Why are animals important to humans? Find here the answer! This short essay on the benefits of animals to humans gives reasons why animal world is so important for human beings and environment.
Introduction
Animals refer to all things that belong to the kingdom Animalia. They are eukaryotic hence are easily distinguished from other creatures. Some animals are domesticated while others are called wild animals. Domestic animals are those that live together with or are kept by human beings. Wild animals are those that are not kept by human beings. There are different types of animals, and they include the vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrates are those that have backbones while invertebrates lack backbones. The vertebrates comprise of mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Invertebrates include spiders and insects. Animals differ, but they possess some similar characteristics. First animals are heterotrophic. Secondly, animals are multicellular, meaning that their bodies are differentiated into tissues. Most animals can move. Most of the animals reproduce sexually except for a few of them that reproduce asexually. Most of them do not have rigid cell walls.
Why Are Animals Important to Humans
The significance of animals to human beings cannot be overlooked. Animals affect one’s life in different ways despite our reactions towards them. Animals play social, personal, or business roles in the lives of human beings (Morris 2020). They are important to all of us whether we love, hate, eat, or protect them. The presence of the animals within the ecosystem is so significant that we cannot do without them.
The following are some of the reasons that make animals matter to human beings. They provide companionship: Some animals serve as pets, for example, dogs, cats, and guinea pigs. They live with us, and therefore we see them face to face daily as part of our companions (Prato-Previde, Ricci and Colombo 2022). They sometimes portray quietness when they are alone; happiness, when playing, can also become one’s best friend.
The most interesting part of the companionship is where a dog welcomes or greets the owner at the door. Some animals are used in rehabilitation, especially, pet animals such as dogs. A person intending to use them for this purpose must first seek authorization or certification from the relevant authority (Morris 2020). They are mostly used when carrying out rehabilitation at the social level.
Thus, the dog is permitted to visit people living in nursing homes or equivalents. In such a setting, they help restore what might have been lost. Animals can be used to teach child caretaking skills. When one has a pet, it must be fed and watered at different times of the day. The pet may also require bathing and training at some other times (Morris 2020). These duties can be delegated to a child occasionally, thus helping create in the child a sense of compassion to the pet.
As a result, the child develops a habit of being responsible. The child, therefore, learns to be responsible through the learning aid, which is the pet. They are useful in supporting human beings at work. Some are used to plow by pulling plows. Others are used in transportation where they pool wagons (De-Mello 2021). The best examples under this category are the horses and the oxen.
Today, horses are also used in winning awards by riding on them. Animals also serve the purpose of enabling individuals to earn a living especially farmers. Farmers do keep such animals as cows, goats, sheep, cattle, and other animals to enable them to earn a living (Prato-Previde, Ricci and Colombo 2022). When such animals are sold, the farmer obtains revenue, which he uses to acquire other essential goods and services required to earn a living.
This is helpful in increasing the standards of living of the farmers. The other significance of animals to human beings is that they are a source of food. Most animals that human beings keep are meant for food. For example, milk, eggs, meat, and other food items. Everyone consumes either animals or animal related products (De-Mello 2021). The food products are consumed directly or sold for money.
As a result, they contribute to a country’s gross domestic product. This means improved living standards. In some other cases, these products are also exported to other countries thus earning foreign exchange. Also, animals are also important in leisure and sports activities (Prato-Previde, Ricci and Colombo 2022). For example, dogs can be used to hunt other animals required as human food while some other animals are used as trackers.
In sporting, horses are used for horseback riding and polo, which are forms of sports. Research and inventions: animals are known to be used by scientists to test their experiments. When scientists discover a new thing that is to be used by human beings, the first experiment with its effects on animals (De-Mello 2021). If it adversely affects the animals, then it implies that it will also affect human beings in the same way.
Where no effect is manifested, then they would proceed to experiment it on human beings. Hence animals contribute to research and development of human beings. Animals serve to attract tourists into the country (Morris 2020). Many people come from their countries to other countries to come and see certain animals. When such tourists visit the country, they increase the country’s income.
It is a major source of revenue to the country thus enabling the country to provide goods and services to its citizens. They are a good source of security to human beings. Some animals protect man from invasion by other animals and even by human beings. For example, dogs are used to protect their homes at night (Knight 2020). Also, police officers also use dogs during wars as well as in the maintenance of law and order.
When going for their duties, police officers go with police dogs for protection. Clothing: Animal products are used to make clothes. Most of the clothes human beings wear are mostly made from products of animals (De-Mello 2021). For example, skins for making shoes while wool is used to make clothes. These clothes and shoes protect human beings from adverse weather conditions.
Finally, some animal products such as hooves and horns can be used as containers for making traditional drinking vessels. On the other hand, animal bones can be used to make such things as ornaments, weapons, and needles (De-Mello 2021). The horses were also used to produce insulin before the discovery of artificial insulin. In conclusion, animals play important roles in the lives of people.
Conclusion
It is upon people and society to ensure that animals, as well as their products, are handled properly. This is because they provide people with food, companionship, security, income, foreign exchange, and other benefits that have been discussed above. Thus, it is evident that animals matter to human beings. As a result, human beings need animals for their survival.
Reference List
De-Mello, Margo. 2021. Animals and Society: An Introduction to Human-Animal Studies. New York: Columbia University Press.
Knight, John. 2020. Animals in Person: Cultural Perspectives on Human-Animal Intimacies. New York: Routledge
Morris, Brian. 2020. Animals and Ancestors: An Ethnography. New York: Routledge.
Prato-Previde, Emanuela, Elisa Basso Ricci, and Elisa Silvia Colombo. 2022. “The Complexity of the Human–Animal Bond: Empathy, Attachment and Anthropomorphism in Human–Animal Relationships and Animal Hoarding.” Animals 12 (20).