Animal Cruelty

While many people would like to think animal cruelty no longer exist, what people fail to realize is that it is still happening all over then world today. The treatment of animals is completely unethical. Ethics is defined as, the study of moral standards and how they affect conduct. We live in a world governed by ethics and the concept or right and wrong. This is why animal cruelty in today society is so unreal. The fact animals are still regarded as a product rather then living breathing creatures is morally wrong. Unfortunately our morals don't extend to animals. Although many people claim that they are against animal cruelty they still see animals as forms of entertainment, clothing, and experiments which is complete unethical. Animals are not ours to use.

One form of animal cruelty that many people do not realize is animal entertainment. Animal entertainment is a multibillion dollar industry. Animals are constantly used in Circus, Zoos, and Bull fights. We enjoy a show while these animals are suffering. Animals are taken from their homes and forced to live in tiny replicas of their natural habitats. What people do not realize is that animals do not like being confined and enclosed and this often results in the animals becoming aggressive. "Since 1990, captive [circus] elephants have killed 43 people. The degree of suffering and cruelty of training techniques is clear when naturally peaceful elephants attack humans" (Animal Experimentation). When animals are deprived of the freedom to make choices and live freely they develop neurotic behavior. Animals are not only affected mentally by being forced to perform against their will, they are also affected physically. "Killer whales and dolphins live only 25% of their natural life expectancy when captive" (Animal Entertainment). Since the animals are not free to partake in their normal activities their health often suffers as a result which result is stress induced deaths. Taking animals from their homes and forcing them to act as our entertainment is morally wrong. This is animal cruelty even if people do not realize it.

In addition to being used as forms of entertainment, animals today are also used as clothing. The Fur Farming industry manufactures fur trim and fur coats which are a major trend in today's fashion industry. Unfortunately this fashion trend comes with a price. "Approximately 3.5 million furbearing animals- raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, lynxes, opossums, nutria, beaver, muskrats, otters, and others are killed each year" (Fur farming). No animals are spared when it comes to Fur farming. Fur even comes from cats and dogs. This process is not a painless "To kill the animals without damaging their fur, trappers usually strangle, beat, or stomp them to death. Animals on fur farms may be gassed, electrocuted, poisoned with strychnine, or have their necks snapped" (Fur is Dead). Some animals are even skinned alive. Then their fur is sent to stores such as J. Crew and sold as trendy clothing. There is nothing humane about the way these animals are killed. The people, who kill these animals, do not make it a quick and painless death they torture these poor animals. This behavior is completely inhumane, and needs to be stopped. There are plenty of companies that use synthetic fur.

Animals are also used in medical research. This process is called vivisection which is the cutting or operation of a living animal for physiological or pathological investigation. While many people feel animal experimentation is justified due, to the fact that it could potentially lead to finding cures for deadly diseases. However, the torment these animals must endure is tremendous and one must wonder with all the technology today if there is a better way. In one experiment, "monkeys were forced to endure surgical procedures in which metal pipes were implanted into their skulls for the sole purpose of inducing stress to study the connection between stress and women's menstrual cycles" (Animal Research). While animals have proven useful in medical research they do not deserve to be treated this way. Studies have shown that when artificially created diseases are created in a lab they differ from real diseases, as does the animal's reaction due, to the fact that animals and humans differ biologically. This has proven that animal research is not always effective nonetheless; "115 million animals are experimented on and killed in laboratories in the U.S. every year" (Stop Animal testing). Animal deaths through research are not justified and are morally no different then murder.

Despite the fact that animals are tormented in experiments they are kept in laboratories while they await their death. What is life in a laboratory like? The animals are locked in cages and denied social