Monday, November 10, 2003
Last summer, some lady remarked to me that we have so many human problems in the world to deal with, that animals are not our primary concern. I was just mulling over how many little things we could do, which wouldn't take away from our humanitarian efforts or resources. I'll just offer this comparison:
Does it take away from our humanitarian efforts or deplete our resources for charitable giving, if we choose to throw an empty aluminum can into a recycling bin, instead of into the waste basket?If not, then how many little choices could become second nature to us as individuals and as a society, that would help alleviate the suffering of animals?
- Could we ask our doctors to prescribe estrogen replacement therapies that don't cause suffering to pregnant mares, or create a "cash crop" of foals for the European and Japanese meat markets?
- Could we choose not to buy fur or leather?
- Could we choose a veggie burger instead of a hamburger?
- Could we buy our eggs from a family farmer who allows his hens to move freely about the farmyard?
- Could we adopt companion animals from shelters or rescue organizations, instead of buying them from pet shops and breeders?
- Could we remember to bring our companion animals along with us, if forced to evacuate from a natural disaster like a hurricane, flood, or wildfire?
- Could we choose entertainment that doesn't exploit animals?
- Could we stop hunting animals for sport?
- Could we slow down our car for a non-human pedestrian?
- Could we buy brands of products that aren't tested on animals?
- Could we choose to give to charities that don't fund animal research?
- Could we stop ourselves from the inclination to want to step on an ant on the sidewalk?
- Do we need to keep breeding "companion snakes" who have no life, confined in our aquariums?
- Could we buy a bigger fish bowl for our lonely beta who also has no life?
- Could we stop buying animals altogether, and lose the whole concept of animals-as-property, that is reinforced in our culture by language such as "pet ownership"?
- Can we support humanitarian relief organizations that don't (overtly, if at all) exploit animals?
- See links to resources found at 'Plant-based Hunger Solutions: common sense food policy for a healthy well-fed world'
- Is there something else that could be added to this list?
How much would any of these things detract from our ability to care about other people?
"To shut your mind, heart, imagination to the sufferings of others is to begin slowly but inexorably to die. It is to cease by inches from being human, to become in the end capable of nothing, generous or unselfish - or sometimes capable of anything, however terrible."
--John Austin Baker (Bishop of Salisbury), Sermon on the World Day of Prayer for Animals, 4 October 1986
