Animal rights philosophy argues that non-human animals deserve to live freely without human exploitation or interference. Proponents believe animals have intrinsic worth independent of their usefulness to humans and should have their interests protected by rights in the same way human rights protect people. In contrast, animal welfare accepts human dominance over animals but advocates for humane treatment. If animal rights were recognized, exploitative industries like farming and research would disappear along with their environmental impacts. However, these industries have significant economic and political influence. Some jurisdictions like Spain have begun recognizing animals as sentient beings entitled to protection rather than property.

1. Animal Rights

2. What are Animal Rights?
● Moral principles grounded in the belief that non-human animals deserve the
ability to live as they wish, without being subjected to the desires of human
beings.
● It is a social movement that challenges society’s traditional view that all
nonhuman animals exist solely for human use
● According to Peter Singer, Author of Animal Liberation, the basic principle of
equality does not require equal or identical treatment; it requires equal
consideration.
○ Animals surely deserve to live their lives free from suffering and exploitation
○ “The question is not ‘Can they reason?’ nor ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’”
● Animals have an inherent worth aside from their usefulness to humans.
● Human destruction of animal habitats is also a violation of animal rights.

3. Examples
● The habitats of animals must be protected to allow them to live according to
their choosing
● Animals may not be used for food.
● Animals may not be hunted.
● Animals may not be bred.

4. Animal Welfare
Vs. Rights
● Animal rights philosophy is based
on the idea that animals should not
be used by people for any reason,
and that animal rights should
protect their interests the way
human rights protect people.
● Animal welfare, on the other hand,
is a set of practices designed to
govern the treatment of animals
who are being dominated by
humans, whether for food,
research, or entertainment.

5. Support for Animal Rights
● Should the rights of animals be recognized, animal exploitative industries
would disappear, as would the host of environmental problems they cause,
○ water pollution
○ air pollution
○ greenhouse gas emissions,
○ deforestation.
● The physical and psychological pain endured by animals has reached a point
many consider to be unacceptable, to say the least.
● Oftentimes animals live in cramped conditions, often forcing animals to
perpetually stand in their own waste.
● Many species never see the outdoors except on their way to the
slaughterhouse.
● Since 1900, an estimated 543 species of vertebrates have gone extinct,
although the number could be much higher.

6. Business is Business
● Animal exploitation is BIG business that animal rights
come into direct opposition with.
● JBS, the world’s largest meat packer, posted $9 billion in
revenue for the third quarter of 2020.
● US market for lab rats was valued at over $412 million in
2016. Mice are even more popular.
● Big industrial producers of animals and animal products
have enough political clout to influence
legislation—including passing laws making it illegal to
document farm conditions—and to benefit from
government subsidies.
● Jobs

7. Spain
● Animals in Spain will no longer be considered as
“objects” by the law
● From now on, animals will be treated as
“sentient beings,” and as such will have a
different legal standing than an inanimate
object. They will no longer be able to be seized,
abandoned, mistreated or separated from one of
their owners in the case of a divorce or
separation, without having their wellbeing and
protection taken into account.
● Sentient beings…?
● A sentient being is one who perceives and responds to sensations of whatever
kind—sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell.

8. Questions
1. Do you support animal rights or
animal welfare?
2. What are ways we can help
protect animal rights?
3. How much do you think you
contribute to animal products?
(Makeup, food, clothing,
medicine, etc…)