The animal rights debate is filled with passion and emotion. Some people think that animals deserve many of the same basic rights and protections that people have, such as freedom from inhumane suffering and cruelty. Others think animals should be at the disposal of people to use for whatever purposes they wish. Most people fall somewhere in between. They believe that people should have the right to use animals to improve the quality of life for human beings, but that people should also make sure to eliminate any suffering animals might experience. Making sense of the issues involves looking at the facts, studying the statistics, examining the laws, and listening to views on both sides of the debate. It also means asking tough questions:

* Do people have the right to use animals in medical experiments? Is the suffering and death of laboratory animals worth the medical knowledge gained?
* Do people have the right to raise animals for food? If so, what conditions are acceptable for raising and killing them?
* What is acceptable treatment of animals in zoos, circuses, and other forms of entertainment?
* How far should animal rights groups go to make their point against animal cruelty?

To answer these questions, this book looks at how people use animals in areas such as medical research, agriculture, fashion, industry, and entertainment. It investigates laws designed to protect animals from cruelty, and problems with how some of those laws are carried out. It provides the opinions and perspectives of those both for and against animal rights. Supplemented with quotes, anecdotes, and discussions from the pages of USA TODAY, The Nation's No. 1 Newspaper, this book will broaden your understanding of all sides of the issue and help you form your own opinion, either for or against the animal rights.