What rights should animals have?

None.

The right to not set off my smoke detector when I cook them.

I think zoos should be abolished.

Just as many as humans.

Rights do not exist outside our minds.

So they should have those rights that we want them to have.

The Right to be tasty :P.

Seriously, I believe in legit personhood for Great Ape species. Animals like Elephants, Cetaceans, Corvids etc should also get some higher status than current due to their intelligence and emotional capacity. Otherwise I am not too sure, although I do believe that testing could easily be reduced (I think that people are too lazy and cheap to use other alternatives), and the Meat and Dairy industry is pretty horrible. The way humans treat animals in generally is less than we ought to, but I will be the first to admit that giving animals "special treatment" simply because they resemble us in certain way is actually pretty selfish.

I agree with everything you just said.

But what about domesticated pets?

@citizensurfer: I guess thats an exception, but domestication usually has a adverse effect on wild animals.

Whatever the owner wants to give them. Animals don't have "inalienable rights" like humans no matter what a few religious nuts say.

Actually certain animals do possess rights.

• The right to be treated with respect.
• The right to physical, psychological, and emotional health.
• The right to not be exploited.
• The right to live in a suitable habitat.
• The right to be valued for who they are, not for how they can be used.
• The right to cooperatively share the Earth with other species.
• The right to live as much as possible according to our natures and to express our individual characters.

I feel that they should not be killed in extremely inhumane ways, but that is a maybe and it depends on the circumstance.

Depends on the animal

@citizensurfer: actually no. If an animal attacks a human it gets put down so your whole statement is invalid. What you meant to say is, "In a perfect world animals would have all of these rights," but in reality no they don't have these rights.

Those are the actual rights of animals, have you not seen all of those people sent to prison for neglecting their animals?

There was guy recently in the news near where I live and he was sentenced to 3 years in jail, he can never own another animal and he has to pay a fine of £15,000. Want to know what he did? Killed his animal via starvation. The judge stated and I quote "The animal in question was put through unnecessary suffering as well as physical and emotional distress". I'm sorry that you disagree with I stated in my previous post but you can't argue against it.

@citizensurfer: Actually, it's my right to argue against you which I won't here because the animal religion gives me a headache just like the gawd religion. Nope.

Or in other words, who cares?

Humans do not possess any right to argue, you have the right to expression but nowhere does it state that humans have the right to argue.

Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty and freedom of expression; and social, cultural and economic rights including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, and the right to work and receive an education. Human rights are protected and upheld by international and national laws and treaties.

because the animal religion gives me a headache just like the gawd religion.

Leave the thread then?

Or in other words, who cares?

Nearly one-third of Americans believe animals should have the same rights as people, a recent poll finds.

Thirty-two percent of the people surveyed believe animals and humans should have equal rights, up from 25 percent in 2008. Another 62 percent believe animals deserve some protection from harm and exploitation, but it is "still appropriate to use them for the benefit of humans." Only 3 percent believe animals don't require protection from harm and exploitation "since they are just animals," according to the poll.

More people than not.

The right to vote and the right to bear arms. Merica.

As a cat with a history of substance abuse, I could use the right to an attorney.

The right to not be treated cruel and to not become extinct unless they caused more harm than good. Otherwise, we will use them for our benefit.

None.

Freedom of speech.

The right to be delicious

Depends how valuable they are to the eco system.

None. Giving them rights would complicate our relationship with animals.

They must have some rights. If not people abuse them. Would it complicate our relationship with dogs if its owners could beat the crap out of them or kill them?

There are 2 things that every living thing should have:

• The right for their species not to extinguish
• The right not to be tortured or live in pain

Then it's the law of nature, survive however you can.

There are no rights for animals. It's only how nice people collectively decide to be to them, and it's never going to be uniform across nations and cultures. When the Planet of the Apes plot becomes real, then they can come to the table and talk about civil rights.

Nah, certain animal rights are protected by laws in certain parts of the world. And I think it's necessary to an extent or else we'd have people go unpunished for wanton acts of animal slaughter and perhaps even more heinous acts just because they enjoy it. But I don't believe anthropomorphizing them is the way to go either.

the right to be delicious

and maybe the right to remain silent

The right to

I Hunt and spearfish.

There are a few principles that I was taught.

1. Dont shoot something unless it's a kill shot.

2. Don't kill any Natives or anything that is important to the Eco system

3. Only kill something if you want to eat it.

4. Don't kill anything undersized

Just to put it out there, it is virtually impossible for animals to be given the same amount of rights as humans.

That being said, killing animals to an extent is necessary and cannot be helped. But brutal treatment of them is an issue that needs to be addressed.

inb4ilsgoesonarampageonvegan101

The right to die :)

Humane deaths at least.

Yeah. I don't believe in animal torture. Putting anything through long, excruciating pain is evil.

But I do believe that we should be able to harvest resources from any animal species as long as its resource is more valuable to us than its role in nature.

The right to a light barbecue sauce glaze.

i think dogs should vote

Only the most basic rule of nature, i.e. "If you don't mess with me, I won't mess with you." It's frequently violated but in many cases it's enforced.

@carolferris: they would've voted trump. Being man's best friend and all

Can't say I've ever cared much about animals. I don't believe in hurting them unnecessarily myself; although, I am indifferent to any suffering they experience.

Most of the responses on here are something I'd expect out of a Grade School kid, and not a very smart one.