The Whole World a Murderer?

Building new roadways or cutting down trees or even just building a new house for your family may be beneficial to the human race, but in fact, anyone who does any of these world-wide activities is a murderer.

Melissa Kaplan, an animal welfarist, writes in her article "How Humans Affect Animals" about the different way humans both purposely and accidentally cause the death of wild species. An animal welfarist means she believes that humans have a responsibility to care for and treat animals with respect, if we are to keep these animals. She believes that we, as humans, lack an understanding of the different wildlife and she tries to enforce humans what are the goods and bads about our daily lives that affect the way animals live.

What are some of the most common "accidental" ways humans affect species?

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One idea that many have heard of is habitat destruction. Every time we build a new restaurant, amusement park, or even a new town for humans to live, we are driving animals out of their homes. Sure, many birds find new trees or mammals can run to a different area, but with other animals already living in that area, "[t]here is not enough food, water or shelter for all of them. Many of the animals will die."(Kaplan). Also, when farmers spray chemicals onto plants, they are not only killing the bugs that eat the plants for their diet, but are also killing innocent bugs that don't have anything to do with the eating. These two common forms of human modernization and daily-life habits, many animals are killed, but not with intention.

How do humans purposely kill animals?

Many know about food. When animals are hunted and killed for the support of human consumption. We purposely kill these animals in order to eat their meat and earn our protein. Although, there are goods and bads with more detail into how these animals are treated. There are two types of ways animals are raised before being slaughtered. 

1) Raised humanely in farms where they are fed daily and cleaned and made sure they are healthy. Not many animals are in each stall, most have enough room to feed. 

2) This is one of the most common. Animals are forced into small rooms and can barely. They are given chemicals to make them grow, but are not healthy to the animal itself.

As it is seen, humans do purposely kill animals for their meat, and can be a process both good and painful to the animals when done.

Can pets be affected poorly as well?

Absolutely. In my opinion, I believe that having pets is a good idea, just as long as you are worthy enough to care for them. We have two cats and a dog, and we keep them as healthy as possible and make sure they are happy where they live. Kaplan explains how there are many "people who have animals as pets do not know how to care for them." About 50-90% of all reptiles and amphibians sold as pets die within a year just because they were not cared for properly and efficiently. These types of animals need special care with their lighting, cage, and heating sources in order for survival. My cats and dog just love to run around the house. The only real special care they need is food, a bed, and cages for when we visit the vet. If animals are not treated well and cared for properly, humans, again, are responsible for the death of their pet.

Future Research: It is more obvious that humans seem to have more of an impact on animals than they do on us, but can animals still have an impact on the way we live?