I'll never forget the day, more than 10 years ago, I took my adult son to put his cat "to sleep." Apparently the cat, Noga (named after someone in football, he told me once, but I never knew who) had been suffering with feline leukemia for some time; because I was fighting a life-threatening illness, at that same time, my son had decided not to tell me when his cat was diagnosed. But on this early spring early morning, the words he spoke to me on the phone were filled with tears, "He's not doing well, Ma; he's running into things, like he's blind; he keeps looking at me as if to say, 'please put me out of my pain.'"
So, the decision was made. I picked up my son and his cat in Portland and, as were were driving along Brighton Avenue, we came to a red stop light. There was silence in the car, the cat between us, and as we sat there, waiting for the light to change, the cat looked up at me.
"Fine," I thought to myself, "fine; what a "good" person you are, driving a cat to his death."
I felt sad, sorry, guilty, responsible….and more. But the words that came out of my mouth (I have no clue the origin) were these….."You've been a good kitty. You've played and had fun, and you've worked very hard. Now you are feeling tired and it's time for you to rest."
While I'd never had much of a connection to this cat, (who was originally obtained for my son's other cat as a playmate) on that day, for that moment in our car, that animal had rights, more rights than I had ever considered. A right to life, a right to be free from pain, and much more.
No doubt you, as a student, have had at least one (or more) experience with your own pet, or the pets of others. Pets become part of our families and as such we value them, probably differently than we value the deer crossing the road in front of a moving car, the mouse in the woods behind our house, the skunk that appears from out of nowhere. How do we make a determination about what "use" we may make of animals? Which animals have rights to live, be free from experimentation, etc., etc?
These ethical questions, like those we have already considered, bring us much to ponder. In this week's reading, we will find many more ethical issues relating to animals and how we might treat them. This week's assignment is explained below.
READING ASSIGNMENT: Doing Ethics, Chapter 12: Animal Welfare
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
Under the correct forum in DISCUSSIONS, please write a well-developed essay, researching and answering ONE of the following questions, presenting researched information that goes beyond the scope of our textbook:
1) Should we abolish sled-dog racing?
2) Is it morally permissible to eat veal?
Please be sure to BEGIN your essay with one sentence from the assigned reading, and then follow with a statement connecting the reading to your research, using the MLA format style to cite your sources from the textbook (including page number) and the website URL. Your essay must be at least 300 words long.
- Choose the following websites or others for your research:
www.peta.org
www.aspca.org
www.animalplace.org
www.envirolink.org
www.ecoethics.net - In the subject line of your research posting, please write the 1) question you have selected, as well as 2) YES or NO as your response to it.
- Apply what you have learned in Kidder to your ethical decision on this question. Which of Kidder's paradigms or principles (choose from those explained in chapter 1, pages 6-13) did you use to arrive at your ethical decision…and why? Be sure to explain your choice fully so we can continue to understand how to correctly apply Kidder's concepts.
Your essay must include the URL (website) used for this week's research. Please note that WIKIPEDIA and other similar non-academic sources (ASK.com, etc.) may not be used as your resource and no credit will be given to students who use it. If you seek a source other than those noted above, please be sure to review the INFO ABOUT RESEARCH SOURCES forum postings.
LENGTH: Your essay must be at least 300 words long.
Rubric
Failing to include a sentence from the assigned reading - 15 points
- Lack of a a clear and specific reference to a paradigm or principle from Kidder (please note: "right vs. right" does not meet this requirement) - 15 points
- Lack of credible source for research - 15 points
- Lack of using MLA or APA format for citing source - 15 points
- Lack of citing source within the essay itself - 15 points or more
- More than three (3) spelling or grammar errors - 10 points or more
- Not meeting length requirements (essay or reply) - 10 points or more
Sample Solution