Over the years, animals have been an integral part of human society. Only recently has there been laws to protect these animals from being mistreated. Welfare laws are put in place to prevent as much suffering as possible and require humane treatment of animals. However, there are some people who think that animals are deserving of rights to prevent any and all cruelty and exploitation towards animals. Throughout history, animals have been exploited by humans through means of animal testing, animal agriculture, and entertainment purposes. Animals have been given minimal protection under welfare laws, but have been denied access to fundamental rights. Animal testing practices can be dated back to over four hundred years ago. “Over eighteen million animals are used in research and experimentation in the United States” (Lubinski), and these animals are only allowed access to basic rights such to husbandry which is housing, feeding, …show more content…
This law was created to decrease the suffering of an animal during the slaughter process. The Animal Welfare Act also serves to protect the treatment of livestock animals while still on factory farms. However, there is no government enforcement of these laws, only the companies carrying out these acts are responsible for overseeing the treatment of their animals, which is what Sunstein calls an “enforcement gap” (7). Since these laws are not strictly enforced, the welfare of these animals are put at risk. Breeding techniques, confinement, and rape are some of the problem livestock animal endure which deprive them of their health and welfare. Free range, organic, and cage free are all false labels designed to cater to the conscious consumer to make them feel better about the products being bought, not the animals themselves. Further research into these labels and laws show that the current existing laws do little to give animals any rights in their