We're Not the Only Ones Capable of Suffering

There is no reason that the United Nations should not adopt the Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare

There is only one animal on Earth that has been granted "universal" rights: Homo sapien.

On December 10, 1948, we granted ourselves those rights when the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It states, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Unfortunately -- and to some, shockingly -- there is no similar international protection afforded to the other animals with which we share the planet.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is trying to change that.

They have started a petition urging the U.N. General Assembly adopt international policies on animal welfare with their Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare (UDAW) campaign.

"Animal welfare is not some unaffordable luxury. It's an essential part of solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing us today,” said Mike Baker, WSPA’s director general.

The draft UDAW states that "animals are living, sentient beings and therefore deserve due
consideration and respect" and that member nations would agree that "all appropriate steps shall be taken...to prevent cruelty to animals and to reduce their suffering."

According to the WSPA's Web site:

• Around 60 billion farm animals are used each year globally to produce meat, milk and eggs. The majority are raised in industrial farming systems where their welfare needs are not met.
• Globally, there are some 600 million dogs, and a similar number of cats, of which an estimated 80% are stray or unwanted.
• The illegal and often inhumane trade in wildlife and wildlife parts is a soaring black market worth $10 billion a year, exceeded only by arms and drug smuggling. Millions of wild animals are killed, captured or traded inhumanely in this shady business.
• An estimated 80% of power input on farms in developing countries is supplied by draught animals, however the resources made available are often woefully inadequate, leading to significant welfare issues.
• Animals are also affected on a huge scale by natural disasters, though seldom considered.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a direct result of the horrors that were experienced during World War II.

How many more horrors must billions of other animals endure day after day before they receive a similar statement?

GET INVOLVED

• Sign the Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare

RELATED POSTS

• Chimp Apocalypse Now (June 15, 2009)
• The Devil in Human Form (March 7, 2009)
• Military Torture: Not Just for Humans (May 17, 2009)
• A Peculiar Evil Grows in Austria (May 26, 2009)
• Thousands of Dogs Poisoned to Death in Bali (March 9, 2009)
• Elephants Beaten At Ringling (July 24, 2009)
• Over 30,000 Dogs Slaughtered in China (June 17, 2009)
• Death Row for Wild Camels Down Under (August 26, 2009)
• Chimp Trauma (September 16, 2009)
• Bullfighting vs. Rodeos (October 21, 2009)
  
• Exclusive Interview with Francois Hugo, Founder, Seal Alert-SA (July 15, 2009)
• Buying Out Namibia's Seal Industry (July 11, 2009)
• Europe to Canada: Stop Killing Seals (May 6, 2009)
• Senators Stand Up for Seals (April 5, 2009)
• Death Row Baby Seals Find A Friend in Canada's Senate (March 15, 2009)
• The Gloomy Dean (January 30, 2009)
• Songs for the Brumbies (August 6, 2009)
• Tracking Australia's Wildlife Smugglers (February 8, 2009)
• Protecting Great Apes (August 13, 2009)
• Taiwan's Typhoon Dogs (August 17, 2009)
• Killing Congo's Chimps (March 29, 2009)
• The Fast and the Furious (August 5, 2009)
• Napoleon Complex (July 13, 2009)
• The Korean Taste for Dog (September 6, 2009)
• A Real Killer: The World's Toughest Dog Race (April 18, 2009)
• Where Man's Best Friend Is on the Menu (October 24, 2008)
• South Korea Pushes to Legalize Dog Meat (July 18, 2008)
• Black Beauty (May 15, 2009)
• Heaven or Haven for Horses? (February 22, 2009)
• America's Dirty Little Secret (December 23, 2008)
• Use of Lab Animals on the Rise in UK (July 26, 2008)
• America's Wild Horses in Peril (June 27, 2008)
• Thoroughbred Rescuers Face Uphill Climb (June 7, 2008)
• Kentucky Derby Horse Death Raises Questions (May 6, 2008)
• Horse Fighting in the Philippines (April 4, 2008)
• South Africa's Shark Tale (June 24, 2009)
• New Film Exposes Japan's Dolphin Slaughter (January 18, 2009)
• Singapore's Dolphin Deal with the Solomons (December 8, 2008)
• Massive Dolphin Slaughter in Japan (June 23, 2008)

image: Drew Leavy