Why animals must vote

The Animals Suffrage Society (ASS) helps animals who encounter difficulty voting in elections, and informs the public on this issue.

Primarily, we believe and demand that all animals be given the same rights  as humans. We believe that animals should no longer be regarded legally or morally as property, or treated as resources for human purposes, but should instead be regarded as persons.
Slavery is an evil act, and the world always rises up to reject it  wherever it appears. In the same way any act or attitude which considers animals as properties should be decried. A basis for this argument is the knowledge that human beings are descendants of apes, who are also descendants of some other supposedly inferior life forms. We realise that many people oppress and ill-treat their parents; but that should  not give them the liberty to do the same to other people's parents.

Some misinformed critics of the concept of animal voting rights argue that animals do not have the capacity to enter into a social contract or make moral choices, and therefore cannot be regarded as possessors of moral rights. This point of view is without proof,and we intend to continue to focus on proving it wrong. A victory which has been quite visible  is that  more people are at last seeing the wisdom of having a dog , a cat or hamster in the house rather than, having a husband, wife or child. This we see as a positive  step for our Society , a moral victory for our cause and  tacit proof that most of us are gradually accepting the fact that animals are of equal and perhaps of superior intelligence to most humans.

Opponents of animal rights have resisted the award of voting and other rights to animals  on the grounds that there are  morally relevant differences between humans and animals .  Some say that animals have no soul, cannot talk , are not self-conscious, and do not have a high enough level of intelligence, or the ability to recognise the rights and interests of human beings as well as other animals. However, we ask how many human beings will pass this same test ; and why have voting right not been selectively  applied to humans in this same way ?

The primary purpose of the Animals Suffrage Society is to collect and distribute funds to be used to assist animals who encounter  difficulty when seeking to exercise their voting right, and thereby enjoying rights and freedoms equal to those of human.The Society will also, whenever feasible, seek to inform the public of its position on this issue, including the following.

1.     Animals have the right to control their own bodies; in particular, may chose not to be eaten. And if they chose to, may chose how.
2.     Animals must be allowed to decide for themselves whether they wish to vote, and if so, where and when, just as all human beings are so allowed. Animals must be permitted to chose their nationalty, and also their own football teams.
3.     Animals picketing for their right , should not make us feel threatened. We should learn to listen to them no matter how immature their demands may be, or how incompetent they may appear to be when trying to express such demands. After all we have all been teenagers before.

4.     Requiring animals but not human beings to eat from bowls placed on the floor, and without the use of proper utensils  constitutes unwarranted discrimination based on the feeling that they are inferior to us.
5.     In brief every animal should be entitled to a vote, to chose their leaders ,their dinner and their sexual partners. Gay animals also must be given a voice.

Those opposing these positions we will respect for their personal opinions, fears, or beliefs. However, they do not have the right to require the rest of us to share them nor thereby to restrict others' rights to believe them.  Please join us today.

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