The topic of animal rights remains a prevalent issue in popular and mainstream media today. For the first time in history, animals may start sending people to jail after filing and winning a case in court. The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is driving the narrative that people have equal rights to animals, and hence, no one has a right to harass, kill, or eat the creatures without consent. The prevailing theme in the second Act of This American Life titled “If Wishes were Horses” expounds on the direction of how people are working towards becoming wild. The fiction story focuses on transforming women to become horses, with the belief that becoming a horse will help one to escape common challenges that women face. Animals have rights, but this does not mean that they are equal to human beings.
Proponents of animal rights believe that sensitization and campaigns will reduce and eliminate cruelty towards other creatures on the planet. In a recent lawsuit by Naruto v. Slater cited in Hooker, the monkey has sued Slater for intellectual property rights (5). However, copyright infringement is not the key issue in this case; it is PETA’s determination to erase the line between humans and wild animals. One of the astounding facts is that human beings are also striving to become wild. In Act Two of “If Wishes Were Horses,” the audience realizes that women are aspiring to become horses to the extent of living in ranches and undergoing In vitro fertilization (IVF) because they are tired of becoming household objects. Throughout the scene, the audience learns that women desire to be wild because of fear of loneliness and monotony, and are even willing to sacrifice their lives to live like wild animals. Two women in the narrative explain how becoming wild will give them the power to think like horses. “You will think the same thoughts, but in a horsey manner” (This American Life para. 19). This transformation means that the human-horse breed will be in a better position to defend the rights of animals.
Despite the prevailing theme that animals can hold exclusive rights equal to men, opponents of PETA have condemned the organization for taking the arguments to an extent that cannot be condoned. A case in point is when PETA campaigns for renaming fish as sea kittens, with the hope that the idea will prevent people from eating fish (Giannitrapani and Francesco 408). The same arguments are reverberated in Hooker, where a single photo shoot triggered a debate that could send Slater to Jail for copyright infringement (3). Slater was the one who allowed the monkeys to use the camera, but PETA argues that the monkey has a right to the photograph because it took the shot. Granting animals the same copyright laws that apply to human beings will further diminish the line between people and animals.
The scientific approach of infusing animal eggs in women is morally unacceptable. One could argue that this is another strategy by PETA intended to make people more tolerant towards animals. While the narration in “If Wishes Were Horses” is only fiction, the consequences of embracing such thoughts cannot be ignored. It is evident from the narration that women wanted to escape from their human nature and feel and express their emotions as beasts. It is even more surprising that men were admiring the “transformed women” for sexual pleasure.
PETA has a vested interest in the animal rights debate. Even though all living being require protection, human beings cannot share a table with beasts of the field. If animals had rights equal right to men, they could be presenting themselves to courts without the aid of people. PETA has a hidden motif in the topic and should be condemned at all costs. One should not forego human dignity in exchange at the expense of other beings in the planet.
Works Cited
Giannitrapani, Alice, and Francesco Mangiapane. “Animals in Law: Introduction.” International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, vol. 31, no. 3, 2018, pp. 401-410. Web.
Hooker, Matthew P. “Naruto v. Slater: One Small Snap for a Monkey, One Giant Lawsuit for Animal-Kind.” Wake Forest Literature Review Online, vol. 10, 2020, pp. 1-5. Web.
This American Life. “Act 2: If Wishes Were Horses.” Web.