Firstly, hello! :) I've been trying to learn more about Animal Rights for a while now, but I have some questions I've never been able to get answered. I don't know if it's because they're more personal opinion rather than something that can be generalised, but everyone I've asked has just ignored me and brushed me off and it's becoming a little frustrating. I would be most grateful if someone could help me.
I've always been a bit iffy about Animal Rights due to the portrayal of it in the media, and as I said the people I've come across personally haven't exactly been helpful. I don't like forming any kind of opinion unless I've seen as much of the picture as I can, and surely anyone who is against the killing and suffering of animals can't be that awful? Don't get me wrong, I'm a big animal lover and have always supported animal welfare, but as I've never been able to 100% understand animal rights it's kind of stopped me. That's why I hope to get a few answers, and it's why I finally joined a forum rather than asking individual people.
Anyway, the questions:Are insects and bugs in general included in animal rights? What does this mean for parasitic animals such as tics, heartworms, headlice and fleas? Is it better to kill them, or let their host suffer? Also for exotic species in our care that eat crickets, is it wrong to through them into an enclosure to their certain death? (assuming the animal eating the crickets can not be released back into the wild for whatever reason)
What about obligate carnivores in our care? Is it wrong to raise and breed rats for the sole purpose of killing to feed to snakes? Again, assume this is a rescue snake that cannot be released into the wild. The same goes for cats, ferrets, etc. (This isn't a question about the ethics of keeping pets, more feeding and caring for animals that are unable to get themselves food for whatever reason)
On a similar subject, what about wildlife rehabilitation centres? A couple of years ago I worked at a Raptor rehab facillity, where we nursed injured birds such as owls and falcons back to health before releasing them again. We wouldn't have been able to do that without meat such as chicks and rats to feed them. Would the answer to this be we should not interfere with nature and let them die in the wild rather than trying to help them? Should we be caring for all animals equally, even if they are not companion animals and living wild?
On a slightly different note, is it exploiting a dog if you teach them tricks? What about if you preform these tricks in front of people for money? And the dog is not forced to preform, but sees it only as a bonding/playful experience with a human?
Now, I'm sure this is probably more to do with personal opinion, but what is your stance on making things with parts of dead animals? Such as taxidermy out of a roadkill fox, or collecting bones from the forest, etc. I guess it would be interesting to hear your take on the use of preserved human remains too, such as what Gunther Von Hagens sells. Also, what of animals that are already dead, what should become of their remains? (Antique fox fur stoles from the 1940s, taxidermy mounts in museums, etc)
My final question is something I feel quite strongly about - Vegan Dogs.
(I'm aware cats can go vegan too, but I'm so very against this for many reasons it's probably not something to touch on here! )I’m aware dogs can live on a vegan diet, and if your dogs does okay on this diet than it doesn't bother me. What I'm interested in is learning the motivation for putting your dog on a vegan diet in the first place. I personally believe this is a little odd myself, because I’ve never understood depriving an animal of it’s natural diet. One argument I’ve seen for becoming vegan is that our bodies are adapted to be herbivores - which I agree with and tell people about myself. So why is it that dogs, with a body adapted for a carnivorous diet, have an ‘unnatural’ veganism put upon them? It’s something that’s always struck me as hypocritical, and if someone could explain the reasons behind this i’d be most grateful.
I'm very passionate about this subject in particular, as I went down the career path of becoming a vet but switched instead to specialise in dogs. I'm an advocate for the raw prey-model diet, and my own dog is fed this (whole fresh carcasses and veggies, organs, meaty bones, whole eggs from our rescue chickens, etc, none from slaughterhouses and all killed on site at a local farm) and she has thrived on it, so I’m not being hypocritical here by saying that stuff and then feeding my own dog grocery store dog food or anything
(so against that awful slop, it's cruel for the animals it's made from and cruel and terribly unhealthy for the animal it's being fed to!). If you find fault in my logic here please point it out, as I said this is a subject I’m very involved in and happy to discuss and debate with anyone. I’m willing to listen, even learn if you have any new information.
I hope not to offend anyone. I'd appreciate any response, even if it's just to shout at me (though of course I much prefer intelligent responses) Thank you for your time, and I hope this was the right place to post this!