You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
A growing number of people feel that animals should not be exploited by people and that they should have the same rights as humans, while others argue that humans must employ animals to satisfy their various needs, including uses for food and research. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer
The animal right has been a controversial issue ever since the dawn of industrialisation. Some argue that animals deserve to be treated the same way as humans, while others contend that humans must employ animals to fulfil their numerous needs. Both points of views will be analysed in this essay before a reasoned conclusion is drawn.
On the one hand, fair treatment of animals appears to be the moral thing to do. For example, animal rights activists groups have repeatedly performed studies that demonstrate that animals, when subjected to macabre conditions of slaughterhouses and laboratories, feel the pain in the same manner as human beings. Since most humans would never support the idea of inflicting such pain on their fellow human beings, it is only fair that animals should also be spared from this torment. When looking at this side of the argument, it is obvious why some support this stance.
On the other hand, many people opine that animals should be exploited in order to fulfil a number of human needs including food and research activities. Take pharmaceutical industry, for example, if humans stop testing drugs on animals to ensure their safety for subsequent human use, fatal damage could be caused to human beings as a result of using unsafe medicines. As without such medicines, the life expectancy of humans can fall dramatically, it is understandable why this point of view has garnered support.
Although both sides of this argument have indisputable virtues, it is felt that animal exploitation should only be upheld for medical research purposes. It is hoped, that animal sufferings in the laboratories will be minimised in the future.
[ Written by – Sameed Qureshi ]