Commemorating International Animal Rights Day 2024
By Dr Ibikunle Faramade
The International Animal Rights Day was established on the 10th of December, 1998 to mark 50 years anniversary of the signing of the universal declaration of human rights. The initiative was to defend the rights of non-human beings to live a live free of exploitation, sufferings and diseases. It also offer opportunity for animal rights advocates to draw attention of the general public to the implementation of Universal Declaration of Animal Rights which was proclaimed in 1978 at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at Paris, France.
Do animals have right? How is animal right different from animal welfare?
Most times, animal rights and animal welfare are used interchangeably by many people. However, the two terms are not synonymous, technically speaking. The term Animal rights is used mainly by philosophical proponents who believe that animals are entitled to a live completely independent of humans. They believe that animals have rights to exist without human intervention in their lives. To the extent that humans should not use them for any purpose. They see animal rights as something close, if not exactly similar to human rights. They promote vegetarianism as a panacea to killing animals for food. Animal welfare on the other hand is concerned with ethical considerations, emphasizing the overall experience of animals in relation to the environment where they live or die. Animal welfare do not oppose human use of animals for different purposes but advocate for humane considerations in the way and manner animals are treated before death, including the process of killing them for whatever purpose as defined by humans.
The position of the Society for Animal Rights Protection is that the rights of animals as guaranteed by legislation, serve as a means by which animal welfare could be protected. This should not necessarily prevent human use of animals but should promote their sustainable use without exposing them to any form of abuse or cruelty. We believe as sentient beings, the rights afforded animals in the context of the law should be respected.
Animal Welfare and Animal Right Laws in Some Countries
In the United Kingdom, Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 recognizes all vertebrate animals (and an important selection of invertebrates) as sentient and that there is a moral obligation to protect their welfare.
United States of America
In the United States of America, some states do have laws in place talking about both the physical and psychological suffering of animals and placing regulations and limits on how and when this is permitted. In total, 46 states consider at least some acts of cruelty to be felonies. The legal position for animals in the US is that they are considered property rather than sentient beings in their own rights.
France
In France, in 2015, the French Civil Code changed the categorization of animals from “moveable property” to “living beings gifted with sentience. However, the law continues to exclude wild animals, domesticated animals without an owner, and all invertebrates.
New Zealand
New Zealand also recognizes animals as sentient. The New Zealand Animal Welfare Strategy took the first step in 2013 and this was then included in legislation with the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill in 2015.
Canada
Some Provinces, such as Quebec, are taking valuable steps forward. A 2016 Quebec law asserts that “Animals are not things. They are sentient beings and have biological needs”. The recognition of sentience vary across the country. However, there are some evidence of recognition of animal sentience in Canadian case law.
Peru
Peru has also included animal sentience as a principle in its animal welfare and protection legislation. In 2016, legislators passed the Animal Protection and Welfare Law 30407. This comprehensive law was remarkably clear about the status of animals as sentient beings.
Sweden
Sweden’s Animal Welfare Act 2018 proclaimed that animals are sentient beings. It is an important piece of animal welfare legislation looking at how animals are kept by humans and also wild animals used for scientific study should be treated.
Spain
Spain has also recently updated its animal welfare legislation, recognizing animal sentience in the process. Law 17/2021 changed the status of animals from objects to sentient beings and family members.
Nigeria
In Nigeria, animal sentience has also been recognized as enshrined in the Animal Disease (Control) Act 2022. Sections 21-25 emphasized humane treatment of animals covering all the areas of ‘five freedoms’. The criminal code (1990) was a prelude to the more holistic Animal Disease (Control) Act 2022. However, implementation remains the main challenge.
Universal declaration of animal rights (15 October 1978)
Solemnly proclaimed in Paris on 15 October 1978 at the UNESCO headquarters
Preamble:
•Whereas all animals have rights;
•Whereas disregard and contempt for the rights of animals have resulted and continue to result in crimes by man against nature and against animals;
•Whereas recognition by the human species of the right to existence of other animal species is the foundation of the co-existence of species throughout the animal world;
•Whereas genocide has been perpetrated by man on animals and the threat of genocide continues;
•Whereas from childhood man should be taught to observe, understand, respect and love animals;
It is hereby proclaimed:
Article 1- All animals are born with an equal claim on life and the same rights to existence.
Article 2 1. – All animals are entitled to respect.
2.2 – Man as an animal species shall not arrogate to himself the right to exterminate or inhumanely exploit other animals. It is his duty to use his knowledge for the welfare of animals. 2.3. – All animals have the right to the attention, care and protection of man.
Article 3 1. – No animal shall be ill-treated or shall be subject to cruel acts.
3. 2. – If an animal has to be killed, this must be instantaneous and without distress.
Article 4 1. – All wild animals have the right to liberty in their natural environment, whether land, air or water, and should be allowed to procreate.
4.2. – Deprivation of freedom, even for educational purposes, is an infringement of this right.
Article 5 1. – Animals of species living traditionally in a human environment have the right to live and grow at the rhythm and under the conditions of life and freedom peculiar to their species.
5.2. – Any interference by man with this rhythm or these conditions for purposes of gain is an infringement of this right.
Article 6 .1 – All companion animals have the right to complete their natural life span.
6.2 – Abandonment of an animal is a cruel and degrading act.
Article 7 – All working animals are entitled to a reasonable limitation of the duration and intensity of their work, to the necessary nourishment, and to rest.
Article 8.1 – Animal experimentation involving physical or psychological suffering is incompatible with the rights of animals whether it be for scientific, medical, commercial, or any other form of research.
8.2. – Replacement methods must be used and developed.
Article 9. – Where animals are used in the food industry, they shall be reared, transported, lairaged and killed without the infliction of suffering.
Article 10.1 – No animal shall be exploited for the amusement of man.
10. 2. – Exhibitions and spectacles involving animals are incompatible with their dignity.
Article 11- Any act involving the wanton killing of an animal is biocide, that is, a crime against life.
Article 12.1 – Any act involving mass killing of wild animals is genocide, that is, a crime against the species.
12.2 – Pollution or destruction of the natural environment leads to genocide.
Article 13 1. – Dead animals shall be treated with respect.
13.2. – Scenes of violence involving animals shall be banned from cinema and television, except for humane education.
Article 14.1 – Representatives of movements that defend animal rights should have an effective voice at all levels of government.
14.2. – The rights of animals, like human rights, should enjoy the protection of law.
The Universal Declaration of Animal Rights was solemnly proclaimed in Paris on 15 October 1978 at the UNESCO headquarters. The text, revised by the international League of Animal Rights in 1989, was submitted to the UNESCO Director General in 1990 and made public the same year
As the 2024 edition of the International Animal Rights Day was celebrated globally on the 10th December, the Society for Animal Rights Protection urges the government at all levels in Nigeria to do more to implement existing legislation. This is because implementation of laws guarding animal rights would positively improve the implementation of laws safeguarding fundamental human rights. This has be proven by empirical research!
Dr. Ibikunle Faramade is a veterinary pathologist, sustainable development practitioner, animal welfare advocate and a lecturer at the Federal College of Animal Health & Production Technology, Apata. Ibadan. He’s the C.E.O of the Society for Animal Rights Protection, a non-profit and a non-governmental organization dedicated to the promotion of animal welfare, animal rights and prevention of cruelty to animals. animalrightsprotection2020@gmail.com , +2348028305284
