Have A Lovely Thanksgiving,
And may your feast look similar to the dishes below (no animals were harmed):
And if you have time to read a bit in-between preparations, waiting for something to bake for example, here is something to think about:
Treating Animals As Subjects, Not Objects
On November 15 a chimpanzee mom, Mahale, gave birth to her baby via Cesarean section at the Chedwick County Zoo in Wichita/Kansas. The baby was named Kucheza which means “play” in Swahili. He had trouble breathing on his own and received oxygen treatment and bottle feedings from volunteers around the clock. After two days he was well enough to be reunited with his mother, and the videos about the reunion that were shared on Twitter and Facebook and countless news stations brought people to tears, the moment was so touching.
Baby Kucheza was covered in blankets when Mom was finally admitted, and at first she didn't know what was going on. But then a tiny arm and hand reaches out, and immediately she rushes to him, picks him up and cuddles him. It totally melts your heart. The videos are being shared on Facebook and Twitter with tens of thousands of likes.
I certainly don’t begrudge Mahale and her baby all the sympathy and attention they’re getting. But it reminded me that cows love their babies just as much; however, they are brutally separated right after the calf is born. Because people like to drink milk, the milk that was supposed to nourish the baby calf, the Mom cries for days in agony and sadness. I’ve heard it. This made me wonder how many of Mahale’s admirers drink milk and eat cheese, oblivious of the pain they’re inflicting. I think the root cause for many of humanity’s ills is the fact that we can compartmentalize things so easily. One “I” sympathizes with a mother’s love and the deep connection between her and her baby. Another “I” loves the taste of milk. Or hamburger. Or bacon. And these two “I”s never meet, never talk it out with each other, never share the same room, so to speak. I just remembered the little wooden weather houses I saw as a kid in Germany. When the weather is dry and sunny, a little female comes forward; the male steps out when it’s going to rain. One comes out, and the other automatically steps back. They’re NEVER both out; can’t see each other, can’t talk to each other.
But it’s not all bad – there are some definite changes in the way non-human animals are perceived and treated. Maybe there are NOT lots more vegans and vegetarians compared to twenty years ago, as I had thought or hoped. D’Nivra of
conducted some impressive studies and concluded that global meat consumption hasn’t really gone down but has only shifted – less red meat, more chickens…However, our current culture manifests a marked difference in the understanding of the value of animals. Most medical schools (96%) don’t use live animals any more. It used to be common practice to train emergency medicine residents and paramedics by performing invasive emergency medical procedures on live pigs. They were killed either during or at the end of the training session. This doesn’t happen any longer.
Animal testing and medical research with animals has become controversial and countries such as the European Union, New Zealand, and Norway have banned cosmetic-testing on animals.
Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley and other prestigious universities offer animal law programs covering legal action that affects the rights, standing, or welfare of an animal. Organizations such as the Nonhuman Rights Project were fighting in court so that certain animals (for example, Happy the elephant who is held captive at the Bronx Zoo) be granted legal personhood and thus basic liberty rights.
When I was a kid and the circus came to town, we admired the tigers who would jump through hoops, the elephants who would balance on top of a small barrel, the monkeys all dressed up riding on a bicycle. We didn’t know any better then, but currently circuses that display trained animals aren’t much in favor any more. They may even be illegal because they violate animal welfare laws.
This is such a significant cultural development – animals are no longer just property, “things”, but living, feeling beings who should have the right for a decent life. I’m always thrilled when I learn about another instance of this newer, more respectful view of animals. Consequently I was delighted to read about Farm Sanctuary's research program that follows strict ethical standards.
They have their own desires, and their own wants and preferences and needs, and their own inner lives — the same way that human people do,
said Lauri Torgerson-White, the sanctuary’s director of research, when she talked about the farm animals. The research team even calls them “people”, to stress the fact that they have individual personalities. The chickens, sheep, cows, pigs, and other rescued farm animals who participate in the various scientific research projects do so voluntarily. They will neither be coaxed/bribed or forced to be part of a project.
All research at Farm Sanctuary must be designed and carried out with the animal residents’ needs, preferences, desires, health, and safety as top priorities and will either improve welfare, restore agency to the residents, or both.1
Oh, and it’s not too late to adopt a turkey!
And here is PETA’s holiday ad:
"No animals were harmed" - love it. I hope there's a day when Turkeys are not murdered en masse ironically to say "Thanks". And I appreciate the shout out and your encouragement as a new author. Thanks for the support and readership!
there's a new movie out i want to see EO https://youtu.be/rrBeSQbdXmw it's not playing here yet but touches on some of those themes / we need to revisit compassion every day and practice it like our lives depend on it