ensation of pain is not reason enough to grant it rights. In the case of an infant, we are willing to grant the child rights not based on the fact that she or he can feel pain, but because that child's parents would be upset. The child is a part of a larger whole, a member of society and a family that care for them. In defense of her own training of animals Hearne states that we are willing to grant her Airedale rights "for his capacity to scream when subjected to a blowtorch but not for his wit and courage, not for his natural good manners that are a gentle rebuke to ours" (61). Another point brought up by Hearne is that children, just like dogs, "have almost no unconscious minds, so they can learn only by thinking" (63). She goes on to say that it isn't until these children are educated for many years that they are able to understand their ability. Animals do not deserve rights simply for inhabiting the earth with us. Non-human animals have no concept of morality thus they should not be guaranteed rights. According to John Chipman Gray animals do not deserve rights because they are "incapable of being moral subjects,"Animals cannot be "reasoned with" or instructed in their responsibilities; they are inflexible and unadaptable to future contingencies; they are subject to fits of instinctive passion which they are incapable of repressing or controlling, postponing or sublimating. (182)Joel Feinberg agrees that "animals are incapable of claiming rights on their own" (182). Since morality is a human concept and animals are unable to engage in conversation, animals lack the ability to coherently express a desire for their own personal rights. Though this may be a barrier that is a result of human's inability to understand the needs of animals, it is because of this lack of communication of needs that animals do not simply require rights. Animals are unable to engage in agreements or act in a moral way that distinguishes right fr...
