How is it that a lion being beheaded in Africa is considered more inhumane than the burning of a child in Israel? Why has animal abuse caused more uproar than the abuse of humans? It is questions such as these that people need to be asking themselves, not statements of living creature equality.

In the past couple of weeks the United States has been immersed in an uproar of animal rights protests. From the hunting and beheading of a lion in Zimbabwe by American dentist Walter Palmer to New York judge Barbara Jaffe refusing to extend human rights to chimpanzees, activists have been up in arms. These picketers spend their time covering the country in slogans of ‘animals have feelings too’ and ‘I think therefore I am vegan.’

Those participating in these protests are not committing moral wrongdoings, besides that of naivety. They spend their time attempting to put the rights of other things over humans. As we ourselves are humans, our main focus should be on our own rights before we move onto other activisms such as environmental and animal.

An example of the untouched problems of human rights is the fact that Mali has recently been rumored to have released terrorists, war criminals and gross human rights violators from their prison. Why are such blatant human rights violations being overshadowed by lions?

Another example can be shown through the reports of human rights violations in Israel where there has been use of excessive force against Palestinians, burning a child alive and beating other citizens half to death.

Yet those two examples have barely caused any protest of exclamations in America. How is it that a lion named Cecil has gotten more publicity than eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabshe? Why do people show more care for a lion beheading than a burning toddler? When people show more care for plants and animals than other humans, a problem in our society is being clearly shown. For now, we need to put aside environmental, animal and other activisms to focus our attention on humans. For if humans can not retain the rights given to them, how are they supposed to protect the rights of any other living thing?