Environments and animals are one

When Congress passed The Animal Welfare Act in 1966, its goal was to regulate the treatment of animals in the United States when it came to research and exhibition. However when the Animal Welfare act was written there was no section included in it that talked about the effects of environmental change to animals. It is understandable that a section like this was left out during the 60’s as much less was known about the connection between animals and the environments they  live in. In today's world much more is known about the connection these two hold. A new section has to be added onto the Animal Welfare Act that criminalizes environmental harm or purposeful destruction as a form of animal abuse.  

The animal welfare act was passed in 1966 with its goal being to give animals protections under law from abuse and cruelty. Since the creation of the animal welfare act it hasn't been edited or added too according to the USDA.  “It is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport, and by dealers.” This quote helps show just how much animal rights have been abused. If there is only one law in the united states that regulates and defines the abuse of animals why has it at least not been added too. This shows just how much the government actually cares about animals.

Over the course of earth's history there have has been a total of five mass extinctions with a sixth currently taking place. The first five were caused by natural causes such as asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural climatic shifts. The current one is being caused by none other than humans. Researchers from WWF and the Zoological Society of London say  “Animal populations plummeted by 58% between 1970 and 2012, with losses on track to reach 67% by 2020… The destruction of wild habitats, hunting and pollution were to blame.” This goes to show just how damage humans actually have to the environment itself and how that translates to animals. The destruction of wild habitats and pollution are often not looked at as animal abuse and instead are looked at as just collateral damage.  

This is how these statements supports the thesis. Although Animals rights may only seem important to animal rights activists, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the earth's environment. If one species was to go extant or lose the majority of their population the ecosystem could take a drastic hit from that. Think of it this way if bees were to go extant the plant population would suffer because there would be hardly anyone to polonize them.