A human contracts rabies; what happens? They go to the doctor, they receive two shots. One that inhibits the progression of the disease, and another that will eventually eradicate it (in that person).

An animal contracts rabies; what happens? It's shot.

Well, I can evidently see what our society values. It's not that I believe dogs should be held above humans, however, as rabies is a disease that commonly affects animals, with detrimental consequences, would it not be smart to come up with a cure? For animals. And not just humans.

It's fantastic that we've come up with a human cure. Great, wonderful, I truly am pleased. However, shouldn't the next step be to find a cure for dogs, foxes, bats, and all the other mammals that are affected?

Who decided that we are worth more? Who decided committing mass genocide against foxes (to eradicate rabies), is just?

Currently, we have an epidemic infiltrating our ranks: Ebola. Anyone who suggested eradicating everyone who is infected, would be met with fierce (and deserved) backlash. It simply isn't a viable nor moral option.

Although, animals cannot be held on the same level as us, don't we owe it to them, to try? We know this disease exists, we've found a cure for humans, doesn't it seem possible to do the same for dogs? Shouldn't we try and find a way to solve this issue without shooting any animal with symptoms?

flickr (labeled for reuse)

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

I hope you know where this quote is from. If not, Google it. If we can't even apply this to all humans, what hope do we have for animals? Sometimes, I just sit there, and question how we got here. We may think we've evolved, advanced, become better than before. But at what cost? Have you taken a look around you?
Where have the trees gone?
Where are the open prairies?
The blue skies?
The flocks of passenger pigeons?
The schools of hammerheads?
The open blue sea?
The pristine ice caps?

Do animals not deserve rights? They are alive, are they not? They follow the seven functions that a living thing most follow. So? Why don't they have rights? Although, I'm not going so far as to say, they should hold the same rights as humans, however, they need to be shown some respect. It simply isn't humane to kill animals for their extremities, whilst they're still alive; force them to perform for their entire lives; or committing mass genocide.

For those who don't believe killing animals qualifies as genocide, here is the definition; "acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national ethnic, racial or religious group". It seems that these truths are not self-evident to quite as many people as we've hoped [and I'm not even talking about non-humans].

Wikimedia commons (labeled for reuse)