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Animal rights is a political movement, primarily in the 20th century, that argues for rights of nonhuman animals (dogs, cats, foxes, chickens, whales, etc.) against domination or use by human beings. This ranges from opposition to experimentation on animals (for medical or cosmetic research) to prevention of cruel or neglectful treatment of farm or domestic animals, to vegetarianism, or the noneating of meat. Animal rights organizations (such as P. E.T.A.: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) use a variety of means to assert their cause: from lobbying legislatures to pass laws protecting animals to public demonstrations around animal laboratories, to destroying animal experimentation facilities and attacking scientists.
The philosophic foundation of most animal rights groups grows from a view that all living species are equal and equally worthy of dignity and freedom. Opposition to this view comes from biologists who note that most animal species kill other species for food, from economic businesses that find markets for animals, and from the Judeo-Christian perspective that God gave animals to humanity for its use and so humans properly have "dominion" over other creatures (Genesis 10). Still, all of these arguments for humans' superiority to other animals concede that humankind should take care of other creatures (Adam is to "dress and keep" the Garden of Eden, Jesus is described as "the good shepherd" who loves and cares for the sheep, John 10:14-15). So, even in the Christian tradition, though animals are given by God to humankind for use, humans are commended to be kind to all living things, as gifts from God. As St. Peter wrote of the prophet Balaam, "a dumb ass speaking with a man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet" (2 Peter 2:16).
Ancient Greek philosophy (the Platonist Porphyry) held that human excellence forbids inflicting pain on any living creature and (Plutarch's Moralia) that vegetarianism respects the moral worth of animals.
Enlightenment rationalism in philosophers Kant and Descartes is less sympathetic to animals' moral dignity because it claims that they do not have reasoning capabilities. Critics of this view fear that it can be easily extended to humans who are devoid of reason (mentally disabled, fetuses, the senile, etc.), so protecting animal life helps to protect helpless human life.
The key to the modern animal liberation movement is the prevention of suffering of animals, whether inflicted by hunting, experimentation, or confinement. The first law against cruelty to animals was passed by the Puritans in Massachusetts, North America, in 1641. Other advocates of kindness to animals include British philosopher Jeremy Bentham, Henry Salt, George Bernard Shaw, and Gandhi. Early proponents of animal rights, especially in England, were known as Anti-Vivisection Leagues. Contemporary leaders include Peter Singer and Tom Regan.
An important distinction in the animal rights movement is whether the motivation for noncruelty to animals is primarily from the elevation of nonhuman animals equal to that of humans or as the promotion of human kindness and love generally and how best to achieve that. It is a highly emotional issue that promises to remain a part of political theory and action in the world.
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