Diritti degli animali e specismo: guardiamo in faccia la realtà
December 10 marks International Animal Rights Day associated with the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed in the United States in 1948.
Some animal rights groups objected that animals are living beings as well as humans and that like humans, they should enjoy the right to life and freedom.
In 1978, UNESCO drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Animals.
Art.1 -All animals are born equal before life and have the same rights to existence.
Art. 2 – Every animal has the right to human respect, care and protection.
Art. 3 – No animal shall be subjected to mistreatment.
Art.4 – Every animal has the right to live free in its natural environment on land, air or water.
Article 5 – Every animal living with man has the right to live and grow at the pace and in the conditions of life and freedom that are proper to its species.
Art. 6 – Abandonment of an animal is a cruel act.
British animal rights organization Uncaget Campaigns established World Animal Rights Day and achieved its inclusion in the 1998 calendar
Since then, the day has celebrated all living beings, thus affirming the principle that freedom, justice and respect are fundamental values for each and every individual, regardless of race, gender, social position and species.
All this is in words of course, because in actuality we continue to live in a society that deprives animals of their individuality and freedom, regarding them as property whose only purpose in life is to satisfy the needs and wants of human beings.
The status quo gives man the right to use animals for instrumental purposes and is never questioned about the real problem: speciesism.
“Our grandchildren will one day ask us, “Where were you during the Animal Holocaust? What did you do to stop these horrible crimes? At that point, we won’t be able to use the same justification for the second time, saying we didn’t know about it .”
Cit. Helmut Kaplan
