response to Rifkin, "A Change of Heart about Animals"

Rifkin’s “A Second Thought About Animals”, although having many great points to it, has three main claims. The three claims that I picked up from the reading all pertain to animals being almost identical to us internally whether it’s through their emotions, communication, or even intelligence. Rifkin insists, “our fellow creatures are more like us than we had ever imagined” (par. 2).

It has been a common misconception that animals cannot feel emotions like humans do. However, Rifkin makes it evident that they can, by siting a study done at Purdue where pigs showed signs of depression when they were in isolation from other pigs. Helping his main claim, Rifkin also proves that animals can communicate just as well as humans can. This is evident in geese teaching their offspring their migration patterns. Gorillas and their intelligence is another viable example of how similar humans and animals are to each other. Koko, a gorilla in Northern America mastered 1,000 different sign language signs as well as understanding thousands of English words. By creating a sense of equality, Rifkin executes pathos in his article. If animals are so much like humans, why should we be treating them as inferior when orchestrating tests in laboratories for human vanity?

The way of writing that Rifkin uses, in my opinion, is very effective. Rifkin states that “[w]e’re so skewed towards efficiency that we’ve lost our sense of humanity” (intro). This excerpt is a solid foundation that will encourage most people to re-think their principles when it comes to using animals in their daily lives.