Animals Matter: A Biologist Explains Why We Should Treat Animals with Compassion and Respect
160
Animals Matter: A Biologist Explains Why We Should Treat Animals with Compassion and Respect
160eBook
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Overview
• Are some species more valuable or more important than others?
• Do some animals feel pain and suffering and not others?
• Do animals feel emotions?
• Should endangered animals be reintroduced to places where they originally lived?
• Should animals be kept in captivity?
• Are there alternatives to using animals for food, clothing, cosmetic testing, and dissection in the science classroom?
• What can we learn by imagining what it feels like to be a dog or a cat or a mouse or an ant?
• What can we do to make a difference in animals’ quality of life?
Bekoff urges us not only to understand and protect animals—especially those whose help we want for our research and other human needs—but to love and respect them as our fellow beings on this planet that we all want to share in peace.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780834825871 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Shambhala |
| Publication date: | 11/13/2007 |
| Sold by: | Penguin Random House Publisher Services |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 160 |
| File size: | 367 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
From Chapter One: The ABC's of Animal Well-Being and Protection
The motto of this book is “Always Be Caring and Sharing”—what I call the ABC’S of animal protection. A compassionate and generous attitude toward all living things will be our guide as we look at some of the numerous scientific and ethical issues that we must consider when we discuss relationships between humans and other animals. (To make things simple, I will use the word animal to refer to nonhuman animal beings, recognizing of course that humans are animals as well.) It will become clear that the nature of animal-human encounters—how animals are viewed and treated—has large and often irreversible impacts on the many different environments in which we live.
As you read this book, you will discover that there are close connections among the various kinds of questions we will look at—such as whether or not animals are as valuable as humans, whether or not animals have rights, whether or not animals are conscious, whether or not animals have emotional lives and a point of view on the situations in which they find themselves, whether or not animals feel pain and suffer, and whether or not individual animals count more than entire species. The answers that are given for such questions greatly influence how we humans view other animals and interact with them. I often begin lectures asking, “Does anyone think that dogs don’t experience joy and sadness?” There is never an enthusiastic response to this question, even in scientific gatherings. But when I ask, “Who believes that dogs have feelings?” most hands wave wildly and people smile and nod in agreement, even in scientific venues but often with less passion. And, when someone questions whether dogs experience emotions—the ups and downs of everyday life—I say I’m glad I’m not their dog! The same can be said for many other animals who are routinely used and abused by humans.
Nowadays, more and more people consider these questions to be of great importance. People in all walks of life are asking: Is it right for us to do anything we want to animals, just because we are human beings, supposedly the “master” species—just because we can? Or should we do everything we can to make sure that the animals we come into contact with are happy, respected, and well cared for? In universities, researchers in many areas—including biology, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, sociology, history, religious studies, and law—are all working together to provide answers for the many and complex questions concerning animal-human interactions. In addition, many people outside of these professions spend a great deal of time and energy trying to make the lives of animals better for the animals themselves. Fortunately, there are many of us who are convinced that the lives of animals are important—that they matter very much—and we try very hard to make animals’ lives the best they can be. We believe that humans should never interfere negatively in the lives of animals, especially on purpose. Humans are not the “master” species but one among many species on earth.
Why I am writing this book:
The view from within biology
I am a biologist, who deeply cherishes the diverse and wondrous life on this splendid planet. My early scientific training as an undergraduate and a beginning graduate student was grounded in the notion of objectivity—what the philosopher Bernard Rollin calls the “common sense of science.” In this approach, science is viewed as a “value-free” activity purely concerned with gathering facts. Of course, science is not value-free—we all come to our lives with a point of view. But it took some time for me to come to this realization, because of the heavy indoctrination and arrogance of my training. Indeed, if science were value-free, my critics would leave me alone.
In supposedly objective science, animals are regarded as objects of study, not as subjects or experiencers of their own lives. In doing research on or about animals, we were taught to number animals instead of giving them names, in order to discourage us from bonding with them. However, naming and bonding with the animals whom I study is one way for me to respect them. Although some researchers believe that naming animals is a bad idea because named animals will be treated differently than numbered animals—usually less objectively—others believe just the opposite: that naming animals is a good idea. As Christopher Manes (1997) observed about many Western cultures, “If the world of our meaningful relationships is measured by the things we call by name, then our universe of meaning is rapidly shrinking. No culture has dispensed personal names as parsimoniously as ours . . . officially limiting personality to humans . . . [and] animals have become increasingly nameless. Something not somebody.”
Even scientists who know what is going on can sometimes have trouble breaking through their own jargon-garbled “objectivity” in order to tell it like it is. To read their convoluted explanations is to feel as if you have entered the theater of the absurd. Recently I read a report about pain in pigs that concluded: “The observed changes of acoustical parameters during the surgical period can be interpreted as vocal indicators for experienced pain and suffering. We conclude that a careful analysis of the vocal behavior of animals may help to gain a deeper knowledge of pain, stress and discomfort that an animal perceives. The results deliver further facts for a critical re-evaluation of the current practice of non-anaesthetized castration of piglets” (Puppe et al. 2005). This is a roundabout way of saying that castrating young pigs (surgically removing their testicles) without anesthesia—a routine procedure in domestic pig production—hurts. The piglets do not like it, as evidenced by their squeals and attempts to struggle and escape their horrible situation. The researchers conclude that perhaps—just perhaps, mind you—the screams of animals really mean something after all.
Jane Goodall (1999), the world-famous expert on chimpanzee behavior and tireless crusader for generating human respect for animal lives, notes that early in her career she learned that naming animals and describing their personalities was taboo in science, but because she had not been to university she did not know this. She “thought it was silly and paid no attention.” Dr. Goodall opposed reductionistic, mechanistic science early in her career, as she does now, and her bold efforts have had much influence on developing scientists’ views of animals as thinking and feeling beings.
The eyes of a cat influenced my development as a scientist. I was working on a research project for my doctoral degree in which we were supposed to kill the cats we were studying. However, when I went to get Speedo, a very intelligent cat who I’d secretly named (secretly, because we weren’t supposed to name our “subjects”), his fearlessness disappeared as if he knew that this was his last journey. As I picked him up, he looked at me and seemed to ask, “Why me?” Tears came to my eyes. He wouldn’t break his piercing stare. Though I followed through with what I was required to do and killed him, it broke my heart to do so. To this day I remember his unwavering eyes—they told the whole story of the interminable pain and indignity he had endured. Other students in the program tried to reassure me that it was all worth it, but I never recovered from that experience.
As a scientist, I have been lucky to have studied social behavior in coyotes in the Grand Teton National Park in Jackson, Wyoming; the development of behavior in Adélie penguins in Antarctica near the South Pole; and social behavior in various birds living near my home in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I have learned a lot about these amazing animals and many others. I am very concerned about what humans are doing to other animals and to the planet in general. Some of my views may make it seem as if I want to stop all animal research, including my own, and the human use of all animals everywhere, but this is not so. I am just not very happy with what is happening to the wonderful animals with whom I am privileged to live and share the earth. Are you?
In this short book I will discuss some broad and interrelated topics and raise numerous questions about how animals and humans interact—and about the ways animals are used for mostly human benefit. Each topic makes a number of points. All topics are related to the main issue: the choices people make when we interact with other animals with whom we are privileged to share the planet.
I have also compiled a list of resources in the back of the book, to help readers learn more about these and other topics, because some of the questions that need to be considered are difficult and it is helpful to see what others have to say about them. There is always something to be learned from others’ views.
I hope this book will appeal to people of all ages and in different cultures, because the issues I discuss and the questions I pose have few if any boundaries with respect to age, culture, and time. I am also hoping that this primer will serve to generate many more questions than those I raise, and that perhaps some people will be able to read it together and discuss questions as they arise. Brothers and sisters can read it to one another, and parents, teachers, and other adults can read it along with children. Young children are very interested in most animals. Their initial contacts usually are friendly and show that they do not recognize many large differences between themselves and other animals. When my nephew, Aaron, was two years old, he knelt, went nose-to-nose with a worm, and said, “Hello.” At seventeen, Aaron still is naturally attracted to animals.
Much of what children come to believe about and feel for animals is learned and influenced by early environments. Older children and adults can play major roles in developing children’s attitudes that have long-lasting effects. Jane Goodall’s foreword says this all very nicely.
Moderation and consistency in using animals
Most people take a moderate position on animal use by humans. They accept some uses of animals but not all. They feel all right about the use of some animals rather than others. For these people, not all animals are equal. They often find it difficult to be consistent and objective. Maybe it would be acceptable to use chimpanzees to save their own mother’s or child’s life, but not the life of someone else’s mother or child. Perhaps it is fine to confine a fish to an aquarium or a bird to a cage, but not a gorilla to a zoo. As Lisa Mighetto (1991) emphasizes, “Those who complain of the ‘inconsistencies’ of animal lovers understand neither the complexity of attitudes nor how rapidly they have developed.” Even with our inconsistencies and contradictions when dealing with the difficult issues centering on animal protection, we have come a long way in dealing with many, but not all, of the problems. But we should not be complacent, for there still are far too many animals suffering at the hands of humans, and much work still needs to be done. I am not trying to criticize these people, for the issues are very difficult. But some degree of consistency and perhaps strong guidelines are necessary to guide us so that we can lessen the pain and suffering that humans cause to other animals every second of every day.
Why all the concern about how animals are treated by humans? Why do some people spend a large portion of their lives studying animal-human interactions rather than playing games, going on vacations, or trying to learn about other interesting aspects of the wondrous world in which we all live? When many people sit back and look around at the world, they realize that they are too far removed from the other animals—and even too far removed from plants, rocks, and streams—with whom they share the planet Earth. This distance has made the world a mess—with lethal pollution, too many cars, too much disease, too much stress, too many people, and too many abused animals whose lives have been ruined. Many people are coming to realize that they are a part of the rest of nature and not apart from it. No one is outside nature. These people want to do something for all beings with whom they share the precious and limited resources on earth. What could be a better place to start than with the other animals—our kin—with whom we share our one and only wondrous but increasingly fragile planet.
Why you are so important
Why are you so important? What difference can you make? Why should you care about other animals and the environment? It is very easy to answer this question. We all live on this planet, and we all inherit the earth that others leave behind. By thinking about these issues, it is likely that you will become more closely attached to the other living organisms and inanimate objects around you. Animals count, trees count, and rocks count. But all too often we live as if future generations do not count. What will happen if people in the future inherit the messes we leave? We need to share our lessons with one another, for what people learn will influence how they think and act.
It is important to encourage everyone to explore the ways animals live, important for all of us to want animals’ lives to be the best they can, and important for you to ask questions about how humans treat other animals. It is important for children to know that hamburgers were once cows, that the bacon on a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich was once a pig, and that cows, pigs, chickens, and fish are social animals and have families just like humans. Both the cow and the pig were once someone’s child, brother, or sister. They had lives that were ended so that people could eat them. They were removed from their mothers or families, housed in horrible conditions, shipped to commercial food-processing plants, and killed, suffering all the way.While this description sounds awful, and it could be “cleaned up” and colored by using other words to make it less offensive, this really is what happens to cows, pigs, and other animals who become human meals. If we do not tell it like it is, important messages are lost.
Teaching and practicing tolerance unquestionably are good habits to incorporate into all of our lives. We need to develop and to live an ethic of caring and sharing so that all animals are respected for the individuals they are. Perhaps the best way to state it is that we need to recognize that we are privileged to live on such a wonderfully diverse planet that is full of incredible and bountiful beauty. In order that our children, our children’s children, and their children in turn can fully enjoy the beauty and grandeur that nature offers, everyone must give very serious attention to how animals are viewed and treated. We are so lucky to have so many other animals as our friends.