The logical conclusion of the animal rights argument?

He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small
And streptococcus is the test
I love him best of all.

Philmore's parody of Coleridge

Should germs have rights?

The Singer-Posner debate on animal rights

Are you for animal rights? It's not quite that simple

Some people defend animal rights because they really think animals have a right to life. Others oppose the killing of animals for food as it is currently done by the meat industry because it is done inhumanely involving unnecessary suffering. The Kosher law in Judaism allows for slaughtering, but imposes rules that prevent unnecessary cruelty.

There is also the question of animal experimentation, which can occur for the sake of life-saving medicines, which is one thing, but is also used extensively by the cosmetic industry, which is another issue morally.

I am linking to a Stanford Encyclopedia entry on animal rights.

Two types of animal right arguments

It seems to me that meat can be criticized in a couple of different ways. One of them is just to say that somehow animals have the right to life and we shouldn't be killing them. Another would be to say that we have the right to kill animals, but that meat-producers do so unethically. The Kashrut or Kosher Law of Judaism seems to be, at least in part, based on this motivation; the eating of meat isn't wrong, but unless it's killed properly, it shouldn't be eaten. And, in Alpha, the actual world, most animals are not slaughtered properly.

The Moral Status of Animals

This is the Stanford Encyclopedia entry.

A Wikipedian Entry on Animal Rights