What's the difference between a man and a dog (besides the fact that dogs are loyal)? Their rights. In today's society, an advanced species that has been thriving on this earth is better protected than the defenseless creatures they surround themselves with. Are we making common sense between humans a bigger priority than the protection of equal creatures? Are we diminishing their equality and right to the same planet? But most importantly, does anyone even care?
    

The laws we have today are sometimes silly, like in Oklahoma, it's illegal to make strange faces at dogs, but other laws are things you would believe to be common sense! In Zion, Illinois, it is illegal to give a lighted cigar to domesticated animals! Hopefully, that's illegal everywhere but probably not.There are also other laws that are actually productive. In New York, one of the state laws is that anyone harming or killing an animal that belongs to himself or another will be considered guilty of a misdemeanor. These laws have been already passed and each state has their own set of laws, but could they be better?
    

Though the laws we have today are good (and maybe a bit weird), they don't protect all animals. The Animal Legal Defense Fund, or ALDF, has been working hard to free Lolita, a killer whale currently in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium. Lolita is living in the smallest Orca tank in North America, but the laws regarding the keeping of endangered animals somehow haven't helped her. The ALDF has been trying to stop the renewal of Miami Seaquarium's AWA (Animal Welfare Act) license. They are also working to free Tony the Tiger, who is currently being kept in a gas station, surrounded by toxic gas fumes, in Grosse Tetee, Louisiana, by his so-called owner, Michael Sandlin. In 2006, state legislatures sponsored a ban on big exotic cats in Louisiana, but Sandlin was exempted from this and allowed to keep Tony. In other words, the government of the state made something illegal, but then allowed a man to do the illegal thing and say it's not illegal. If this was common, a murderer would no longer be a murderer and a robber no longer a robber.  I had the opportunity to interview Megan Backus, who works with the ALDF, and I asked her what animal protection laws she felt needed to be changed or enacted and her response was, "Many of these laws only apply to domesticated animals, so one area that needs attention is laws protecting farmed animals. Despite their vast numbers, and the severity of the abuses they experience, farmed animals receive only miniscule (sic) protections by our legal system today." The truth in this statement is very alarming. After looking through some laws in place today, I did, in fact, find the ratio of domesticated animal laws to farm animal laws very uneven. That means our pets, whom we love and care for (most of us, anyways), are being better protected than animals who face certain death in the most gruesome way possible at a slaughter house. The laws in place today can't help Lolita, Tony, or many other animals who have somehow been getting by under atrocious conditions, but they will. Someday. 

     Many organizations with the same goals as the ALDF have been working just as hard to help animals like Lolita and Tony, and many have been successful. In July of 2013, the ALDF threatened to sue a roadside zoo in North Carolina for the harm of 11 grizzly bears being kept in gladiator style pits. The bears are now at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary. The Humane Society was able to convince the federal government to protect more land (ocean?) for the east coast's most endangered whale, the North Atlantic right whale. The New York Legislature didn't even need help when they banned piercing and tattooing animals in the state. Yeah, that was allowed. These are just a few of the incredible steps we've taken towards giving animals the rights they deserve.

      As we all know, no war can be fought with no losses, and the war for animal rights is no different. Ag-gag laws are a huge obstacle for animals and all organizations working towards helping these animals. Ag-gag laws are laws that prevent a person from recording a video showing animal abuse. In Utah and Iowa, these laws make it a crime to videotape animal abuse, while other states have similar laws but with different guidelines. These laws have made innocent people found guilty for simply wanting to save a helpless animal. But the thing is, the laws apply to farming practices only. You're allowed to videotape a dog getting whipped, but as soon as the subject of the video becomes a cow, it's illegal.

     So what's keeping us from making a change? What's stopping us from helping? The answer: ourselves. Our ignorance. But mainly, our government.