My Moral Vision Statement

Moral Vision Statement

In an ideal world, all animals, human and non-human alike would be treated equally. Unfortunately with the society that we live in the way it is, that cannot be the case. I do have some ideas, however, about what I think a realistic solution could be. It is unrealistic to expect people to stop eating meat altogether, or to stop using animal products, or honestly even to stop using products that were tested on animals. Be that as it may, the standards of the facilities that involve animals need to be greatly increased. For each specific species I believe there should be guidelines that spell out the size of enclosure that is permitted, allowing every animal its own personal space and room to roam. I also believe that there should be very specific guidelines on how each species used for meat is allowed to be slaughtered, making the level of suffering zero or as close to it as possible. In my opinion it should be an enforced rule that animals are only permitted to be killed as a food source or to prevent overpopulation and any animal killed must be killed humanely. In my opinion, although many others would disagree, unnecessary deaths of animals for purposes such as fur and leather should be outlawed, although parts of animals slaughtered for food could be used (such as leather made from beef cattle). Animals used in research and testing should have regular visits by inspectors that ensure the animals are not being subjected to pain and suffering, and that they are kept in satisfactory living conditions. Animals raised to be kept as companions must be bred and raised in comfortable and healthy conditions with frequent socialization and exercise. As far as animals being used for entertainment such as in circuses, films, or zoos, the animals must be treated with respect and kept in habitats that allow them room to roam and have very specific shelter, feeding and watering requirements. Those are some specific examples of changes that are very manageable, and would not greatly affect the way that we live our lives. The most important thing in every industry however, is enforcing the standards that are set. There could be any number of regulations in place that mean absolutely nothing if there are not enough people around to enforce them. There need to be much more inspectors and ideally inspections every three months for any industry involving animals, with very harsh punishments for violators.