Featured Idea: Animal Bill of Rights

One of the AR ideas posted to Ideas for Change in America centers on passing an Animal Bill of Rights, crafted by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. It calls for the following rights for animals:

The Right of animals to be free from exploitation, cruelty, neglect and abuse.

The Right of laboratory animals not to be used in cruel or unnecessary experiments.

The Right of farm animals to an environment that satisfies their basic physical and psychological needs.

The Right of companion animals to a healthy diet, protective shelter, and adequate medical care.

The Right of wildlife to a natural habitat, ecologically sufficient to a normal existence and self-sustaining species population.

The Right of animals to have their interests represented in court and safeguarded by the law of the land.

Vote for this idea here. Following is what the ALDF has to say about this effort on its Web site, pointing out, among other things, the frustrating and disturbing fact that animals are still considered property in this country, "in most cases no different than a table or chair":

Throughout civilization, nations have codified the basic and essential rights of their people—rights that must not be infringed upon by the government or other individuals or entities. In the United States, our Bill of Rights enumerates cherished essential rights including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly.

However, as far as the law is concerned, the situation for animals in this country is dire. Despite the fact that they are living, feeling beings, animals in the U.S. are still considered merely “property” by law—in most cases no different than a table or a chair. When laws protecting animals do exist, they are often insufficient or full of loopholes. The federal Animal Welfare Act explicitly excludes birds, rats and mice—which account for the vast majority of animals used in laboratories. And there are no federal laws at all protecting the billions of animals raised for food from the most egregious abuses.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Animal Bill of Rights is a petition to the United States Congress, stating the basic, inalienable rights that all sentient beings have—and that our government should protect.

Is the right "to an environment that satisfies their basic physical and psychological needs" enough for farm animals? Is the right "not to be used in cruel or unnecessary experiments" enough for the animals imprisoned in labs? No, these conditions are not enough. But I'd like to think that in the future, when we've really achieved the first goal listed, "for animals to be free from exploitation, cruelty, neglect and abuse," and we're no longer killing them for our convenience or pleasure or experimenting on them at all (i.e., once we've realized that all experiments on animals are unnecessary), we will be able to focus on their right to just appropriate environments--because their basic right to simply live will already be established. Go vote.