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Ari Anderson
Professor Baird
English 1010-035
29 Oct. 2014
Annotated Bibliography
Introduction
The issue discussed in this paper is animals legal rights. My question is should
human beings and animals have equal rights, and if not, where do we draw the line? In
the past, animals have only been viewed as human property, and something we can
benefit from. However, in more recent years, animal rights popularity has grown. Many
organizations exist for the sole reason of helping animals, and communities have been
supportive of these efforts. Personally, I appreciate animal activists efforts since animals
and humans are equal in my eyes and should be treated as such. Animal life is just as
valuable as human life.
Annotations 1
Grimm, David. Animals Legal Rights Come From an Evolving Relationship With
Our Pets. New York Times: The Opinion Pages. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., 1 Oct.
2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
Summary 1

Grimm discusses how cats and dogs are becoming fellow citizens based on what
has happened in the past few decades. Animals have been included in their owners wills,
fought over in court during custody battles, and have organizations set up for animals aid
in natural disasters and other events. The law is becoming more and more pet-friendly

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and will prosecute the individuals who put them in harms way. In a recent case, Andre
Robinson from Brooklyn, was arrested for kicking a cat.
Cats and dogs arent just seen as human property anymore. They are starting to
have as many rights and protections as any other living thing in the country. Fines of up
to 125,000.00 and up to ten years in prison are enforced in all fifty states for the felony of
animal cruelty. The world is changing, and with it so is the way pets are valued and
protected.

Rhetorical Analysis 1

Grimm uses pathos and ethos to appeal to readers. He talks about how the world
is changing the way they look at animals. Before this new movement, ethos wouldnt
even be a concern, because in the past animals have been looked at and treated as
property. It wouldnt have been an ethical issue to kill an animal or mistreat them. The
author mostly focuses on the emotions people feel for their pets (pathos). Some people
now have stronger feelings for their pets then they do most people. This has caused an
uproar in society, since some see pets as equal to humans, and others do not. I found
Grimm to be very persuasive and credible, however, I wouldve liked to see more facts
and statistics in his article.

Reflection 1

This article reaffirmed my feelings and how I value animals even further. Animals
are living, breathing, creatures that have the same emotions and physical needs as us.
They should be treated as such. I also believe that anyone who harms an animal should be

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charged with a felony, and should be aware of the consequences that will come from it.
Abuse of any kind, human or animal, should never be taken lightly. I appreciate societys
effort to make this not only an ethical issue, but a legal one.

Annotations 2
Shulz, William F. Are Animal Rights Human Rights? The Blog. Huffington Post.,
Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, 17 December, 2013.

Summary 2
Shulz focuses on the debate of whether or not its humane for a chimpanzee to
live in a storage shed in a trailer park. The owner believes that he isnt doing anything
wrong, while those who oppose him argue that its completely unethical. The question
this article poses is, why have rights been limited traditionally to humans? Shulz
originally felt that humans were the only species that had the rights to be protected and
valued. His beliefs have changed over the past decade, due to his experience of working
with animal rights groups.

The author discusses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their
position that humans are inherently creatures of dignity and worth. They believe human
suffering is worse than suffering of any other living thing. Their opinion has changed
dramatically since they were founded 65 years ago. Theyre now open to the possibility
that these rights should not be limited to humans only. How can any human not be
affected by animal suffering?

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Rhetorical Analysis 2

Shulz uses logos to appeal to his audience. He has numerous facts and evidence to
support his claims. I found this source to be the most persuasive, as I found Shulz to be
the most passionate about his topic. He points out that we dont require human beings to
be capable of reason to be eligible to have rights. If so, babies and brain dead humans
would be able to be abused without consequences. People say animals arent capable of
reasoning, just like a baby or brain-dead person isnt, so why isnt it common sense that
everyone should have the same rights?

Reflection 2

After reading this article, and hearing about the chimpanzees living conditions, I
feel even more deeply for animals and their right to fair treatment. I understand that some
people may not have the same belief system I do, however, I struggle with the fact that
they can be so callous in regards to the treatment of animals. As a society, if we dont
require that humans treat other living creatures with the same respect and kindness that
we expect, how can we have a civilized society? If people are allowed to mistreat
animals, whos to say they wouldnt mistreat another human being?

Annotations 3
Schmadeke, Steve. Former UIC student spared prison in dog cruelty case. The Chicago
Tribune., Gerald W. Kern, Web. 12 July 2013.

Summary 3

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A University of Illinois at Chicago student who tortured his puppy by pouring
boiling hot water on him for urinating on the floor avoided going to prison because the
judge believed he was punished enough in the court of public opinion by animal rights
activists. Kyle Voissem received a years probation instead of spending up to three years
in prison because his lawyer claimed his clients life was destroyed by his crime being
posted continuously online and he was not able to find employment, lost his scholarship
and was kicked out of the university. Ironically, Voissem was a criminal justice major at
the time of the incident. The judge felt he had paid for his crime and would live with his
mistake for a long time. The judge scolded the animal rights group for publicizing the
case. This angered the animal rights group and started a series of online petitions as well
as a Justice for Byron Facebook page that was viewed 90,000 times.

Rhetorical Analysis 3
This case involved a lot of emotion. I believe appealing to a readers emotions is
the most affective way to persuade them. The strongest evidence of ethos in this article is
the creation of a YouTube video that included photos of Byron being shown while the
Hansons song, I Will Come to You played. Visual images of animals along with
songs that tug at your heartstrings will always create strong emotions. Another
emotional point was when the judge did not ban Voissem from owning a pet in the future.
This angered many of the activists who attended the sentencing. Even though the
defendant apologized for what he did, most of his opponents could not forgive him.

The judge brought up the ethos issue of the case when he asked if anyone has
never been so angry that they made a mistake they would later regret. He then went on to

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ask if anyone is perfect, and criticized the animal activists campaign to ruin Kyles life.
He felt it was unethical for any one person or group to destroy another person and
advised them to look inside themselves. The judge believed that the group engaged in
aggravated cruelty to another human being in the name of loving animals.

Reflection 3

I experienced a lot of different emotions reading this article. I was disgusted by

what Voissem did to his dog but it also bothered me that the animal rights groups didnt
let the courts handle the punishment. I am glad that they took the dog away from him and
found it a better home, and he lost his scholarship, I dont feel that he should be
publically attacked to the point he couldnt get his education or find a job. Sometimes
society has a lynch mob mentality and they dont know when to stop.

I think the judge made the right decision in giving him probation but I do feel that
he should be banned for life from owning an animal. That would ensure the safety of any
animal he might adopt as well as protecting him from possible future cruel behavior if he
does it again. I agree with the judge that we all make mistakes and for the most part we
shouldnt have to have our whole lives destroyed because of one mistake.

Annotations 4
Rifkin, Jeremy. A Change of Heart About Animals. Article Collections. Los Angeles
Times., Austin Beutner, Web. 1 September 2003.

Summary 4

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Jeremy Rifkin looks into the recent research of how scientists are finding that
animals are more like us than we imagined. He found research on pigs, gorillas,
orangutans and geese. Some philosophers and animal behaviorists believe that animals
are not capable of self-awareness because they dont see themselves as individuals. New
studies are challenging that belief system and one study discovered that an orangutan that
was given a mirror used it to adjust his glasses and groom his teeth. Koko, the 300-pound
gorilla in Northern California, was taught sign language and has mastered over 1,000
signs and has scored between a 70 and 95 on human IQ tests.

One group of researchers believes what makes animals different from humans is
the ability to mourn for the dead. But scientists have recently found that animals do
mourn death and experience grief. Elephants will stand by their dead children or relatives
for days and touch them with their trunks.

Scientists used to believe that most creatures behaved by sheer instinct and their
behavior was genetic and not learned. But now they know that geese must teach their
goslings the migration routes. They are also finding that most parents must teach their
offspring survival techniques as well as learned experiences, such as a mommy bird
teaching her baby to find worms.

Rhetorical Analysis 4

This article is overflowing with logos because of its strong abundance of

information and facts. Most of the article is based on research studies and their findings.
This makes this article very credible and proves a strong case for animals being closer to
humans than once thought. The article states the findings of research from gorillas,

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elephants, geese, and pigs. One study was done at Purdue University and funded by
McDonalds to determine pigs social behavior. It was determined that pigs become
depressed when separated from other or denied playtime. Farmers in Germany give their
pigs 20 seconds of human contact a day and provide them with toys to prevent the pigs
from fighting with each other.
I didnt feel a lot of emotion while reading this article but I felt that most of the
scientists or researchers were trying to decide through their research what was ethical
when it came to the treatment and care of different animals. The author didnt depend on
a lot of emotion or playing to the readers ethics, he just stated the facts of the studies and
didnt try to sway his audience one way or the other. If the author had used more
emotional appeal and voice I wouldve found his article more persuasive. He let the facts
speak for themselves.

Reflection 4
I found this article to be educational and informative. I liked that the author didnt
dwell too long on one study but showed many different scientist and research studies to
make his point that animals are more like us than we believe. All of the studies proved
that animals are creatures that can become attached, grieve, get lonely or depressed, and
realize they are individuals. I have seen this with my own pets. I know that they have
feelings and get lonely and miss our family members. They also are aware when one of
the other pets dies or is sick.

I am glad that there are people in the world who are interested in finding out more
about animals and getting the information out there so that as a society we can become

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more informed and educated and can make better choices when it comes to how we treat
other living things on the earth.

Annotations 5
Montgomery, Jill. Animal Welfare and Animal Rights: A War of Words with Casualties
Mounting Animal Welfare Council Website., Animal Welfare Council, May 2013.

Summary 5

Some people are confused by the terms animal welfare and animal rights. They
think that they are one and the same when they are quite different. The groups that fight
for animal rights and animal welfare are both interested in the treatment of horses but
they have differing views on what is best for them. Both groups have legislation pending
in the Federal and State court systems and anyone who works with horses or recreational
animals as well as the public should educate themselves on the different belief systems of
each philosophy. There are varying implications that each method the groups are
proposing for legislation and they will play a large role in the way the horse industry
values, protects and treats these animals.

Animal welfare is the more traditional model that people have used in the care
and treatment of animals. This includes proper housing, management, nutrition,
responsible care, and humane handling and when needed humane euthanasia. Animal
welfare reflects the belief that animals have certain rights and most importantly to be free
from pain but it does not hold the belief that animals have the same rights as humans.

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The animal rights movement is a newer philosophy that believes that animals do
have the same rights as humans. They reject the use of animals for any purpose whether
they are treated humanely or not. The strong stance that this group endorses has caused
drastic consequences to the livestock industries. They carry a lot of power with the public
and some members of this group have gotten into legal trouble because of their
overzealous behavior in defending animal rights.

Rhetorical Analysis 5

This article is a strong example of logos because most of the article is factual and
informative. There is a lot of historical and background information given on both groups
as well as the story of The Unwanted Horse. This story talks about all the horses that
are no longer wanted by their owners because they have become old, sick or or
unmanageable. Sometimes it is a case of the owner no longer being able to afford them.
These horses are sometimes shipped to Mexico to be processed as food. This is allowed
to happen because horses have been considered livestock and not companion animals.
This is an example of ethos in this article because it shows a lack of ethics in our culture
that we as a society believe this to be okay. Is it even ethical to feed humans sick or old
horses?

The pathos in this article comes from the animal rights groups and their use and
sometimes overuse of emotion when they are trying to promote their agenda. They use
highly emotional advertising to reach the masses and try to start an uproar to get results
quickly.

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Reflection 5

I found this article to be very credible and informative. I learned a lot of facts and
new information about the difference between animal rights and animal welfare. I always
believed them to be the same thing. I can understand how both groups believe what they
do and that they want what is best for animals but they just have different ideas on how
that should be enforced. It is unfortunate that it can cause discord and sometimes violence
because people become so passionate about their beliefs and their love of animals. Its
important that legislature make a decision on what the proper treatment of animals is and
each group accept that decision and move forward to enforce the laws. Attacking the
opposing group and becoming violent is not helping the animals or teaching the future
generations to be tolerant of one anothers beliefs and respecting the laws. We need to
work together as a society to improve the quality of life for both humans and animals.

Annotations 6
Ascione, Frank R. Animal Abuse and Youth Violence Juvenile Justice Bulletin, U.S.
Department of Justice, September 2001.

Summary 6
Violent people are violent people, regardless of their victim. Thats why Im
hardly surprised that of 9 school shootings in the U.S., 5 of the 11 shooters had a history
of animal cruelty. In his article, Ascione mentions Luke Woodham who killed his own
mother and two fellow classmates. It was later found that months prior to that he had
abused and murdered his dog. The author mentions that animal abuse and its

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consequences has received insufficient attention (Ascione, 2001). Ascione also points
out that when such cruel events are reported in the media, the first thing people wonder is
how someone could possibly do that, and what their motives for doing it are.

The article talks about the link between mental health and animal abuse. During a
study among four to sixteen year olds, it was discovered that boys and girls with mental
health disorders had a higher rate of animal abuse than those without a disorder. Ascione
points out that victims of abuse all have something in common. Both types of victims
are living creatures, have a capacity for experiencing pain and distress, can display
physical signs of their pain and distress (with which humans could empathize), and may
die as a result of inflicted injuries (Ascione, 2001).

Rhetorical Analysis 6

This article was by far the most informative (logos) of all my sources. Ascione
included various charts and graphs showing statistics in a way that was more visually
appealing than reading them. The article was a combination of many studies he had done,
which to me, made it more credible. Before I read this article, I hadnt realized that
animal abuse can be a factor in many criminal behaviors. The author lists what drives
people (specifically young), to behave in such a way. Their motivations for animal
cruelty include curiosity, peer pressure, mood enhancement, sexual gratification, animal
phobias, imitation, etc. He also points out that an abuser has often times been abused as
somewhat in his/her life. This article was very credible, and although it lacked emotional
appeal, I also found it persuasive.

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Reflection 6
Asciones article took me the longest to read, but was the most interesting to me.
He was very thorough with his research and evidence. In one of his graphs, he shows that
child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and animal abuse all share things in common,
and one can lead to another. Violence or cruelty in any circumstance is unacceptable and
should be treated as such. By having serious legal consequences for people who mistreat
animals, we are creating a better society for ourselves. Whether you have a mental
condition or not, there should be penalties for animal abuse. Like any crime, it doesnt
matter who commits it, the crime is still a crime.

Annotations 7
Sunstein, Cass R., The Rights of Animals: A Very Short Primer, JOHN M. OLIN LAW
& ECONOMICS WORKING PAPER NO. 157, John M. Olin, No date available.

Summary 7

It would be safe to say that there are more domestic animals than wild animals
today. Families cherish their pets, celebrate their birthdays, put them in family photos; the
list goes on. In his article, Sunstein mentions that animal abuse is similar to slavery and
racial discrimination. He mentions a quote by Immanuel Kant, He who is cruel to
animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men, (Kant, year unknown). The author
points out that he has three goals for his essay: to show people that almost everyone
believes in animal rights, to show various opinions on the issue, and to support a specific
opinion on the issue.

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What are rights? Sunstein defines them as legal protection against harm
(Sunstein, year unknown). Asking for animal rights isnt asking for much. Supporters of
animal rights arent asking for animals to receive special treatment, just safety. We need
to destroy the thought that animals are property used for the sole purpose of human wants
and needs. Sunstein mentions that some people believe certain animals should have more
rights than others. However, this would be similar to saying some humans should have
more rights then others, which is unethical and unfair.

Rhetorical Analysis 7

The author of this article used a lot of emotional appeal. He mentioned how
animals involved in testing and farming are treated, which wasnt mentioned in any of
my other sources. If animals are to be tested, they should be treated with respect and not
have to suffer unnecessary pain. These testing systems should be government approved,
and monitored. While I see the good that animal testing does, I find it unnecessary to test
human products on animals, since our anatomy is so different. Mistreatment of animals
can occur in our community zoos, aquariums, and aviaries. If an animal must be
confined, they should at least receive proper treatment. In this essay, you can tell the
author cares deeply for animals, which was very persuasive to me. Although it lacked a
surplus of statistics and facts, I dont think they were necessary.

Reflection 7
Sunstein did a great job of defending animal rights from an animals perspective.
His writing makes you put yourself in an animals shoes, and feel what they feel. I liked

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the flow of this essay, and the information was easy to retain and use in my own essay.
Animals deserve to be treated with the same respect that humans do. My hope is to see all
animals have equal rights one day, and a more supportive society.

Conclusion

It is time society starts treating human and animal rights equally. Every living
creature has feelings and a beating heart. People who will hurt an animal will not hesitate
to hurt a human. If we consider how we punish humans who cause harm to other humans,
it only makes sense that animal life be treated likewise. Animal abuse has been proven to
lead to worse crimes. If we gave people no punishment for harming an animal, they
wont worry about breaking other laws. By enforcing laws that ensure animal safety, we
are promoting the safety of all life, including human life. Since these laws have gone into
affect, society has already become a more pleasant place to live.

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Works Cited
Grimm, David. Animals Legal Rights Come From an Evolving Relationship With
Our Pets. New York Times: The Opinion Pages. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., 1 Oct.
2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
Shulz, William F. Are Animal Rights Human Rights? The Blog. Huffington Post.,
Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, 17 December, 2013.
Schmadeke, Steve. Former UIC student spared prison in dog cruelty case. The Chicago
Tribune., Gerald W. Kern, Web. 12 July 2013.
Rifkin, Jeremy. A Change of Heart About Animals. Article Collections. Los Angeles
Times., Austin Beutner, Web. 1 September 2003.
Montgomery, Jill. Animal Welfare and Animal Rights: A War of Words with Casualties
Mounting Animal Welfare Council Website., Animal Welfare Council, May 2013.
Ascione, Frank R. Animal Abuse and Youth Violence Juvenile Justice Bulletin, U.S.
Department of Justice, September 2001.
Sunstein, Cass R., The Rights of Animals: A Very Short Primer, JOHN M. OLIN LAW
& ECONOMICS WORKING PAPER NO. 157, John M. Olin, No date available.