Kindness to Animals

Animal rights, also referred to as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of humans."Animal Rights." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Advocates approach the issue from different philosophical positions but agree that animals should be viewed as legal persons and members of the moral community, not property, and that they should not be used as food, clothing, research subjects, or entertainment.[http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/oct03/animalrights.htm "'Personhood' Redefined: Animal Rights Strategy Gets at the Essence of Being Human"], Association of American Medical Colleges, retrieved July 12, 2006; Taylor, Angus. Animals and Ethics: An Overview of the Philosophical Debate, Broadview Press, 2009.

The idea of awarding rights to animals has the support of legal scholars such as Alan Dershowitz and Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School,See Dershowitz, Alan. Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights, 2004, pp. 198?99; "Darwin, Meet Dershowitz," The Animals Advocate, Winter 2002, volume 21; "Animal Rights: The Modern Animal Rights Movement", Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2007; and [http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/oct03/animalrights.htm "Personhood' Redefined: Animal Rights Strategy Gets at the Essence of Being Human"], Association of American Medical Colleges, retrieved July 12, 2006. while Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby argues that the movement has reached the stage the gay rights movement was at 25 years ago.Dube, Rebecca. The new legal hot topic: animal law, The Globe and Mail, July 15, 2008. Animal law is taught in 113 out of 180 law schools in the United States, in eight law schools in Canada, and is routinely covered in universities in philosophy or applied ethics courses.Dube, Rebecca. The new legal hot topic: animal law, The Globe and Mail, July 15, 2008; "Animal law courses", Animal Legal Defense Fund; Garner, Robert. Animals, politics and morality. Manchester University Press, 2004, p. 4 ff. In June 2008, Spain became the first country to introduce an animal rights resolution, when a parliamentary committee voted in favor of limited rights for non-human primates, inspired by Peter Singer's Great Ape Project.Glendinning, Lee. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/26/humanrights.animalwelfare?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront Spanish parliament approves 'human rights' for apes], The Guardian, June 26, 2008. Also see Singer, Peter. Of great apes and men, The Guardian, July 18, 2008.

Critics argue that animals are unable to enter into a social contract or make moral choices, and therefore cannot be regarded as possessors of rights, a position summed up by the philosopher Roger Scruton, who writes that only humans have duties, and that, "the corollary is inescapable: we alone have rights."Scruton, Roger. "Animal Rights", City Journal, summer 2000. A parallel argument is that there is nothing inherently wrong with using animals as resources if there is no unnecessary suffering, a view known as the animal welfare position.Frey, R.G. Interests and Rights: The Case against Animals. Clarendon Press, 1980 ISBN 0-19-824421-5 There has also been criticism, including from within the animal rights movement itself, of certain forms of animal rights activism, in particular the destruction of fur farms and animal laboratories by the Animal Liberation Front.

An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and be protected for the rest of their lives.Jaulas Vacías. El Desafío de los Derechos de los Animales, Tom Regan. Publicado por Fundación Altarriba, Barcelona, (2006). ISBN 84-611-0672-5 ISBN 978-84-611-0672-1. Página 111 Unlike animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek to place animals with individuals or groups, instead maintaining each animal until his or her natural death. In some cases, an establishment may have characteristics of both a sanctuary and a shelter; for instance, some animals may be in residence temporarily until a good home is found and others may be permanent residents. The mission of sanctuaries is generally to be safe havens, where the animals receive the best care that the sanctuaries can provide. Animals are not bought, sold, or traded, nor are they used for animal testing. The resident animals are given the opportunity to behave as naturally as possible in a protective environment.

What distinguishes a sanctuary from other institutions is the philosophy that the residents come first. In a sanctuary, every action is scrutinized for any trace of human benefit at the expense of non-human residents. Sanctuaries act on behalf of the animals, and the caregivers work under the notion that all animals in the sanctuary, human and non-human, are of equal importance.

A sanctuary is not open to the public in the sense of a zoo; that is, the public is not allowed unescorted access to any part of the facility. A sanctuary tries not to allow any activity that would place the animals in an unduly stressful situation.

One of the most important missions of sanctuaries, beyond caring for the animals, is educating the public. The ultimate goal of a sanctuary should be to change the way that humans think of, and treat, non-human animals.

There are several national and international organizations that have taken the responsibility of supervising numerous systems of non-profit animal sanctuaries in order to provide a general system for sanctuaries to follow. Among them, The American Sanctuary Association monitors and aids in various facilities to care for exotic wildlife.American Sanctuary Association - About American Sanctuary Association (ASA) Their accredited facilities conform to high standards and rigid application processes to ensure that the animals under their care are enthusiastically cared for and maintained.

An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats.

The goal of today's animal shelter is to provide a safe and caring environment until the animal is either reclaimed by its owner, placed in a new home, or placed with another organization. Many progressive shelters temperament-test animals before they are put up for adoption (PUFA) to determine the appropriate home environment.

In the past, they were more commonly referred to as "dog pounds", a term which had its origins in the pounds of agricultural communities, where stray cattle would be penned up or impounded until claimed by their owners.

Some animal shelters euthanize animals that are not adopted within a set period of time; others have a policy of only putting down animals that are in distress due to age or illness.

Vegetarianism is the practice of following a diet based on plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds, with or without dairy products and eggs. A vegetarian does not eat meat, game, poultry, fish, crustacea, shellfish, or products of animal slaughter such as animal-derived gelatin and rennet.Briggs, Asa (1989) The Longman Encyclopedia, Longman, p. 1109 A vegan diet is a form of vegetarian diet which excludes all animal products, including dairy products, eggs, and honey. A lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products but excludes eggs, an ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs but not dairy products, and a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet includes both eggs and dairy products. Vegetarianism may be adopted for ethical, health, environmental, religious, political, cultural, aesthetic, economic, or other reasons.

A semi-vegetarian diet consists largely of vegetarian foods, but may include fish and sometimes poultry, as well as dairy products and eggs. A pescetarian diet, for example, includes fish but no meat.Merriam-Webster defines "Pescetarian" as one whose diet includes fish but no meat. The common use confusion between such diets and vegetarianism defines "vegetarian" (noun) as "A person who on principle abstains from animal food; esp. one who avoids meat but will consume dairy produce and eggs and sometimes also fish (cf. VEGAN noun)." has led vegetarian groups, such as the Vegetarian Society, to note that such fish or poultry-based diets are not vegetarian.

Category: File - :Foods.jpg|thumb|right|Various fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains; some basic ingredients of a vegan diet.

Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind. The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights or welfare, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns. Of particular concern to many vegans are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources for animal farming.

Vegan diets (sometimes called strict or pure vegetarian diets) are a subset of vegetarian diets. Properly planned vegan diets are healthful and have been found to satisfy nutritional needs. Poorly planned vegan diets can be low in levels of calcium, iodine, vitamin B and vitamin D. Vegans are therefore encouraged to plan their diet and take dietary supplements as appropriate. Various polls have reported vegans to be between 0.2% and 1.3% of the U.S. population, and between 0.25% and 0.4% of the UK population.

Animal cognition is the title given to a modern approach to the mental capacities of non-human animals. It has developed out of comparative psychology, but has also been strongly influenced by the approach of ethology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary psychology. The alternative name cognitive ethology is therefore sometimes used; and much of what used to be considered under the title of animal intelligence is now thought of under this heading.

In practice, animal cognition mostly concerns mammals, especially primates, cetaceans and elephants, besides canidae, felidae and rodents, but research also extends to non-mammalian vertebrates such as birds such as parrots and pigeons, lizards or fish, and even to non-vertebrates (cephalopods).

Category: File - :AnimalHospital2009Patient&Drip.JPG|thumb|right|A cat after surgery. Antibiotics and morphine are delivered via various intravenous drips.

Veterinary medicine is the application of medical, diagnostic, surgical, dental, and therapeutic principles to companion, domestic, exotic, wildlife, and production animals. Veterinary science is vital to the study and protection of animal production practices, herd health and monitoring the spread of disease. It does not require the acquisition and application of scientific knowledge in multiple disciplines and uses technical skills directed at disease prevention in both domestic and wild animals.

Veterinary medicine is the branch of science that deals with the application of medical, surgical, dental, diagnostic and therapeutic principles to pet, domestic, wildlife and livestock animals.

The field of veterinary medicine is a highly competitive yet under employed field of medicine. Today's veterinarians are doctors who are highly educated to protect both the health of animals and humans. The skills of highly qualified veterinarians are in constant demand and job opportunities within this field are endless. In order to be considered a qualified veterinarian there are many preparations to complete, the road is long and treacherous, and the competition is steep. Additionally, the career continues to change in dynamic, from income trends to gender distribution, these changes impact the field as a whole.

Saint Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone; 1181/1182October 3, 1226) was a Catholic deacon and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans.

He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment and Italy, and it is customary for Catholic churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October.

Fernando Martins de Bulhões, venerated as Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, c. 1195 ? 13 June 1231) is a Catholic saint who was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a wealthy family and who died in Padua, Italy.

Saint Catherine of Bologna (8 September 1413 - 9 March 1463) was an Italian saint.

The patron saint of artists and against temptations, Catherine de'Vigri was venerated for nearly three centuries in her native Bologna before being formally canonized, in 1712. Her feast day is March 9.

Saint Rose of Lima, (April 20, 1586 ? August 24, 1617),Patron Saints Index: Saint Rose of Lima Retrieved on 2008-08-23. the first Catholic saint of the Americas, was born in Lima, Peru.