Should animals and humans have the same rights? Or the same penalty for their abuse? Did you just sit back and wonder how we got here today? Should animals be inferior to humans or the same? With the advancement of new technologies, medications and medical advancements, have we not gained this knowledge through animal testing and animal cruelty? Do we, as humans, think that animal testing, animal cruelty, and domestic violence all have similarities and should all be subject to the same fines? Many people, for centuries, have wrestled with these same questions that we still wrestle with today. What many people don't know is that this type of abuse still exists in the world and will get worse if we do nothing. Those who know are torn between wanting to help both animals and humans who need help or whether this abuse is the only way forward. Many people say that animals are at our disposal and we can do whatever we want with them, but some choose the middle ground. Should animals and humans have the same rights and penalties for mistreatment as we humans? This is one of the major questions that we are still working on today to find answers to. According to the HSUS or Humane Society of the United States, animal cruelty is a pattern of behaviors harmful to animals ranging from neglect to cruel killing. Unintentional negligence, where you do something by accident that you didn't plan to do, can be addressed through education. The other type is intentional cruelty/abuse, which involves knowingly depriving an animal of food, water, shelter, socialization or veterinary care and/or maliciously torturing, paralyzing, mutilating or killing an innocent animal for fun or just because we could... middle of paper ...... should they all have the same fines? If they have certain rights, when will humans recognize them? As humans, we can take action little by little until we are helping both our fellow human beings and our furry friends, the animals. Activist lobbies are changing animal laws. Activists in the animal rights movement believe that animals should have the same rights to health and happiness as human beings because they face emotional and physical trauma like humans. People disagree about how animals should and can be used and what rights, if any, animals have. The answer really depends on what a person thinks an animal is. As we better recognize our own fragile existence on this planet, we begin to consider the plight of other species. We realize that we may also become extinct and that we could eventually kill off all species of animals..