animals for hard labor, no hunting, no zoos, or making use of animals to entertain people. In supporting the claims is that the idea of animal protection comes in because no moral relevant disparity exists between adult mammals and the human animals since both are "subjects-of-a-life" therefore need protection (Regan, 19). A point to note is that a being that is subject-of-a-life is assumed to have inherent value thus equally valuable and require to be subjected to similar rights. Animals' intrinsic value is not dependable on how useful they are, and consequently, it does not belittle if they are a problem to others, but the same way for some reason and to the equal degree animals have rights like human beings.

On the contrary, those that differ would not be in support that animals have rights instead treat them with so much cruelty. In backing such claims, some suggest animals are not conscious, do not think, were created to serve humans, have no souls, never act morally and also do not have the capacity for independent moral judgment. A philosopher Rene Descartes proved that animals are merely sophisticated biological robots; thus not the kind to have rights or any ethical consideration (Regan, 20). In an evaluation of the two positions, the fundamental rights to animals boil down to treating even animals with respect because it is a living thing with inherent value.

Prescription for a Comprehensive Animal Protection Policy: Government's Role and Recommendations

In advancing to animal protection, providing animal equality works better and a recommendation to the government to have animals protected would be to have the existing regulations and laws strictly enforced. However, there are a few, not sufficient laws enacted to protect farmed animals around the globe still coming up with proposals to serve for animal equality as that would after that assure stronger protections for the farmed animals. The government can opt to come up with new legislation on the grounds of submitted proposals by even the citizens or experts of the animal welfare (Satz, Ani and Delcianna, 185). It is also a suggestion to the government to at all-time petition for change by even creating public awareness of animals' rights and the relevance to animal protection. In that case, people can be aware of the rights of animals and not treat them with so much cruelty with their base of argument that animals are non-human and have no conscious thus that would significantly change the perception of the people towards animals. It is also the role of the government to have regular evaluations of the animal protection laws present to see whether they cover on the primary standard care without failing to give the adequate protection needed by animals to approximately 90%. The government can alternatively opt to merge with National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) to ensure they take the role to ensure animal protection by analyzing existing laws and monitoring proposed amendments via legislative efforts. The purpose of NAVS would be for them to speak out if changes made to present animal protection laws tend not to or do favor the animals. As a matter of fact, it is also highly recommended that even with laws; government agencies should regularly monitor the enforced laws to ensure the policies set are appropriate to protect animals. The government should also continue investigations on approaches to change the Animal Welfare Act by having it diversifying its coverage to even animals like rats or birds within the idea of animal protection. It is by coming up with such laws that it would serve as a great tool to protect the animals' welfare and would work to put an end to the utilization of animals for academic researches or tests in laboratories.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the current public policy prioritizes on dealing with the issues that create cruelty to animals like stopping the use of animals to entertainment-related abuse or ensuring animals also have programs to offer them treatment. It is in strengthening such policies then animals will be protected. The issue has been animal protection negligence, and in this essay, it is clearly stated of how relevant it is to protect animals because at the end of the day they are of benefit to us and still are living things that balance the ecosystem. In summary, also the paper has given a clear picture of both sides of the idea of animal protection, and in my opinion, animals are to be protected since even they are of inherent value as humans. Ultimately is the recommendation of what state or federal system can enact to ensure all animals are protected like merging efforts with agencies like NAVs, reinforce existing laws as well as offer public sensitization on the issue of animal protection.

Works Cited

Francione, Gary L., and Anna E. Charlton. "Animal rights." The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies. Oxford University Press, 2017. 25.

Holst, Alexander, and Pim Martens. "Determinants of Animal Protection Policy: A Cross-Country Empirical Study." Politics and Animals 2 (2016): 1-14.

Regan, Tom. "The case for animal rights." Animal Rights. Routledge, 2017. 17-30.Satz, Ani B. "Animals as vulnerable subjects: Beyond interest-convergence, hierarchy, and property." Nussbaum and Law. Routledge, 2017. 129-186.

Satz, Ani B., and Delcianna Winders. "Animal Welfare Act: Interaction with Other Laws." Animal L. 25 (2018): 185.