Animal rights is the idea in which some, or all, non-human animals (but not plants) are entitled to the possession of their own existence and that their most basic interests such as the need to avoid suffering should be afforded the same consideration as similar interests of human beings. That is, animals have the right to be treated as the individuals they are, with their own desires and needs, rather than as unfeeling property.Its advocates oppose the assignment of moral value and fundamental protections on the basis of species membership alone—an idea known since 1970 as speciesism, when the term was coined by Richard D. Ryder—arguing that it is a prejudice as irrational as any other. They maintain that animals should no longer be viewed as property or used as food, clothing, research subjects, entertainment, or beasts of burden. Multiple cultural traditions around the world such as Jainism, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Animism also espouse some forms of animal rights.
World Animal Protection (formerly The World Society for the Protection of Animals) is an international non-profit animal welfare organization that has been in operation for over 30 years.
The charity describes its vision as: A world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty has ended.
The charity has regional hubs in: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, and offices in 14 countries. The international office is in London.
• Abolish factory farms, support high-welfare family farms, and achieve humane slaughter for animals raised for food.
• Improve the housing and handling of animals in research, and encourage the development and implementation of alternatives to experimentation on live animals.
• End the use of steel-jaw leghold traps and reform other brutal methods of capturing and killing wildlife.
• Preserve species threatened with extinction, and protect wildlife from harmful exploitation and destruction of critical habitat.
• Protect companion animals from cruelty and violence, including appalling conditions in commercial trade, and
• Prevent injury and death of animals caused by harsh transport conditions.