Animals Have Rights - Assignment Example

I differ with Cohen since animals ought to have some kind of rights since the holders of the moral rights must act in accordance with moral law and recognize the conflict of their interests with those of others. In this case, Cohen argument is defective since he infers that the comatose and brain-damaged individuals also lack rights since they are not capable of making moral claims. Animals exhibit remarkable behavior through communicating with each other, taking care of the young and exhibiting preferences and desires (Cohen 868).

 The argument that animals must have free moral judgment to have rights is defective since unborn babies and fetuses lack the free moral judgment and claim to the right of life.  ‘Marginal’ human beings such as fetuses have moral rights to life and experiments like abortions violate the rights to life. Animals have similar levels of biological complexity such as DNA and are aware they exist (Cohen 83). Animals prefer comfort and make conscious choices on where to live thus the quality and length of life matters to them. Animals should not be subjected to suffering and pain since they desire their mental and bodily integrity and all industries that exploit animals should be abolished (Cohen 78).