A debate had started on the topic of whether animals should hold some rights. Animals are classified and things and not persons. A thing is something owned by a human. So animals depend on humans when they are taken. A group has advocated for some animals to get legal persons rights especially animals like chimpanzees, elephants, and bears. They argue that they have capacities that include self-awareness, autonomy, language, culture, and are able to plan their future. So they believe classifying them as things don’t seem right.
After reading and watching more able to the mission of the Nonhuman Rights Project, I’ve realized that the rights they are fighting for these animals are not rights solely given to humans. Ships, corporations, and rivers have these rights. They are right to protect themselves. they believe these chips, elephants, and bears have the capacity to understand what is going on. However, the opposing side fears that these rights will extend to animals they own like chickens, pigs, and horses. So many people are heavily divided on the topic.
Do you think these animals should be given these rights?
Dear Zhelanea,
I am very intrigued about your post, “Should animals have legal rights?” because it’s a topic that I don’t hear discussed very often. I think it’s very important to protect animals as much as we can, considering there are many species going extinct due to different factors that are human-caused. Animals also don’t have anyone to speak up for them which is why I think animals should have rights. A sentence from your post that stood out to me was, “They argue that they have capacities that include self-awareness, autonomy, language, culture, and are able to plan their future.”. I thought this was interesting because it’s something I didn’t know about other animals. Thank you for writing. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Dear Zhelanea,
I am happy to read about your post about “Should animals have legal person rights?”. I think animals should have the same rights we do. They should not be considered as things when they are living. I believe that they should be considered as animals. I think this is interesting “they believe these chips, elephants, and bears have the capacity to understand what is going on.” I find this interesting because animals do understand whats going on so they should not be considered as things. And people should be less divided on this topic and be more towards the animals having rights.
Damian Landeros