For Office Use:

Grade

Business Ethics
Individual Assignment
on
Animal Rights

Submitted by:

Name: Yashashvi Rastogi

Roll No: 191365
Section: C
Batch: MBA – FT (2019-2021)

Institute of Management, Nirma University

Date of Submission: 3rd September,2019
Submitted to: Dr. Trilok Sharma

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 Animal Rights

Introduction
According to the law, we, human beings have the basic rights under the universal declaration of
human rights but this declaration only benefits human beings and it's only fair to ask about the
rights of other living creatures on this planet. Do they have the right to enjoy their lives as we
do? The answer should be yes. Every living creature on this planet has a right to live and
prosper, no matter it's an animal or a human being. Nowadays, people, in their race to attain
something better, are forgetting about the lives of the animals and are not considering the
consequences of their experiments on these living creatures. Animals have moral status and
moral rights as much as humans do, though it might not seem as important as compared to that
of humans even then any living should not be thought of as an object or a machine.

History of Animal Rights

17th Century:
The first attempt to protect animals' rights dates way back to 1635 when a law was passed in
Ireland that pulling the wool of the sheep and attaching plows to the horses' tail was stopped. It
was a step ahead of its time as animals were one of the main sources of making money in the
early 1600 and thinking about their rights and keeping humans self-interest aside was a great
step.

18th Century:
In the late 1700s a book named ‘Discourse on Inequality' was published which gave an insight
into the prevailing situation of animal rights at that time. He gave a suggestion about the
involvement of animals rights in the natural law by writing "By this method also we put an end
to the time-honoured disputes concerning the participation of animals in natural law: for it is
clear that, being destitute of intelligence and liberty, they cannot recognize that law; as they
partake, however, in some measure of our nature, in consequence of the sensibility with which
they are endowed, they ought to partake of natural right; so that mankind is subjected to a kind
of obligation even toward the brutes. It appears, in fact, that if I am bound to do no injury to my
fellow-creatures, this is less because they are rational than because they are sentient beings: and
this quality, being common both to men and beasts, ought to entitle the latter at least to the
privilege of not being wantonly ill-treated by the former."

19th Century:
During this era, England had a lot of activists thinking about the moral status and rights of the
animal as compared to human beings. It is solely the most important time for animal rights
activists because a country as big as England was ready to take some step in this direction. The
first bill against bull baiting was introduced in 1802 followed by various other bills for animal
rights.

20th and 21st Century:

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In this era, the consumption of farmed animal products booms worldwide, with production
increasing from 78 million tons in 1963 to 308 million tons in 2014. In the United States and
Europe various books, news, and documentaries started showing the cruelty animals were
facing. I gave a boost to animal rights and welfare movements, while actions from groups like
the Animal Liberation Front drew public rebuke and government crackdown. Numerous
research on in vitro animal products also gained traction resulting in the first in vitro meats.

The graph depicts the quantity of production of meat per year

Genetic Engineering

The Genetic Engineering of animals has increased many folds in the last few years and the
use of this technology brings with it various ethical issues regarding animal rights. In the
early stages of genetic engineering the primary technology that was used was transgenes is
which means the transfer of a gene from one animal to another but with the advancement
came various new methods that do not require transgenesis. A simple manipulation or
deletion of the gene can bring about a huge change in the behaviour of the animal.

But, using animals for genetic testing is following their rights? The creation of efficient
genetically engineered animals involves the sacrifice of some animals during the process (for
example, vasectomy, surgical embryo transfers). These procedures are not only applicable to
genetically engineered animals, but these are generally required for their production.

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However, progress is being made to refine and correct these genetic engineering techniques
that are applied to mammals (mice in particular) so that it leads to fewer animals being
sacrificed. For an instance, normally the genetic engineering procedures require a
preformation of surgery on the female who will be receiving the gene so that the implanted
embryo can grow full term; however, a technique called non-surgical embryo transfer
(NSET) removes the need for invasive surgery. Other refinements in this field include a
method known as "deathless transgenes is," which proceeds with the introduction of DNA
into the sperm cells of live males and completely removes the need to euthanize females in
order to obtain germline transmission of a genetic alteration; and the use of polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) for genotyping, which requires less tissue than Southern Blot Analysis.

Genetically engineered animals can exhibit a variety of phenotypes (the set of observable
characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the
environment) which may not cause any welfare issue but some of them will surely have
negative welfare impacts on the animals. It is mostly very difficult to predict the effect of
genetic modification on the behaviour of the animal and hence these genetically engineered
animals must be noted very carefully to mitigate any unanticipated welfare concerns as they
arise. A newly created genetically engineered animal require more monitoring as compared to
regular animals due to the lack of predictability. After a genetically engineered animal line
has been established and the welfare concerns are duly noted, it may be optimal to reduce the
monitoring of the animals as they do not have a phenotype that has negative welfare impacts.
To aid this monitoring process, some people have suggested the implementation of a
genetically engineered animal passport that will be attached to an individual animal and alerts
animal care staff to take care of the particular needs of animals. Passport document is also
very important if the intention is to breed from the genetically engineered animal is in
question, so that the appropriate care and husbandry can be given to the offspring.

Hence, we can say that with progress in genetic engineering techniques, new methods may
reduce the unpredictability of the location of gene insertion. As a result, genetic engineering
procedures may become less of ethical concern with time.

Animal Testing
Animal testing is also known as Animal Research. Experiments on animals may damage
them in such a way that they are no more lifelike or even worse this torture can kill them.
Animal Testing is done in the number of areas such as cosmetic testing, clinical testing, and
pharmaceutical products. According to a world estimate, almost 20 million animals are tested
and killed annually throughout the earth and these figures may be more a few of them don't
come on record. Out of these 20 million, around 15 million are being tested for medicinal use
while others are being tested for making products. According to various medical experts,
animal testing is one of the obvious ways to test medicine and it must be done because to
know how a medicine can work on a living creature is of paramount importance, otherwise,
it's nearly impossible to tell the side effects of a certain type of medications. But the problem
is that during the testing procedures animals, on which the experiments are being performed,
are not given proper pain killers to save them from the intense pain the animals bear as a side
effect and hence several animals die in the process. The question of which we all should
acknowledge is that, is this the only way left? Is it justified to kill millions of animals to make
medicines? There has to be a certain alternative to this painful method so as protect the

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animals from undergoing through all this. The animal in medical fields cannot be completely
replaced but yes animal testing can be replaced with non-animal models in other fields like
cosmetic testing which is not required by law. In the medical field, the testing of medicine
should be done in such a manner that animals have to go through minimal pain. Proper
painkillers should be provided to the test animal and medical scientists should treat the
animal as a living being. Animals are treated as if they don't breathe and don't have feelings.
Our society never wants to find alternatives to animal testing, as it is an easy way out.

Animal Products

Nowadays, meat and meat products are an important part of the human diet because they
provide humans with numerous essential nutrients that cannot be easily obtained through
vegetables. Meats from animals provide a means for reducing malnutrition in children as well
as in adults and increasing household food and food security. Over the last two decades, the
demand for meat and its product has increased significantly (including Africa, Asia, Europe
and the United States of America) and this has led to the rapid increase in the production of
livestock for sustainable food security. Animal by-products include all parts of a live animal
that are not part of the dressed carcass such as liver, heart, rumen contents, kidney, blood,
fats, spleen and meat trimmings. The production of these animal by-products can be grouped
into two parts non-carcass meat (EBPs) and non-meat products (IEBPs). EBPs are the
product that is considered safe for human consumption e.g. meat, egg or milk. In contrast,
IEBPs cannot be consumed and hence is discarded or used as a secondary by-product. IEBPs
such as bones, hides and skin, feathers, hooves, horns, hair, bristles are converted into
products that are sold at a very high price. Only a specific group of people can afford these
products like pure leather jackets and fur coats. Poor people who live on their paychecks are
not able to buy these products, so can't we all accept synthetic products and save wildlife.
The word "Wild Life", one can read the word life which means like us animals can also
breathe, walk around, love their siblings and also feel pain. Businessmen should try to thing
ethically and save animals which will contribute a lot to a much ethical environment.
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Animal Welfare

Practice involving cruelty of animals has been questioned time and again by various
philosophers and animal rights activists throughout the world and different times and for
different reasons. Over the last two decades, there have been several decisions by the
authorities that have surfaced various rights for several animal species including animals like
buffalo, elephants, monkeys, and birds. The main focus is on the moral as well as living rights
of the animal, which should be provided as per their particular needs, as done in a case when
the authority recognized birds' rights to live with dignity and freedom in the open sky. A huge
number of step has also been taken within the court to surface the awareness about the
criticality of the animal rights issue and to improve the pre-existing animal rights law. A case
that is quoted time and again is talking about the ban of bull racing. Bull-race ruling has been
quite often mentioned in relation to the idea that it introduces a shift from an
‘anthropocentric' to an ‘eco-centric' view, an idea taken from international principles such as
The World Charter for Nature, a code of conduct developed by the United Nations in 1982
which establishes ‘the intrinsic value and worth of animals'. In the rulings in favour of animal
rights, a welfare logic is presented where animals are presented as ‘speechless' or ‘silently
crying' creature overlaps with a shift to the animal itself—its suffering, its stress, and even its
voice. Canada and the United States of America have strict laws regarding animal rights.
There is zero tolerance for animal cruelty. According to Animal Cruelty Law (Canada) if
anyone harms or kills an animal without proper reason then it is a crime and is entitled to
punishment. This law says that until an animal is a threat to society no one can harm or kill
the animal. North American governments are also making an effort towards the
implementation of animal rights in their country, but only two or three countries cannot
change the world. Every country has to step up and especially the Asian countries like India,
Pakistan, China among other countries animals are humiliated and used as labor.
Governments of these countries do not care about what is happening with the animals.

Even when the world is thinking about animal rights and thinking about their welfare, there
are still some problems that need to be addressed. During a ruling by the authorities, there can
be some distinction between the decision that has been made and the decision that should
have been made. Activists who run animal welfare organizations see animals as helpless
beings that need to be rescued and to be taken care of while for the lawyers, the animals they
are defending are a part of a legal battle that takes place in court; most of these lawyers would
have not even seen the animals they are fighting for and hence sometimes a wrong ruling or a
discouraging law can come into action.

Conclusion

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Wildlife is an amazing gift we have got from nature but the way things are preceding we can
safely say that it won't be long before we start to realize about the damage we are consistently
doing to these creatures. Animals breathe, need food, shelter, and love and as a human and a
member of this environment it's our responsibility to take care of these beautiful gifts of
nature and put every effort forward to protect them from abuse and overkilling. The use of
animals in experiments cannot be fully stopped but we can try our best to minimize the pain
they have to go through and opt for such procedures which allows them to live in the same
way as they were living before the experiments. Manufacturing of products from animals
such as souvenirs, fur cloth, carpets, etc. should be completely stopped because the killing of
animals so that our body or our drawing room looks good is a very bad deal with nature.
Elephants, rhinos, lions, giraffe and other amazing wild animals in Southern Africa and other
parts of the world are struggling; don't they have the right to live peacefully? The poaching
crisis, diminishing reserve budgets, and a lack of wild space are all having disastrous effects
and we as a human being should look into it before it gets too late and we are left we nothing
to look for in the wildlife.

Hence, I would like to conclude this essay on a note that animals as human beings have their
rights and they also want to live as we do and it's our responsibility to stop our selfish nature
and provide these beautiful creatures with what they deserve and rather than taking benefit
from them we should step forward and help them in such a way that they can live better than
they used to live before.

References

1) https://www.academia.edu/40089559/Animals_in_the_Public_Debate_Welfare_Right
s_and_Conservationism_in_India

2) https://www.academia.edu/40111921/If_Animals_Could_Talk_Reflection_on_the_D
utch_Party_for_Animals_in_Student_Assignments

3) https://www.academia.edu/40113053/Genetically_modified_animals_ethical_issues

4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3078015/

5) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10282580.2015.1093689?journalCode
=gcjr20

6) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1b5c/067d156f765e70b84733bf447255bb8f2151.pdf

7) The Potential of Animal By-Products in Food Systems: Production, Prospects and

Challenges

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