Animal Welfare Vs. Animal Rights(A few points,IMO)

I have always been a supporter of animal welfare. I've made videos about shelter animals that need homes. This has ended up getting me in a bit of trouble with animal rights activists. Let me first explain the difference between them and me. With animal welfare, I believe all living creatures have a right to be treated and cared for in a humane manner. That means fed proper diet, seen by a veterinarian, given medication and supplements to keep them healthy, exercising their minds and bodies, not constantly caged and unable to move, and when the time comes, humane deaths. This means, I am not against using animals as pets, food, clothing, medical research, and entertainment. I simply am for the humane treatment of the animals used in those fields.

Animal rights on the other hand are giving all animals the right to freedom just like humans. Free to come and go as they please with no meddling by humans, ever. Animal welfare is generally what many animal rescuers support.



With that said, I am sick and tired of PETA members thinking because I am for animal welfare; I am automatically on their side. Let me explain my standing on some issues that PETA is fully against.



Animal Testing: Though I would never use beauty products currently tested on animals, I know full well, every ingredient in the beauty products was at one time or another, tested on animals. Beauty products say they never tested that PRODUCT on animals, which is true. That product in its current form is not tested on animals. However the glycerin, alcohol, dyes, etc were at one time tested on animals. There is no getting away from this fact.

Medical testing, that is an entirely different animal. Tylenol, pacemakers, organ transplants, blood transfusions, Advil, Penicillin, rabies vaccine, Frontline Flea and Tick control, Vaseline, Dog/cat shampoos, Spaying/neutering surgeries, insulin, and just about every single other medical procedure for humans and animals, every single OTC and pharmaceutical drug, and every vaccine has animal testing to thank for being here.

Not to mention bleach, Pine sol, paint, crayons, laundry detergent, gasoline, soda, liquor, pet food, alcohol, cigarettes, and everything else with a warning label or cautionary statement not to use/eat/drink too much. How else we do know that too much of something can lead to cancer or something else is non-toxic if ingested? Because at one point or another, it was either sprayed in some animal's eye, forced down its throat, or injected into its veins.



Face it, if you want to avoid all animal testing, kill yourself now. But don't use a gun or poison, those were used on animals in testing. Go for an old fashioned rope.



Vegetarianism: Now I got nothing against those who feel that they are healthier for being vegans. I certainly agree, market meat is by far some pretty rank stuff, being injected with antibiotics, steroids, god knows what else. Meat wise, game meat or your own livestock you raise or raised on trusted family farms, are usually the healthiest. But to become a vegan to save animal lives is just not making that big of a difference. Vegatarisim has been on the rise for years, but the meat industry is still going strong. And if you own pets, how does that factor into your no meat lifestyle? Do you force your dog and cat to be vegans too? They do make vegan dog food, but then you have the whole fact of going back to animal testing, that dog food was tested on animals first. And cats, cats can't live on vegan diets. So if you buy the kibble/canned, you are still supporting the meat industry.

Another factor of being a vegan I hear is to cut down on the amount of land the factory farmers are taking. But if you are eating plants only, don't the plant farmers have to take land too? If vegetarianism continues to rise and even if meat industry falls, that still means more farms need more land for more crops. The meat industry is not going to change because of vegans. It needs to change because it’s the right thing to do for the animals. I support cage/range free farms. Livestock who eat a more natural and varied diet, rather than grain only. This small fraction of the meat industry should be the future. The meat from these places tends to be healthier and because of that, the animals are not in need of the medical care given to factory farmed animals (when it’s given at all).



Breeding: A big hot button topic these days with puppy mills in the spotlight. Many animal rights activists don't even believe we should have pets at all. And call for a mass spaying/neutering of all pets. Sure, that sounds great on paper. Stop overpopulation. Stop euthanasia of unwanted pets in shelters. But if I snapped my fingers and magically all dogs/cats/horses/reptiles/small pets/birds/etc were sterilized....what becomes of keeping pets at all? Nothing. No pets. For many animal rights activists, keeping pets equals slavery. We shouldn't ride horses. Have police and military dogs. Have therapy and handicapped assistance animals. We shouldn't even have that adorable lap dog or cat that may be cuddling against you right now. Just as I wish there was more regulation on our livestock treatment methods, I feel there should be regulations with animal breeding to cut the breeding mills and backyard breeders down. There are responsible breeders who don't just breed for looks/color/cuteness/money/etc. Some are careful with bloodlines and don't breed animals that test badly both medically and mentally. For instance, don't breed human aggressive pit bulls. Or don't breed a Dachshund with a heart condition. And when a less than perfect animal is born, they take the steps to be sure their future owners don't breed it and continue unhealthy lines, by having it spayed or neutered. And they do many more steps that would take an entire new post to fill. My point is, I support the spaying and neutering of pets in rescue. As well as the pet animals breeders do put out. But I support responsible breeders who continue to work to keep breed lines healthy or get them back to a healthy state, by not breeding the animals with the defects and diseases that plague so many.



I hope I have shown many how animal welfare and animal rights differ. Least on my end. I want people to understand that not everyone who supports spay/neuter programs and animal rescue is an extremist. Many of us are people with common sense enough to know the difference and support the realistic and right things that will make this world a better place.



In conclusion, I support the humane treatment of all animals.

Interesting points Crystal. I agree with animal welfare for the most part, but sometimes I think I'm for animal 'rights'. Looking at it in a different direction, I beleive all animals have the 'right' to be animals. So that mainly pertains to eating meat and keeping pets.
For me, being human is the ability to manipulate one's surrondings. We didn't aquire this ability so we can declare a 'hands off' policy on what we see in front of us. A right of 'no meddling by humans', well, that would be giving them more rights than us! I also strongly believe that we developed an emotional attachement with animals through pet keeping.

Face it, if you want to avoid all animal testing, kill yourself now. But don't use a gun or poison, those were used on animals in testing. Go for an old fashioned rope.

But it's not really my fault that this is the case is it? That doesn't make it right. I don't agree with what I define as 'cruel' animal testing, no matter what it's for. I think this mainly due to my reaction to cruel experiments on people. I couldn't sleep thinking of some of the worst human experiments on people. I won't allow this to be inflicted on an animal because it's DNA is arranged differently. I think all living things have a right not to be subjected to torture. Humans do have the ability to inflict the worst imaginable pain on this planet, and I think we should respect each other in regard to inflicting pain. I also don't consider myself an animal lover.

Vegetarianism: Now I got nothing against those who feel that they are healthier for being vegans. I certainly agree, market meat is by far some pretty rank stuff, being injected with antibiotics, steroids, god knows what else. Meat wise, game meat or your own livestock you raise or raised on trusted family farms, are usually the healthiest. But to become a vegan to save animal lives is just not making that big of a difference. Vegatarisim has been on the rise for years, but the meat industry is still going strong. And if you own pets, how does that factor into your no meat lifestyle? Do you force your dog and cat to be vegans too? They do make vegan dog food, but then you have the whole fact of going back to animal testing, that dog food was tested on animals first. And cats, cats can't live on vegan diets. So if you buy the kibble/canned, you are still supporting the meat industry.

You left out any reason why meat-eating isn't wrong. Most (sane) vegans/vegetarians feed their pets meat, thinking that humans don't 'need' meat, and that it's unhealthy. It still astounds me how nutritionists who have taken classes in biochemistry, cell biology, organic chemistry, and animal physiology have such superficial understanding of nutrition and it's complexities. I used to think meat was supposed to be eaten in moderation, but if there's anything I've learned from keeping pets, it's about how important proper nutrition is to our health, and that there's not much way around our natural diets. Truth of the matter is, humans evolved eating mainly meat and vegetables (that were -unprocessed-). What we don't need is grains and high levels sugar. It's interesting when people complain that milk is weird and unnatural. We didn't evolve eating gardenburgers, genetically modified soy products, chips, processed trans fats, vegetable oils (linked to heart disease), and mainly muscle meat. So, I think we've been duped nutrition-wise.

Mostly 'vegan' sources of food are royally screwing us up, and their also in pet food (corn, soy, sugars, hydrogonated oils), and we wonder why pet obesity is on the rise, as well thriving cancers for dogs and ect. I don't think 'meat' is unhealthy at all, but I think the anti-biotics and ect are, as well as how the animal is raised and the processing. I think veganism is pretty unhealthy, but if you ate raw and organic, that would be advantageous over the typical processed diet. However cutting out nutrition like eggs may catch up with you. I've basically screwed myself over with conventional thinking about meat, ignoring sugar content, which is responsible for a myraid of disease such as weight gain, depression, cancer, mental disorders, diabetes, dental caries, anxiety, and heart disease. I'm actually trying to eat more meat.

There are responsible breeders who don't just breed for looks/color/cuteness/money/etc. Some are careful with bloodlines and don't breed animals that test badly both medically and mentally. For instance, don't breed human aggressive pit bulls.

I think responsible breeders also don't breed animals that are overpopulated. One of the biggest problems I think with the pet trade are 'cheap' high matinence pets such as dogs, iguanas, and tigers (yes tigers ). I don't see how anyone can breed an animal while another of the same species must be euthanized due to lack of homes.