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Rusty Tait
Mrs. Rice
English III
16 October 2011
Animal Cruelty
Animal cruelty is debated heavily in today’s society. A typical person does not know the
cruelty in the act. Tom Regan, who wrote “Animal Rights, Human Wrongs”(336), is not a
typical person. He has researched the cruelty that goes into obtaining what people consider a
luxury. If more people knew of the inhumanity the animals go through, they would be very
much against it.
Regan claims the scientists and hunters who commit the unjust cruelty against
the animals see it as no big deal. Regan even quotes one of the men aboard one of the whaling
vessels to show the graphic details of the test and hunting done to theses animal. He says “There
is another dull explosion in the whale’s vitals. Then comes a series of convulsions-a last
despairing struggle. The whale spouts blood, Keels slowly over and floats bell upward. It is
dead.”(336) The animals unfortunately have no say, and that is why people like Tom Regan feel
the need to speak for the animals themselves. He is persuasive in his article, but he is also a little
overwhelming. Tom Regan executes the use of pathos and logos in his article “Animal Rights,
Human wrongs”.
Tom Regan is a pioneer of the academic movement for animal rights. He has a career as
a professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University. He was never well known until the
publication of his book “The Case for Animal Rights”. Regan’s book attracted many readers
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while opening their eyes to animal cruelty. The book established many of the philosophical
origins of the animal rights movement. He did not want the reputation as a “sentimental bunnyhugger” but he wanted people to see how the animals are treated behind closed doors. Regan did
not care if he had to research a barn, jungle, sea, or laboratory, as long as the population was able
to read of what he considered unjustified.
Animal Cruelty is an issue that is over looked by the entire world. Regan explains how
it is typically looked heavily down upon but some see justice in it. We see many cases of animal
abuse in laboratories and for people to enjoy certain luxuries that come rare. Regan explains
many different forms from whale hunting to experimenting with rabbits. He tells us of how
calves are starved of nutrients just so their meat can stay tender and be considered veal. This is
an example of abuse Regan uses to persuade the reader to feel bad for the young calf. Regan
tries to show the harm that comes out of some things we consider a luxury. This is an example
of pathos because Regan uses your plays with your emotions. It is a successful tactic that Regan
uses. A typical soft hearted person would immediately feel bad for the animals.
In Tom Regan’s “Animal Rights, Human Wrongs” the cruelty done to the animals is
described in grave detail. He writes graphically of how the workers aboard whaling fleets are
“dismembering carcass of whale”. The purpose of his detailed writing is to grab the attention of
the reader who would typically think negative of the abusers. Regan explains how they aren’t
only killing animals, they are doing it in a way that is inhumane and unnecessary. The people of
Japan and there methods of whale hunting are a prime example of what Regan’s article is
referring too. The whale hunters of Japan have taken whale hunting to an all new extreme by
using explosive harpoons on the whales. Japan is not the only contributing factor to these
extreme methods of harvesting; rabbits are having their eyes boiled out by interested scientist
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across America. Rabbits do not have tear ducts resulting in the inability to flush irritants from
their eyes. Therefore, they make a perfect candidate from a scientific standpoint but from a moral
standpoint, the facts make it merely preposterous to consider what they are doing is ethical.
Regan’s use of logos is very effective. He shows through peoples jobs and experiments animals
are being mistreated.
Regan’s attempt to aware people of animal cruelty can be a bit overwhelming. It is hard
to imagine people would be fine with torturing animals as they do. Without Regan and people
like him animals and their lives would be doomed. An animal is unable to represent itself
making the human race solely responsible. Regan is very influential with his facts and research,
but he is also overwhelming . He makes the reader question themselves by asking them
questions about the situation he presented. Reagan, expressing the offender’s excuses and
attempts to make their wrong just full, shows the reader that the criminals know they are in the
wrong. Regan could persuade any typical person that animal cruelty is wrong.
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Works Cited
Reagan, Tom “Animal Rights, Human Wrongs” Forming a Critical Perspective page
336-340. Copyright 2010.