Animal
welfare theories hold that while animals have
interests, those interests can be sacrificed if there are some human benefits that are thought to justify that sacrifice. As against this, animal
rights activists believe that animals have the same rights as human beings, which include the right to life, freedom from ownership and confinement, and from use as a food source or
subject of
medical research without consent. This paper researches the arguments of both animal welfare and animal rights theories before attempting to draw any conclusion on the subject.