Animal Welfare and the Human Condition
Source: flickr.com/photos/bombeador/
Throughout history, humans have made sure to assert their dominance over what appears to be weaker and easy targets. This has happened from mass slavery to small time criminals and although we have applied laws and morals to our society to quell such awful acts, it is obvious that they cannot change some individual’s very nature. If there is little hope to stopping humans being cruel to each other then what hope is there for the domesticated animals that often feel the harsh, well-aged cruelty that humans are so very capable of inflicting. I do not believe that animals should have the exact same rights as humans, to suggest such a thing would be absurd; however, I’m sure there is the odd individual out there who would like to give their cat the vote. Instead, I would like a society where animals are treated with decency and respect before we all have to eventually look back and think “why did we do that?”. If someone was to write a story of the entire human history, I imagine that that thought would be a good title.
According to dosomething.org, 22% of all species in the world will be extinct by 2022. Will our children look back at us with abhorrent disgust at how we could let so many die for such trivial causes? Or will there be a new set of Earthly artefacts to apply our disregard to? As a vegetarian, people often ask me if I’m disgusted by the idea of meat, I am not. I recognise the importance of eating meat to some people and do not believe it is cruel, providing the animal is treated with respect and dignity before it is killed (in a humane manner). I actually love the taste of meat but made a conscious decision to become a vegetarian 9 years ago. I am aware that it doesn’t stop the killing of animals but simply raises awareness of the idea.
Animal cruelty is defined as “the infliction of suffering or harm upon animals, other than humans, for purposes other than self-defence”. However, there exists a long list of many examples where animal cruelty is still rife in much of society including Greyhound racing which can take up to 1,000 dogs to keep a medium size race track going, this means that old dogs are killed or maltreated for no reason. Circuses often keep Elephants in chains for up to 23 hours a day and 25 million vertebrate animals are used in testing in the United States each year. When invertebrate animals are thrown into the mix, the estimated number rises to as high as 100 million (via www.dosomething.org). We do not need to put these animals through this for our own entertainment, especially in these modern times when entertainment can come from so many other sources. Why is it that the idea of chaining up a bear to dance would now be a horrible idea but making a dog race around a track for most of its life be seen as ok? The answer is that most humans would find most actions acceptable until the law has changed, morals are now dished out by governments who can pick and choose what is right and wrong. Either that or we are ignorant of what goes on behind the scenes. I remember being a vegetarian in primary school and hearing stories of others my age who found out how an animal was killed or saw the face of what they were eating and were then suddenly put off their food. This can be applied to proper instances of animal cruelty, I’m sure many members of the public would be put off by certain make ups or forms of entertainment like dog racing if they were aware of the pain the animals suffer.
We do need to consider the importance of medical research, it is highly necessary, and unfortunately the safest way to do these tests is by performing them on animals. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was the first idea to reinforce the conception that animals could be used as models of humans in the study of biology and physiology. Many valuable aspects of medical research have come out of testing on animals and have helped many humans. So, is it wrong? I don’t believe it is, as I mentioned earlier, I believe that humans are above animals in the hierarchy of life. I understand why many of you may believe that testing on animals for medical purposes may be immoral but surely it is still better than risking procedures on willing human subjects. For those who disagree vehemently with animal testing, you may take comfort in the fact that EU laws are now pointing in the direction of fairer treatment on animals. This year, Dr Hadwen Trust (a group for humane testing) said that alternatives to animal experimentation are available in almost every field of medical research. However, I was appalled to see statistics that reflect the pain animals still go through. Annually in the United States, over 70 million animals are maimed, blinded, scalded and force fed chemicals in the name of science. Much of this was done by private institutions creating luxury products but a lot was done for medical and scientific research. Is it a small price to pay so humans can be healthier or should we slow down the medical advancement so that testing becomes more humane?
There are those who argue that animal cruelty is nothing to be concerned about. Descartes said that “the non-human, are nothing but complex automata, with no souls, minds, or reason. They can see, hear and touch but they are not, in any sense, conscious, and are unable to suffer or even to feel pain”. I thank Descartes for his wonderful assumptions on human nature made in his works, which I’m sure have duped many people into thinking things without looking at the evidence themselves. Animal cruelty cannot be looked at in a religious or spiritual sense, the dangers of that have been experienced by mankind many times. It is important to know the facts and resist the basic human urge to ignore things or make things up to justify your own actions which all of us are guilty of. Confucius sums up my point nicely by saying “Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star”.
Source: flickr.com/photos/paperpariah/
I will now talk about unnecessary cruelty; however, I will not talk in great detail about this as I cannot explain reliably about a person who hurts animals inexplicably. The people who do this are usually sociopaths and unfortunately cannot be helped through the power of understanding. It is perhaps the most dangerous part of human nature when we can’t explain why certain individuals do the things they do. I am of course not talking about the child who burns ants on a hill out of an unfortunate ignorance of what is happening, I’m referring to the adults of the world who would go out of their way to harm animals because they want to hurt them. However, this is more of a unique problem to individuals and is not a representation of our human society. It is a scientific matter not a moral one.
In most cases I have seen, the problem with animal cruelty is ignorance, greed and a human superiority complex which is impossible to get rid of because we were born with it. I question a person who can feel ok with wearing a coat made of 55 dead minks. Either they are well aware of the fact and just simply love the coat or are ignorant of it. Which is worse and more harmful to society is for you to decide. We need to look realistically into the future and think about the consequences. We are chopping down the rainforest at such a rate that not only are we destroying the habitats of millions of animals but we’re also damaging our own planet and therefore harming ourselves. Is it possible to see past our own lifetime? In the thousands of years that ‘civilised’ society has existed I do not believe that humans have changed, all that has happened is that we have learnt from our mistakes. We are all born the same but depending on our time period, we have been applied different views and morals. The western definition of cruelty is maybe innate within us but that doesn’t mean it can’t be destroyed through proper understanding of what we are doing.
So, can we stop being cruel to animals or is it a lost cause that we may eventually learn from in another time? As humans, we need to look past our own desires and our own points of view. Just because we have been to the moon and back doesn’t mean we are more deserving of this earth and of a free dignified life than the smallest of animals. This isn’t contradictory to my view that humans are higher than animals in my hierarchy. As a human, I believe we are “better” in most ways than other species but we are not more deserving of a dignified life. “We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words”- Anna Sewell.
Sorry for the typing error. I was also reading an article on Albert Einstein's views on Animals when writing this and put his name in instead of Charles Darwin!
"Albert Einstein’s theory of evolution..." Er, what?
This has been amended. Thank you.
nice article you bloody hippy ;)
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