Blog

The animal compassion test.

Dog meat trade, dogs

Be honest: which of these two photographs arouses more or all of your compassion.

Both photographs are of overcrowded animals heading for slaughter to be eaten for their meat. As genuine ‘animal lovers’ we should have an equal reaction to both photographs, but most of us will be more concerned at the plight of the dogs because we are more familiar with them. The general rule is that our conscience is more aroused when we see images of companion pets, but accept cruelty to many other animals, particularly livestock as less of a concern or even inconsequential. We are guilty of having preferences when it involves animal suffering and unconsciously grade our level of empathy and compassion towards an animal’s well-being depending on the type of animal and the circumstances involved.

We manage to compartmentalise our compassion.

Our behaviours are rather perverse and hypocritical in the way we view animal suffering and cruelty.We have this peculiar in-built capacity to group certain sections of the animal world into being less worthy of our compassion. This makes it easy for us to use them without being racked with guilt at the way we treat them.

This ranking goes along the lines of dogs and cute baby animals first, followed by cats and horses and then spirals down to those we have little consideration for such a fish and insects, and those we hate like spiders and rats.

We see no problem in confining intelligent free flying birds in small cages.

Battery farm battery chickens, cruelty to chickens, hens
Many of us get upset about chickens and hens being confined…………………..
but see no problem in confining intelligent free flying birds in small cages for our entertainment.

For instance, there are no campaigns against  keeping intelligent, social, free flying birds like parrots and macaws in solitary confinement in small cages, but we consistently argue against battery farmed birds which are unable to fly.

We make it worse in the case of parrots by often taking away their ability to fly by clipping their wings and ignoring their mental suffering. Such is our bizarre attitude of feeling sorry for certain animals in one situation but not in others.

Many children adore keeping rats and mice as pets and they become part of the family, but if a wild one should have the cheek to invade our home we exterminate it by any means possible, whether humane or not. Our lives are full of these contradictory attitudes.

“we have this capacity to unconsciously distance ourselves from any mental discomfort or anxiety certain animals might suffer”

Farm animals are another case in point as we appear unconcerned about the conditions they are kept under but make a great display of emotion when a dog is treated in the same way.

mouse, human hand
Pet or a pest?

Worse still we label farmed food animals with the unflattering title of livestock, ‘stock’ being defined as a ‘commodity for use or sale’ which when combined with ‘live’ becomes ‘farm animals regarded as assets’. This further distances ourselves from looking upon them as animals with personality or individuality. It re-enforces the conditioning that we receive during childhood that they are just meat producing machines, voraciously eating in the fields to fatten up for us to consume.

Scientific research uses huge numbers of animals and yet again we have this capacity to unconsciously distance ourselves from any mental discomfort or anxiety about the way we use them. This is because most animals used are mice, rats and fish which we have little interest in, but what about dogs and cats?

dog, cage

Our irrational attitude kicks in once again because we even view their suffering as essential to our well-being and so we allow ourselves to condone the use of our beloved dogs, cats and horses, which under other circumstances we would never contemplate and vehemently protest against even though 1,079 of the dogs used in the UK in 2016 suffered moderate to severe pain.

Number of Dogs and Cats used for experiments in 2016
2016               U.K            U.S.A     AUSTRALIA
DOGS             4,607           60,979             7,698
CATS                143           18,898             2,015

What makes these poor dogs and cats any different?

The answer is that we may not want them tortured and sacrificed on our behalf, but we cannot contemplate putting their welfare before ours. We believe that the research might help or even save our lives at some stage and so they become beyond our capacity to feel any sympathy towards. They are out of sight and mind and their use doesn’t impact on our lives.

We are all guilty of viewing and treating animals in a different way dependent on the type of animal involved, what we intend to use them for, the circumstances we meet them under and the many influences of our lifestyles, upbringing and attitudes. For all these reasons animal abuse continues unabated and must be inevitable.

If you want to follow my blog and receive the posts by email directly they are published find the black follow button, provide your email address and click. 

Updated February 2020

Animal Activities Licensing Act 2018 on its way!

Puppy, very young, Animal Activities Licensing Act 2018
Are his prospects about to change?

Better late than never

There hasn’t been much media attention over the last year of the upcoming Animal Activities Licensing Act 2018 due to go through Parliament on the 5th. October 2018. It is important and relevant to a lot of the welfare issues which cause immense suffering, particularly the illicit puppy breeding and selling industry which does hit the headlines regularly. The law is aimed at registering specific animal-related establishments and activities, with the aim of maintaining good standards of animal welfare.

The new law will regulate the licensing of performing and exhibition animals, pet sales, dog and cat boarding, riding establishments and importantly dog breeding.

The new law will replace five outdated ones which have been in place since 1925 which have obviously been overtaken in the century it has taken this nation of animal lovers to update them.

The Animal Activities Licensing Act again highlights our lackadaisical approach to animal welfare, as these laws should have been updated soon after the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) 2006 came into force. In the interim 12 years, a lot of animals may have suffered as the old licensing laws were not compatible with the new AWA, so not all local authorities had applied its requirements to their licensing activities, which resulted in some welfare needs not being met.

Again this is because of the absurdity that local authorities are not required to enforce the AWA Act, even though they have powers to do so.

The huge step forward is that anyone trading commercially in pets online will need a licence and to give their licensing details in the advertisements, which should allow prospective owners to pick out the legitimate ones.

Puppy, behind wire, mournful
Lets hope this is the beginning of the end of puppy farming.

The rules for licensed breeding premises are tightened as well, with only the breeder being able to sell the puppies from their own premises, with the mother of the pup present. Strict rules on caring for the mother and pups are included as is the procedure for the hand-over of the puppy to new owners. Supposedly it will make backstreet breeders toe the line and keep to high welfare standards and obtaining licences.

The Animal Activities Licensing Act is a great step forward and must be welcomed by all

It shows how low our standards must have reached when it is necessary to include the following provisions in the Act for the way the bitches are kept. The new Act specifies that they must have the space to:

Stand;  Lie down outstretched; Wag their tails; walk and turn round.

How basic is this and how similar to the requirements for intensively farmed animals and birds. The shame of it is that conditions may well get better, but puppies can still be bred in conditions as bad as intensive farming. All that’s changed is that the places will be licensed.

The law is a great step forward and must be welcomed by all, except of course for certain sections of the trade, but as always it will only be as good as its enforcement and as always who will be enforcing it – the overstretched local authority inspectors who are too busy trying to make sure the local corner kebab shop is performing good food hygiene standards.

We will see……….

Animal Rights & Wrongs Blog: Why not become a follower by clicking on the black FOLLOW button.