Can there be any question that animals deserve rights?

I've seen with my own eyes, dogs brought into nursing homes where their acceptance, their willingness just to "be there" have inspired tears of joy from patients who are almost catatonic. Yet that same dog can be hung from a tree.

Horses, being what horses are, allow handicapped children to ride on their backs. They impart a sense of self confidence and pride and wonder to children who battle to suceeed every day. Yet that same horse can be starved, beaten, broken, and sold for meat.

Cats, who are an elderly person's only companion, give comfort and love where there is none. Yet they can be thrown out of speeding cars like so much garbage.

Animals serve us, comfort us, inspire and often touch us in a way that humans will never be able to.

Can there be any question, that they deserve rights?