General Information on Animal Rights

As in all things, balance or moderation is a virtue. So we will address a subject that includes certain complexities: how to know what are the sacred rights of animals? In this article, you can read about some of the general points of animal rights.

However, before getting into their rights as established by law, let’s examine the harm people do to their pets when we treat them like people.

An animal should never be treated like a person

Anyone who loves animals wants them to be content, feel happy and have a complete life. However, treating them like human beings is a serious mistake. Why?

Humanizing animals is also considered animal cruelty for several reasons:

• They need a leader. Dogs are pack animals, so if they grow up with us putting them at the same level, they will suffer from a lack of leadership. They will not know what their role is in the household, and this will cause problems both internally and in the animal’s interactions with others.
• Excessive pampering is wrong. It’s true that affection, petting, and cuddling are very necessary for animals, but an excessive amount can throw them off and it may end up putting aside other necessary instincts.
• Stress. An animal that is not treated like one will begin suffering from stress as well as instinctive and emotional shortcomings that will then be very difficult to fix.
• Far from making an animal being happy, an excessive amount of affection and humanization will do the opposite.  It will make an animal stressed, unhappy and unbalanced.

With this in mind, what are the fundamental rights that we must give to animals in order to achieve our goals?

Animal rights according to the law

Animals have several rights recognized by law that people must comply and if not, it could cost people time behind bars.

The following are considered animal abuse:

• Not feeding animals a sufficient quantity and quality of food, whether they be domestic or captive animals.
• Striking them with any implement that is not meant to stimulate them but rather to punish them or beat them.
• Forcing them to work for long hours without rest and under adverse weather conditions.
• Making them work when they aren’t physically healthy.
• Using drugs to stimulate them, unless they are for therapeutic purposes.
• Using them to pull vehicles that are too heavy for them to handle. 

The following are considered acts of cruelty:

• Vivisection. This is the dissection of a live animal, which is prohibited as long as it has no scientifically demonstrable purposes.
• Mutilation. Cutting any part of an animal’s body, whether it be a tail, ears or other extremities, is punishable by law and considered to be a violation of animal rights.
• Performing some type of surgical operation without motive or without having the qualification required to do it.
• Abandonment.
• Killing a pregnant animal.
• Hurting, striking or running over an animal causing unnecessary torture and suffering.
• Animal fighting.

Humanizing an animal can be considered a form of abuse, but this does not exempt anyone from giving them the love, affection, and respect they deserve. There must be rules guided by common sense that make up a part of animals’ rights and if otherwise, may be punishable by law.

So, give your pet their rightful place without humanizing them. Respect their rights and instincts. Love them and take care of them without going to any extreme.