On September 21st, 1983 my husband and I watched and cried as our newborn twin sons died. Their deaths were unexpected and difficult to live through. Yet we survived. With the love and support of family and many friends, we were able to bear the several years it took to feel whole again.
Our babies were born with renal agenesis. For reasons unknown, their kidneys never formed. Although this condition can be detected before birth, I am thankful that we did not know. At that point in my life I would have chosen to carry the pregnancy to term. Going through the difficulties of having twins is hard enough. But the knowledge that my babies would die soon after their lifelines to me were cut would have made that pregnancy almost unbearable.
The experience of grief forces one into long hours of contemplation. It opens one’s eyes to the realities of the world. Often it is the first time one becomes aware that horrors don’t always happen to other people. Rather, they are a continuous part of everyday life. When I came to the conclusion that life is not always fair, my priorities were given careful analysis and readjusted.
We live in a world where absolutes cannot exist. For one thing, they don’t fit in a society with such a diversity of religions, cultures, experiences, and value systems as ours has.
Further, absolutes imply perfection, and ours is an imperfect world, where suffering, even by the innocent, is commonplace. So we must adjust to situations less than what we consider perfect. Continue reading “An Obligation to Understand…” »
Several decades ago, schoolchildren were taught that the difference between animals and humans was that humans used tools, and animals did not. It seemed reasonable. But since then, scientists have observed many different animals using tools. Not only monkeys and the great apes, but also smaller, what we consider to be less intelligent creatures. Even some species of birds use long sticks to poke into holes, waiting while ants crawl onto it. They then withdraw the rod and quickly devour the insects. The right size and shape twig is thus fashioned into a very useful tool for manipulating their environment.
Suddenly homo sapiens needed another distinction if they were to maintain such a lofty position within creation. The next explanation offered was that only people could understand their own mortality. Indeed, we were told that only humans had souls.
Since the notion of a soul is a spiritual concept and has little, if anything to do with science, the fact that we humans even pretend that we can possibly dismiss other species as “soul-less” is the height of arrogance.
It is reminiscent of the days when whites owned black slaves. Although some felt compassion for their “property”, they nonetheless had the power to do with them as they pleased. This was easily justified because of the belief that black people were sub-human, and that God couldn’t possibly hold the owners to account for having slaves of African descent. After all, they didn’t have souls… Continue reading “Do Animals Have Souls?” »
The word ethics has been tossed around lately, as one of the buzzwords of the last few years. It easily rolls off the tongue, is simple to spell, and is a must-use when speaking about business.
An ethic is a philosophy or system of morals, and is as open to individual interpretation as is each of us. So the understanding that a person, company or business has ethics simply means that each has decided upon a set of rules to live by, and subsequently abides by it. Usually, but not necessarily, they are the rules that the majority of one’s society agrees with and tries to follow.
Today’s consumer has more choices than it ever has. Businesses that provide product and services enter and exit the market on a continually rotating basis. Those that manage to stay in business for any length of time have found a balance between standing up for what they believe, and treating the customer as a treasured guest. Adopting both of these attitudes is an integral part of that business’ ethics.
Corporations have been known to mention that being ethical is good business. In fact, this is an oxymoron, for if ethics are put into place because of the bottom line, then it follows that they would be dropped if they do not add up to company profits. Therefore, there is no morality involved here. Only if followed when inconvenient, or even hazardous, can a set of standards truly be called ethics.
And herein lies the dilemma for horse photographers.
Any industry that uses animals or people to its advantage is inherently suspect of the practice of abuse. The equine industry is far from exempt. Money, a very real energy in our society, is used to find ways to justify actions that otherwise could not be in existence.
Continue reading “The Business of Ethics” »
I worked for 3 veterinarians, more than 30 years ago, and had the unpleasant experience of assisting in one de-clawing procedure. Like many, I had assumed that the practice was a simple surgery, and that the cat would awaken in basically the same body, only now unable to shred furniture.
What I witnessed stunned and sickened me. The vet was a wonderful, compassionate man, who truly believed that this was a justifiable and only alternative to putting the cat to death. The owners probably didn’t even investigate options, honestly unaware of what their cat was about to live through, and how her life would change forever. When I realized that a good deal of her paws had to be amputated, I had a hard time assisting with the surgery. But perhaps the worst part was when she awoke from the anesthetic, sitting up like a frightened raccoon, waving her bandaged paws in the air and howling non-stop. I had worked at a Children’s Zoo for 5 years, raising and healing all types of injured and orphaned wildlife. I had never heard such a plaintive cry from any creature.
The cat’s eyes were wide and frightened, and she tried to stay off of her throbbing paws as much as she could, in spite of the lingering effects of the anesthetic. It was apparent that she was in exquisite pain but also, that she was intensely frightened.
The cat had owners that loved her and no doubt thought they were doing the best thing for all. They had not researched the long-term effects, nor did they have any idea what type of terror and pain their animal would go through. Like a circumcised infant boy, had this victim a voice, she would have insisted, loudly and clearly, on her birthright. Surgery to correct disease or to sterilize animals saves lives and in the process, does not inhibit inherently important behavior. But surgery that takes away important body parts such as protective ears and tails that express communication in dogs, or claws that are as vital to cats’ lives as fingers are to humans’, needs to addressed. Continue reading “Declawing” »
A 21-inch codfish was repeatedly caught in a Norwegian Fisher’s net, and each time released. Initially, the fisher didn’t want the cod, as it was underweight in the extreme. But as the fish returned to the net more than 40 times, the fisher developed a fondness for it.
The media discovered the story, and consistently documented the homecoming. Finally, after too often being lifted out of the water to be photographed, it became apparent that the hard-of-seeing animal, now named Balder, was becoming more and more ill. The public rallied and a cry went out to the local aquarium to save the cod.
For two months staff fed Balder through a stomach tube, trying to help him gain weight. Finally, all of Norway breathed a collective sigh of relief when Balder was able to eat on his own.
Every day we seem to hear of an animal rescue. A cow is mired in mud, and a camera crew is there to show us the tireless efforts of its rescuers. A stray kitten is found at the top of a tall tree. Suddenly out come the ladders, and the brave people who climb them. A Rottweiler-cross is discovered, almost dead. The chain he had been wearing when he ran off his property became entangled in branches and had gouged a large, ugly wound into his neck. He is rescued, and nursed slowly back to health. Continue reading “A Question of Personality” »
The plumes of heavy black smoke coil, almost as if revulsion itself drives the path. Hundreds, thousands of cow, sheep, pig and goat carcasses feed the flame, the naturally flammable lanolin and oils speeding the process. And the workers stand back, disgusted, and hope that the spead of foot and mouth disease has been halted.
Every day we seem to hear of another country that has discovered cases of the virus, and we know that nowhere, not even North America, is immune. We are told of the financial devastation, for the farmers and the nations, and occasionally a story comes out about the great sadness that the farmers feel. Some have even taken their own lives.
But still the executioners don their protective garb, pick up their firearms, wade into the flocks and the herds, and start shooting the terrified mothers and babies. We don’t hear about what the animals are going through. The press doesn’t discuss the mothers trying frantically to protect their young as they watch each other being shot, one by one. No one tells of the sheer horror that they experience as, once again, humankind decides the course of evolution.
Many of the farms involved are not factory farms, and the people who care for the animals do have compassion for them, and in some cases, affection. This is an intense trauma for the human counterparts as well. So why are the authorities not spending a little more money to make certain that these animals die within the realm of what we think of as humane? It would seem that, not only would the creatures be much better off, but perhaps the farmers would have fewer nightmares. Continue reading “Foot and Mouth Disease” »
As I wandered through the grocery store, I came across a sampling booth. The woman staffing it asked if I wanted to try a certain brand of soy milk. “No thanks,” I replied. “I’ve been using it for years.” Then I asked her what kind of reaction she received from most people, and so we struck up a conversation.
“Anything that takes some of the pressure off of the cows, I’m all for,” I said. The clerk eyed me with suspicion. After explaining that I am a vegan, and that anytime one drinks milk or eats anything with milk in it, one automatically supports the veal and a cruel dairy industry, she answered, “See, I don’t have a problem with that. That’s what they are raised for.”
I was taken aback. I was certain that she must not know what bull calves go through to become gourmet meat. So I started to point out how the animal lives its four-month life, chained so that it cannot turn around, without bedding, and no sucking, only a bucket of milk twice per day. Her face showed no emotion.
So I told her about newborn chicks having their beaks cut off, and then spending their existence… She stopped me, “Yeah, but there is the other side of that. I saw a show about this woman who keeps chickens in her home! It was disgusting!”
Continue reading “Compassion” »
In the late summer of 2000, I was driving my small pickup home from a business meeting in Kamloops. As an exit sign approached, I found myself turning off the highway, and heading towards it.
“Whoa!” I responded. “I haven’t taken the Barnhartvale turn-off in about a year!” Still, I could clearly hear a voice insisting, “Turn right!” I had learned to trust my intuition, and so obligingly followed the demand.
The winding country road was beautiful, with small lakes, horse ranches, and breathtaking forests. I watched it all curiously as I drove, wondering why I was supposed to be there. And there, along a stretch far between farms, was a small black dog. “Ah.” I sighed. “That’s why…”
Pulling onto the shoulder, I got out and walked cautiously towards the animal. It was sitting quietly, 10 feet off the road, cocking its head as I talked to it. “It’s okay. I’m here to help. Did you get hit by a car?” Continue reading “BeeGee: Rescue of a Puppy Mill Breeding Dog” »
I watched my dog, Niki, have another epileptic seizure. She’d had grande mal seizures since she was three months old and now, thanks to a rabies vaccination at the age of three years, they had become continuous. I was a young teenager and Niki had been my constant companion, my confidant, and my best friend since I had convinced my parents to let me bring the four-week-old pup home from a pet store. Suddenly, I had to make the most difficult decision of my young life. I told my dad to call the vet, and I jumped on my bike to escape the scene.
When I returned, Niki was gone, and with her a large section of my innocence. Although animals in my home had died before, I hadn’t parted with something so precious to me, such an integral part of my very soul. My mom took me aside and said that Niki had died very quickly. The vet had given her a needle during a seizure, and she had simply become peaceful.
I grieved hard for my friend. In my sadness, all I wanted to do was take my dog for a walk….
Shortly after that experience, I had to say goodbye to my equine soul mate. Arch was a half-Arab, Palomino stallion. I had helped to halter break him, and was with him every moment possible. When his owner decided it was time to saddle break Arch, I felt intensely privileged to be the first on his back. And then we walked him out to the paddock, where Arch proceeded to knock over his owner and take me for a rodeo ride. But at the age of fourteen, I found the excitement exhilarating and rode him to a stand still. Continue reading “When It’s Time To Grieve” »
Television advertisements display contented dairy cows, happily munching on grass as their calves frolic alongside. The screen lights up with well-feathered hens, scratching for insects, bathing in small dust bowls and clucking gently to their chicks as the youngsters explore their environment. We are shown hogs, contentedly grunting while rolling in mud to protect their skin from sun and parasite damage. (Even by human standards, these are intelligent beings. While “man’s best friend” has the human intelligence of a 2 year-old child, pigs have that of a 3 year-old.) These are the images that endure; of animals that we appreciate because of the milk, the eggs, even the flesh that they provide us.
Continue reading “Why Do Animals Need Rights” »
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