Treating animals with the same respect as humans In 2012 there were 35 000 animal cruelty cases reported in the media all over the world. What is more, there are many atrocious videos posted on the internet in which animals are being ill-treated or killed. Statistically, one fifth of all domestic animals are not well treated. These facts arouse the question: ‘Should animals be treated with the same respect as humans? ’. In spite of the fact that animals are not conscious thinking creatures, they should be treated as humans because they are biologically similar to us and they are our companions.
First and foremost, animals are biologically similar to humans. Their genetic code is similar to ours because it is made of the same nucleotides that encode amino acids. DNA is the carrier of genetic information in which our behaviour, appearance and genetic predispositions are encoded. Human and animals’ structure of DNA is almost the same. The best example is the DNA of the great apes which is in 95 percent similar to the human. Even though many people can say that animals do not feel anything, animals are able to feel pain, happiness or anger owing to the developed nervous system.
The typical examples of that are a dog which howls when it feels pain and a cat which purrs when it is being stroked. Many experiments were held in which e. g. chimpanzees were learnt how to count fruits shown on the screen and with the right answer they were getting a reward, and they were able to learn it which is the clear proof that they are able to learn certain conducts in the course of time. Furthermore, many species of animals are human companions. Choicely trained dogs are used to help blind people function in the world. Jack is one of the many people who without his dog would only have to stay at home and be dependent on his family.
However, it is not the life that those people want to live and dogs are the unbeatable mean of helping them in their day-to-day activities. Secondly, enormously keen sense of smell that sniffer dogs have is most useful in rescuing people who have been trapped under the rubble because they can smell the scent of human in the places where the sight of rescue team is limited. Cats or hamsters are bred because of the very simple reason – they are ideal for children. Most of them are tame and they like being stroked. On the other hand, opponents say that animals should not be treated as humans because they are not conscious thinking creatures.
The only way of communication between them is using primitive codes, not developed language e. g. bees are dancing in order to communicate something to others or elephants are making sounds that are not audible for humans. What is more, these codes are only used by them in order to survive their assemblage. All in all, no matter what opponents may say, animals should be treated with the same respect as humans. They are biologically similar to humans at the DNA level and they are perfect human companions used in order to help people and beguile their free time. They should not be treated as if they did not feel anything.