“Our task must be to [widen] our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures…”
Albert Einstein
My cousins, Amy and David, have a wonderful Golden Retriever named Lucy.
Whenever I visit, Lucy puts her large paw on my leg (or shoulder if I’m squatting.) I think this is her way of letting me know “Don’t ignore me” and “I love you.”
This affability trait is common among Golden Retrievers and was why I was so appalled by what I recently read. It dealt with Golden Retrievers housed at Texas A & M University which were part of an experiment.
The goal of the study was to learn more about Muscular Dystrophy, so the dogs were bred to develop different types of M.D. Housed in barren metal cells, they were barely able to walk or swallow.
Years ago, when I was trying to convince my old college roommate about the stupidity of such barbarism (he’s now a retired surgeon) he argued that if even one human life were saved it was worth it.
What I failed to inform him was that this “scientific” endeavor had gone on for more than 30 years. It had not led to enhancing our knowledge of the dreaded M.D. or even an effective intervention in humans.
Lest you think this an anomaly, many of these experiments make little sense.
Here are some examples.
The Air Force tested beagles with poisonous gasses; a foundation in Albuquerque forced beagles to inhale radioactive strontium 90; my alma mater, the University of Rochester, irradiated dogs using X-rays; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave pigs and beagles large amounts of methoxychlor (a pesticide) in their food.
These very institutions admit that what they do causes much suffering and no steps are taken to prevent or mitigate it.
Why such callousness on the part of persons who call themselves scientists and researchers? The simple answer is that there is a huge animal experimentation industry. As one anti-vivisection group stated:
Animal experimentation is more expensive, pervasive, secretive, and profitable than most people would imagine. It is an international government-sanctioned and funded, multi-billion dollar business.
As I have previously written, one cannot understand capitalism unless you understand the role of greed.
When looking for answers, follow the money! Professional foundations and lobbyists craft campaigns to promote even more animal research and these collude with the government so that this callous and nefarious practice thrives.
What is my interest in such matters?
My daughter-in-law has been a vegetarian most of her life and when we first met I asked her “What foods won’t you eat?” “Nothing with a face,” she replied.
My oldest son is involved in animal rescue and is a vegan.
He is an inspiration, but I have failed him.
For a very short period, I tried to abstain from all meat, but the lure of Wendy’s was too much. This is no excuse, but there is an explanation.
Peter Singer, writes about “speciesism” — “a prejudice…in favor of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those members of other species.”
Put differently, I am willing to overlook the rights of animals to live so that my taste buds may exult in a variety of taste sensations.
Again, quoting Singer, “…almost all of the oppressing group are directly involved in, and see themselves as benefitting from, the oppression.”
Sigmund Freud put this in historical perspective when he wrote:
In the course of his development…man acquired a dominating position over…the animal kingdom. Not content with this supremacy…he began to place a gulf between his nature and theirs.
He denied the possession of reason to them…and made claims to a Devine descent which permitted him to annihilate the bond of community between him and the animal kingdom.
For those who reject the evidence above, let me conclude with a scientific fact or two. Study after study has shown that pigs and dolphins are extremely intelligent non-human animals.
Additionally, as reported in the English paper the Daily Mail, “The first blueprint of the orangutan genetic code has confirmed that they share 97 percent of their DNA with people.”
And finally, let us heed the words of Jane Goodall who for over 30 years studied wild chimpanzees in Gombe. She calls them relatives of ours and states:
Each [has] his or her own unique personality. They share …many of our behaviors…they feel hoy and sorrow and despair, mental as well as physical suffering; they show many of the intellectual skills that until recently we believed unique to ourselves; they look in mirrors and see themselves as individuals—they have consciousness of “self.”
Yet, they have no standing in court.
Steven M. Wise, a sometime Harvard Law Professor, points out:
Even a human lost in a permanent vegetative state enjoys a large set of legal rights. But a chimpanzee who can communicate with language, count, understand the minds of others…live in a complex society, and make and use tools has no rights at all.
We humans have enslaved animals and used them as commodities.
A change in our attitude toward them probably doesn’t seem like a top priority in our 21st century pantheon of needs, but it deserves our consideration.
As rational creatures, we can do no less.
Dr. Hal Sobel
Great Neck
