Writing
Select one of these questions to answer:
1. Should animals be used in research to improve human lives? (You can focus on specific
areas of research such cancer, testing cosmetics, vaccines, prescription drugs, testing for
space programs)
2. Should animals be kept in large-scale factory farms for human consumption (rather than
small farms)?
3. Should it matter how animals are housed and treated if they are going to be killed for
human consumption later? (e.g., Should it matter how animals are treated in
slaughterhouses before they are killed for consumption? Should it matter how chickens or
pigs are kept in factory farms if they are going to be killed for meat?)
4. Should wildlife protection have a higher priority than commercial interests (e.g., Should the
pygmy owl have a higher priority than the development of housing and businesses around
Tucson? Should wildlife be protected and hinder logging or oil pipelines?)
5. Should animals be kept in zoos or aquaria? (you can focus on specific species, if you like)
6. Should animals be used in circuses? (you can focus on specific species, if you like)
7. Should the sport of horse racing be banned?
8. Should rodeo sports be banned (e.g., bull riding, bronc riding, calf roping)?
9. Should animals be hunted for sport (e.g., commercial big game hunting, state license
hunting)?
10. Should animals be used in modern warfare?
11. Should children/adolescents raise animals for market slaughter in youth programs such as
4H or FFA? (Is this desensitization or education?)
12. Should elderly care facilities be required to allow the residents to keep pets?
13. Should the use of animals be allowed for religious and ritual practices (e.g., sacrifice of
chickens in Kapparot, use of Asian elephants in spiritual festivals)?
14. Are Halal or Kosher slaughter methods more humane than conventional slaughter
methods in the US?
15. Should it be legal to cook crustaceans alive? (e.g., Should it be allowed to boil lobsters
alive for culinary purposes?)
16. Should people be allowed to selectively breed domesticated animals for pure-bred traits
(i.e., inbreeding) that are desired but potentially harmful to the animal (e.g, twisty cat,
super-size chickens, Bernese Mountain Dog or other pure breeds with very high cancer
prevalence)?
17. Should people be allowed to surgically alter pets (e.g., declawing, ear cropping, tail
cropping, spay, neuter)?
18. Should animal cloning be allowed (e.g., for research or for bereaved pet owners)?
19. Should animals be genetically engineered/modified (e.g., for food or for lab research)?
20. Should dog Breed Specific Legislation be allowed (e.g., airlines prohibiting pit-bulls on
planes, apartment buildings prohibiting specific breeds)?
21. Should humans adopt a vegan diet? (specifically vegan diet, not vegetarian; must focus on
animal issues, not just nutritional or environmental issues)
22. Should primary and high school cafeterias use only meat alternatives (e.g., Beyond Meat
or Impossible Burger)?23. Should the mustang population in the Western US be managed by round-ups?
24. Should Asian elephants be considered domesticated?
25. Should there be a world-wide organization to regulate animal agriculture and animal
consumption practices given the global impact of zoonotic diseases?
26. Should domesticated livestock be considered a “mutualism” between humans and
livestock? – Please address these issues: If yes/pro, describe how large or small scale
agriculture benefits both humans and livestock. If no/con, then would “parasitism” (aka
“antagonism”) be a more appropriate description of the symbiotic interrelationship between
humans and livestock?
27. Should culling of zoo animals (aka population management euthanasia) be allowed?
28. Should the judicial system allow courthouse dogs to aid in the prosecution of child abuse
cases?
29. Should mulesing of lambs be banned? (Mulesing involves cutting flaps of skin from the
area around the lamb’s breech and tail, to prevent blowfly maggot infestation.)
30. Should ‘eugenic’ be promoted in nonhuman animals (e.g., pets, production animals, zoo
animals)?
31. Should exotic animals be allowed to be kept as pets?
32. Should feral animals on public lands be exterminated (e.g., feral mustangs/burros on BLM
lands, feral hogs all over TX and CA)?
33. Should it be allowed to eradicate one species to preserve another?
Perspectives
Think of all the possible perspectives that might answer the question in different ways. Put
yourself in their shoes of different people and answer the topic question. Examples of different
perspectives:
o Animal welfare proponents
o Animal rights advocates
o Food security proponents
o Ethicists, philosophers
o National and local economic / employment interests
o Educators
o Medical researchers
o Parents
o Small business owners
o Family ranchers or farmers
o Large-scale agriculturalists /factory farmers
o Wildlife managers
o Conservationists
o Climate scientists
Focus on 2 different perspectives for the PRO position, and 2 different perspectives for the CON
position (see Term Paper Topics provided in D2L for an example topic with different
perspectives.)
EXAMPLE:
The question I selected is:
1. Should animals be used in medical research (e.g., cancer research)?
My Thesis statement might be:
The purpose of this paper is to present opposing positions on the topic of animal use for medical
research, considering a variety of perspectives, and concluding with a position on animal
testing that seems most justifiable
Some ideas about the perspective on both the Pro and Con side:
PRO POSITION: Perspectives in Favor of Animal Research
Yes- animals should be used in medical research
(Include 2 of these perspectives)
Some Medical researches hold this perspective because …
o evidence, references
Some Parents may also hold this perspective because ….
o evidence, references
Some Animal welfare proponents may also hold this perspective because ….
o evidence, references
Some Ethicists / Philosophers hold this perspective because…
o evidence, references
CON POSITION: Perspectives Against Animal Research
No- animals should not be used in medical research
(Include 2 of these perspectives)
Animal rights advocates hold this perspective because…
o evidence, references
Other Medical researches hold this perspective because …
o evidence, references
Some Ethicists / Philosophers hold this perspective because…
o evidence, references
