Animal welfare and the basic rights of animals

All animals should have basic rights. Animal rights is the awareness that all non-human creatures are entitled to be in control of their own lives and their own basic interests. The same amount of attention should be given to the suffering of animals as that of humans.

Animal rights also teaches us that certain things are wrong as a matter of principle and that some are simply immoral; humans are never permitted to do them, however humane they may think they are. Philosophers have usually avoided accepting that animals have rights of their own by using these two reasons;

• The consequences can be potentially limiting for humanity
• The idea of animals having rights seems to defy common sense (which is normally dealt with by only giving the ‘higher’ animals rights)

The case for animal rights is as follows: Any adult mammal should be entitled to the same protection and choices as a human being. This simply means the following;

• They share similar levels of biological complexity
• They know that they exist and therefore are conscious and aware of what is happening to them
• They are able to make decisions about what they like and dislike
• The conscious choices that they make result in them giving themselves the best quality of life
• The quality and length of their life matters to them and they therefore try to protect if something is threatening this

Another valid point, which really should be added, is that the value of an animals, as with humans, doesn’t decrease if they become less useful to the world or a burden to others. Therefore animals have the same rights in the same way, for the same reason and to the same extent that humans do.

At Remus, we place great value on our animals no matter what their histories – medical or otherwise and give each and every one the right to live out the rest of their lives in the way in comfort, safety and happiness.

Most of our animals have been rescued from someone/somewhere that they have been mistreated or neglected because the humans taking care of them didn’t put animal rights into practice – they didn’t see the animals as equals who are capable of thinking consciously. Instead they saw them as a burden that wouldn’t disappear.

We make sure that all of our animals know that they very much appear in our thoughts and practices and we aim to give them the best life – similar to that we give to our elderly and sick. If you would like to be a part of what we do here then there are many ways in which you can support us. Give us a call or drop us an email to find out more.