 "It's Time to Re-evaluate our Relationship with Animals" by Lesli BIsgould is a TED talk published by TEDx Talks on May 6,2014.  Lesli Bisgould is Canada's first animal rights lawyer. This TED talk is about the unnecessary suffering of animals as well as many other problems about animal treatment in animal research laboratories that exist in America today. Bisgould persuades the viewer by using ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as changing her tone to fit the emotions of her speech, and using questions to sway the beliefs of the listener.

Bisgould presents herself very well as she speaks to her audience about her topic. She looks appropriately professional for the talk she is presenting. She does this so other people will believe that she is educated beyond what she is speaking about. Bisgould begins with stating that there are laws that are already made to protect animals, but these laws don't actually protect the animals. Basically, no one really cares about the laws. Animals are still abused everywhere. This statement allows the viewer to think about what this statement actually means. This allows the viewer to also wonder why these laws don't protect them, and they may think about what they as a person can do to change this. She uses logos to make this statement credible. She states that when we see that laws protect animals from unnecessary suffering, it permits us to cause necessary suffering. This allows the listener to question the true meaning of unnecessary and necessary suffering. By using pathos to change the viewer's emotions, Bisgould begins with a story about property. She says "Animals are property; humans are property owners. An owner can use her property however she sees fit, as long as she doesn't hurt anyone else with it." This means that the property doesn't have a say in what is done to it. By saying this, the viewers can think about their own animals, and how they don't have a choice about anything in their life. By using pathos, Bisgould can get the viewers to relate her speech to their everyday life with their own pets and how they decide when their pets eat, go out, and go to bed. Bisgould uses logos by using a statistic about how many animals suffer from this terrible abuse every year in the United States of America.  She states "Every year in America, 700 million animals are confined, mutilated without anesthetic, living in their own waste, sick, beaten, and electrocuted." When these animals are on trucks on the way to be slaughtered, that is sometimes the animals first time going outside. Bisgould's statement also applies to Pathos because it appeals to the viewer's emotions and values. Imagine living your life as a prisoner. This doesn't even come close to what animals have to deal with in these research facilities. Bisgould's tone starts to deteriorate and get very depressing as she talks about these conditions that the research animals have to live in. It is persuasive because her sad tone is very relatable to the emotions of the public therefore the listeners can feel like they relate to Bisgould. Bisgould then gives the reader the question of "Why do we normalize this abuse, but get so upset when we see an abused dog on Facebook?" By using logos in this statement and comparing abused dogs to the ones being taken to slaughter houses, this statement allows the reader to really evenly compare the abused dog to the chickens in a truck on the way to slaughter houses. Who would want their own dog taken to a slaughter house? This statement is also relatable because almost everyone gets on Facebook, and many people have probably seen a video like this as well as many other animal abuse videos that are shared millions of times daily.  Industry can carry out terrible practices that we would never practice on our own pets, for example putting makeup on them, or testing skin products that could burn their very sensitive skin. It has been normalized that animals are tested in labs. Bisgould knows that by asking if we would do that to our own pets, we would be turned against it happening to other animals in the United States as well as in many other countries. Bisgould states that we know that our tax dollars go to these labs, and by using ethos, Bisgould states "we are assured these practices are humane." What is their interest in having us believe that? Bisgould asks this question to again get the readers to really think about what she is trying to say and to emphasize the point she is trying to prove.

Bisgould asks many rhetorical questions in her TED talk. The way Bisgould uses questions in her TED talk is very persuasive and are very likely to sway the opinion of the viewer because the topic of her speech is very sensitive. Bisgould knows that this is a very sensitive subject to some people and the use of questions that relate to the life of the viewers will make this subject more sensitive to the viewers who do not really care about the treatment of animals as much as others. Using questions in a speech is a very good technique if the speaker plans on swaying the opinion of the viewers. There is nothing more persuasive than having your own beliefs questioned by someone who knows what they are talking about and also strongly believe in what they are talking about. Bisgould knows how to make a persuasive speech. This is the most persuasive technique because getting a person thinking is key. The main goal of the speaker should be to get the listener thinking. After all, she is trying to change their minds and get them educated, right? The questions work very well in relation to the rest of the speech. She will educate the viewer about these problems, then ask them the rhetorical questions to get them thinking harder about the subject. Asking questions in her speech makes it more personal and relatable to the viewer. She asks questions like "Would you let your animal be treated in this way," when she is talking about the research facilities. The order Bisgould tells her points in is also very effective. She starts off with talking about the laws to protect animals, then changes her tone in a more depressing way and ends with animals in research facilities. I believe that Bisgould does this to really show how these laws don't mean anything for these poor, desperate animals. I also believe Bisgould's goal was to make the listeners want to make a difference. She compares the abused animals to our animals at home because she knows that will make the listeners emotional and want to prevent this from happening.

Bisgould's TED talk really opens the eyes of viewers who are unaware of what goes on in animal research facilities as well as how animals are treated, legally, in general. Bisgould is persuasive by using questions to sway the viewer's beliefs as well as using pathos, logos, and ethos.  Bisgould changes her tone in her speech to accompany the different emotions she portrays. By using these techniques, this speech makes for a very persuasive one. 

