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Stacey Stanton
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
1 December 2014

Putting an End to Animal Cruelty

Animal Cruelty has been a debate topic for many years, and will continue to be for many
more years to come. When it comes to the topic of animal cruelty, most of us will readily agree
that animal cruelty is immoral. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question
of what is considered to be animal cruelty, and what is punishable and what is acceptable.
Whereas some are convinced that certain forms or animal cruelty are necessary and shouldnt be
punishable, others maintain that all and any form of animal cruelty is unacceptable and isnt
Permissible.
The topic of animal cruelty has always been debated and has never fully had a resolution.
A number of people believe that some forms of animal cruelty are essential in everyday life or
shouldnt be punished because we all do it in some shape or form every single day. Gary L.
Francione, the Board of Governors distinguished professor of law states, We kill and eat more
than 58 billion animals a year worldwide, not counting fish. In making this comment, Francione
is arguing that since the majority of the human population eats and kills animals everyday just
for consumption, we shouldnt be able to punish someone for lets say kicking a cat or setting a
dog on fire. No, these acts are not justifiable but according to Franicone what we are doing isnt
any more justifiable. We do not need to eat animal foods to be healthy; even mainstream
professional organizations and governmental regulatory bodies recognize that. Although I agree

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with Francione up to a point, I cant accept his overall conclusion that consuming animals is just
as much animal cruelty as purposely intending to harm an animal. A majority of people dont
even consider consuming animals animal cruelty due to their lack of knowledge of really goes
on, and after reading many inside stories inside meat processing facilities do not treat their
animals with respect and do not care that they feel the full amount of pain. However there have
been many rules and regulations about the treatment of animals in these facilities. Similarly, a
number of scientist and researchers would also agree that types of animal cruelty are completely
necessary in advancing medical research and shouldnt be punished for helping not only humans
but also animals too. Frankie Trull, the president of the National Association for Biomedical
Research, believes that research and testing on animals is crucial in order to advance medical
research and find vaccines to protect us in the future. Should courts begin to assign personhood
to animals, ceaseless litigation could bring lifesaving and life-improving research benefiting both
animals and humans to a grinding halt. Basically, Frankie Trull is saying that by omitting
animal testing will stop any more advancements and lifesaving breakthroughs in finding more
beneficiary medicines. I think Frankie Trull is mistaken because even though it will help advance
medical research, she doesnt account for the pain and fear the animals feel and why it is morally
wrong to test possibly fatal substances on them. Many believe that it is completely unacceptable
to test on humans but is perfectly okay to test on defenseless animals.
The laws about animal cruelty has always been deliberated and over the years has
become more crucial than ever before now that animals are gaining more human rights each day.
David Grimm, a deputy news editor at Science and the author of "Citizen Canine: Our Evolving
Relationship with Cats and Dogs," states In the past century, our pets have evolved from legally
worthless beings into the most protected animals in the country. Meaning, in the past animals

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have always been seen as insignificant and until the 1900s didnt even qualify as property, but
as years pass the level of rights animals have been granted has done nothing but increase. Today,
cats and dogs arent just property. They have more rights and protections than any creature in the
country. Felony anti-cruelty laws in all 50 states impose up to $125,000 in fines and 10 years in
prison for those who abuse them (Grimm). Showing how important it has become to protect
our animals.
Frankie Trull argues that even though it is harming animals, some customs of animal
cruelty are necessary to further advance our medical research. She even mentions that at this
moment there is a number of test being done to find the cure t the Ebola virus. Now some would
agree that its okay to do the testing to help figure out this cure for the Ebola virus because in
return it will save many lives in the future. However, Temple Grandin, a professor of animal
science at Colorado State University, states that people [Do] not understand that animals feel
pain and fear. We shouldnt be allowed to test on defenseless animals unless its safe enough to
test on a human. Who are we to say that its okay to harm animals as long as we help ourselves?
Its cruel, immoral, and inhumane. Gary L. Francione is not arguing for Frankie Tulls side but
what he is arguing is why some acts of animal cruelty are unacceptable and punishable but things
we do every day like eating steak, hamburgers, chicken nuggets or testing vaccines on animals is
perfectly okay. Why should it be okay to sentence people to jail for kicking a cat but gruesomely
killing animals for meat processing and testing fatal substances on animals should be looked
over? Its not acceptable, and no forms of animal cruelty should be tolerated. Animals feel pain
and fear just as much as we do, if not more.
Animal cruelty has never been fully resolved and it may be many more years to come
before a final law is in place. However, over the last couple years there have been many great

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stepping stones in finally putting an end to it. Many laws have been finalized and set in order to
dwindle the continuing, although decreasing, animal cruelty cases. As the years go by and more
laws and fines are put into place, additional groups and organizations have been put together to
finally draw a line and put an end to animal cruelty.

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Works Cited
Francione, Gary L. "Eating Meat Is Also Animal Abuse." The New York Times. N.p.,
1 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Grandin, Temple. "Sadistic Cruelty to Animals Should Be Punished." The New York
Times. N.p., 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Grimm, David. "Animals Legal Rights Come From an Evolving Relationship With Our
Pets." The New York Times. N.p., 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Trull, Frankie. "Dont Let Animal Rights Restrict Biomedical Research." The New
York Times. N.p., 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.