Global Breaking News - Monday, December 23, 2024

Enforcing the Legal Rights of Animals
The uproar over a video in which a young man violently kicked a stray cat – and the flood of responses to an article written about it – shows how passionately people care about animal rights. Animal cruelty can be charged as a felony in all 50 states, and stiffer penalties have grown more common. But what factors should lead to vigorous prosecution of animal abusers and how extensive should animals’ legal rights be?
* uproar = 대소동, 소란; 엄청난 논란/ stray cat = 집없는(떠돌이) 고양이/ flood of ~ = ~의 쇄도, 폭주, 홍수/ animal cruelty = 동물학대/ felony = 중죄, 흉악 범죄/ vigorous = 활발한; 건강한 

 어떠한 요인들이 동물 학대자들에 대한 적극적인 기소를 이끌어야 하며 동물의 법적 권리의 범위는?

1. An Evolving Relationship With Our Pets
Today, cats and dogs aren’t just property — they have more rights and protections than any creature in the country.

2. Animal Cruelty Laws Don’t Depend on Animal Rights
Rather than focusing on rights for cats and dogs, we should focus on human moral responsibility.

3. Expand the Reach of Anti-Cruelty Statutes
State statutes only prohibit the most extreme acts and leave the majority of animals without legal protection.

4. Sadistic Cruelty to Animals Should Be Punished
The accused cat kicker does not seem to understand why he's received so much negative attention. Maybe he does not understand that animals feel pain and fear.

5. Eating Meat Is Also Animal Abuse
There is no morally coherent difference between the cat who was kicked and the chicken, pig, cow or fish that most people will eat today.

6. Don’t Let Biomedical Research Be Restricted
Some want the legal status of animals to be strengthened, which could have severe consequences for science and medicine.


Sample Essay

Sadistic Cruelty to Animals Should Be Punished

The three acts of animal cruelty described in this article – kicking a cat 20 feet, dragging a donkey from the back of a truck and lighting a cat on fire – should be severely punished. These acts are sadistic.

In my livestock work, I have observed people who enjoyed being cruel. Often it was a young man in his early 20s. Recently, I went to a veterinary seminar on animal torture crush videos. In these videos, a small animal is stomped on by a high heeled shoe. Young men were the main viewers of these revolting acts.

Human beings can be noble and benevolent, but they can also do the most evil things. Andre Robinson, the accused cat kicker, does not seem to understand why he's received so much negative attention. Maybe he does not understand that animals feel pain and fear.

I have worked with meat plants for years trying to reduce animal stress and make death painless. Plant managers must be vigilant in preventing cruel behavior. Most plant workers are mindful of their treatment of animals, but some can be cruel. Sadism, however, is different than a tired employee getting rough with an animal. Sadists enjoy inflicting pain on the animal, and they must be stopped.

The cat kicker, donkey dragger and cat burner are disturbed individuals. In a civilized society, sadistic behavior toward either people or animals must never be tolerated.