Vocabulary:Judicial case 詞匯：庭審案例
Does friendship mean anything to him (or it)?
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Should animals be entitled to the same rights as people? The question is not so outlandish. A judge in the US once suggested that chimpanzees had the right to habeas corpus. Judge Barbara Jaffe was ruling on the case of Leo and Hercules. These two primates have their own lawyers arguing that they should be moved from a university lab to an animal sanctuary. She did change her mind after a while.
Animals have always intrigued us. Some people find them very intelligent and capable of friendship, jealousy and longing. That's enough to give them rights, isn't it? Not for people like Professor Carl Cohen of the University of Michigan. He says that rights are a concept special to the human moral code. And animals don't know anything about right and wrong. The academic points out:"Animals do not commit crimes; animals are not attacked for their moral views."
In any case, humans have become more sensitive to animal suffering throughout the years. In 1999, New Zealand granted basic rights to five great ape species. Their use in research, testing or teaching was banned in a move seen as the greatest legal success in animal rights history.
In 2002, in an unprecedented move in the European Union, Germany granted some rights to animals in its constitution.
The ambiguous relationship between people and animals can be perceived in language. In English the pronoun used for an animal is 'it'. But many people refer to their pets as 'he' or 'she'. It makes them more of an equal to us.
What do you think? Should animals have rights similar to humans?
Glossary 詞匯表 （點擊單詞收聽發音）
- to be entitled有資格的，有資格享受的
- outlandish奇異古怪的
- a judge一位法官
- habeas corpus人身保護權
- to rule（動詞）裁決
- to argue爭辯
- an animal sanctuary一個動物庇護所、動物保護區
- a moral code一項道德規范
- to commit crimes犯罪
- to grant basic rights授予基本權力
- legal法律（上）的
- unprecedented前所未有的，沒有先例的?
- constitution憲法，大法
- ambiguous模糊的，不明確的
