State of Human-Animal Studies
This time of year, for most of us, is about two things: lists and
resolutions. Best movies of 2011? Best viral videos of 2011? How about
best animal viral videos of 2011? (Check out Huffington Post [1]and
Videogum [2], both of which have their own...
Around the World with HAS
There was good and bad news in the species conservation world last
week, and since bad news tends to travel faster, here it is:
The western black rhino is extinct [1]. This particular rhinoceros, a
subspecies that lives (or lived) in Cameroon, w...
Remembering 2010, Moving on in 2011
Before we move on to the new year, I want to review some of the
important stories related to animals that made news in 2010.
JANUARY: Earthquake in Haiti; ARCH (Animal Rescue Coalition for
Haiti) forms. _(Photo: WSPA-IFAW Tomas Stargardner) _
...
Does China Hold the Key to the Animals' Future?
Just when animal advocates thought the annual harp seal slaughter in
Canada might finally be reaching its long-awaited demise, along comes
news this week that China has signed an agreement [1] to buy Canadian
seal meat and oil. The move not only p...
Experiencing Animals
When Randy Malamud’s [1] children’s school planned a field trip
to the zoo Randy kept them at home. Randy, Professor of English at
Georgia State University, disputes both the ethics and the educational
value of keeping animals behind bars and ...
Lucky Rabbits not so Lucky After All
Another holiday, another excuse for throw-away animals.
For rabbit lovers, it was bad enough that Easter is the time of the
year when uninformed families purchase pet rabbits to give to their
children. Because of Easter’s long association wit...
Puppy Mill Proponents Strike Back, Feral Cats Fair Game, Feed-to-Prevent-Malnutrition Standard of Care; and Some Positive Developments, Too
Throughout the country, 2011 has ushered in new legislative sessions.
It’s “good news/bad news” that everything begins from scratch.
All those bills introduced in the past couple of years dealing with
animals that we’ve followed so closely...
The Moment of Truth
Few individuals can get the nation’s attention like Oprah. The fact
that she’s instantly recognizable by one name is testament to her
celebrity and media status. If someone or something is featured on her
venerable stage, you can bet it’s go...
Talking with animals
Chaser, a border collie, may have set a record with over 1,000 human
words etched in his brain. According to an account on the Wofford
University website [1], and later picked up by the New York Times [2],
Chaser can find any of the objects he has...
An Archeological Note on Human-Animal Studies
The productive development of the relationship between scholarship
and advocacy is one of the Animals and Society Institute’s major
concerns. This blog addresses an aspect of that relationship.
Although many scholars in Human-Animal Studies...
Animals in and out of the News
Animals are in the news every week, and indeed, not a day goes by
when a Google News search for the term “animal” does not bring up
multiple hits: dog fighting rings busted, another hoarder found with
dozens or hundreds of animals, a handful o...
Growing Pains and the Link
GUEST DIARY POSTING BY PHIL ARKOW, ASI CONSULTANT
It's hard for me to imagine that it's been a quarter-century since
several of us humane leaders had epiphany moments that rejuvenated the
age-old interest in the connections between animal abuse...
An unhappy anniversary
An 80th anniversary should be something to celebrate, but this one
belongs to a little known government agency named Wildlife Services
(WS), and it is an anniversary to weep for.
“Wildlife Services” is a rather warm and fuzzy name, isn...
Patrick the "Garbage Dog"
This week I've been following the story of Patrick, the one-year old
pit bull who was tied to an apartment balcony railing in New Jersey,
left for a week, and, when his owner returned, thrown 19 stories down
a garbage chute, barely alive. Not only...
Swan Song
_And over the pond are sailing_
_ Two swans all white as snow;_
_ Sweet voices mysteriously wailing_
_ Pierce through me as onward they go._
_ They sail along, and a ringing_
_ Sweet melody rises on high;_
_ And when the swans begin singing,_
_ Th...
Preparing for Disasters
The wave of fear and grief washing over Japan this past month has
been horrific to watch. The effects of the earthquake, tsunami and
nuclear meltdown have been a triple tragedy for thousands if not
millions of people in the region, and the fallout...
A grandfather's wisdom
This Cherokee legend is again circulating around the blogosphere:
An elder is teaching his grandchild about life. "There are two wolves
inside me who are fighting," he says. "One is greedy, arrogant, angry,
and deceitful. The other is full of h...
An Easter/Passover Reflection
In Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993), the Supreme
Court found that a city ordinance banning animal sacrifice was
unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. The ordinance banned
animal sacrifice, a part of this Santeria church...
Language is Real, not Trivial
This week, there have been a flurry of media stories surrounding an
editorial by theologian and scholar Andrew Linzey in the inaugural
issue of the _Journal of Animal Ethics [1]_. It is rare that the media
covers journals in human-animal studies o...
The Dog and the Leopard: A Modern Fable
Once upon a time and not so long ago, Dog [1] and Leopard [2] met in
a place called a "green room." During recent days, they both had been
discussed with much interest by what people call "the media," and they
were brought to this place to talk to...
The Gag Reflex
Those of us who were not raised vegetarian or vegan all have
individual stories about how we changed our lives to become so.
However, few of the testimonials I've heard from others had much to do
with simply reading about animal cruelty: the catal...
Getting to know our neighbors
"It is infuriating that we know more about the moon than the oceans,"
says Shane Gero, co-founder of the Dominica Sperm Whale Project [1].
Psychologists may remark that the same disparity exists between our
knowledge of our inner and outer lives. ...
Animal Hoarding: The Paradox of the Caring Abuser
Animal hoarding is an enigmatic phenomenon, pithily captured by the
following question:
How is it possible for animal hoarders to insist on their love and
devotion to their animals and yet to be severely neglecting -- at the
same time? (Persona...
Considering Zoos
No question, there are problems with zoos today, even those that are
accredited and even more so with "roadside zoos." However, most zoos
have made changes in the last 30-50 years with respect to the display
and housing of the animals. The Detroit...
The Biology of Morality
I am among those fascinated by the behavior of humans and animals
alike, but particularly (given my work with the ASI) behavior between
humans and animals; specifically, why some people treat animals with
kindness and other people don't, or why so...
Homebodies
A guy who's never even had a cat, much less a dog, buys a half-dead
8-inch octopus from a back road zoo near his favorite beach bar. Milt
said he got it 'cause he was curious. Drove the 150 miles home with it
in a jar. By the time I saw the setup,...
An Amazing Fellowship
Today was the culmination of the Animals and Society
Institute-Wesleyan Animal Studies (ASI-WAS) Human-Animal Studies
Fellowship. Began in 2007 at North Carolina State University, and now
housed permanently at Wesleyan University's College of the ...
Cage #15, Case I.D. 11-06586
The baby bird was lying on the concrete sidewalk outside the pet
store last Sunday, with the temperature hovering around 90 degrees. I
saw the creature as I was transporting a mother cat and her kittens
from the shelter where I volunteer, to the p...
A Tool by Any Other Name
It seems the science world is all aflutter over news that a fish in
Australia was photographed in the act of eating. Well, not just
eating, but cracking open a clam by holding it in his mouth and
smacking it against a rock on the ocean floor. This...
Inter-species Communication
Posted on December 01, 2011 at 09:59 am by Ken Shapiro -- Author\'s
Site [1]
Tell the truth, now. When you read the title, Inter-species
Communication didn't you immediately conjure up an image of a human
and a nonhuman animal, most likely a d...
A Worldview of Animal Law
"Like culture, the law cannot exist outside of ethics, and the
philosophical considerations of our treatment of animals logically
center on the ethics of our relationship with them," says the
introduction to an intriguing new book, A Worldview of ...
Disability and Animals (and Camping)
I've been thinking a bit about disability lately. I have a student in
my class who's in a wheelchair, and we've talked in class about issues
surrounding disability, including how definitions of "normality" are
often socially constructed. But what ...
"From Good Care to Great Welfare"
The symposium this past weekend sponsored by the Center for Zoo
Animal Welfare at the Detroit Zoo, brought together academics, zoo
professionals, and representatives of animal welfare groups. Ken
Shapiro, the ASI's executive director and a member ...
All Rise for These Apes
I just saw the new movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." [1] I knew
before I walked in that it was being hailed for spectacular special
effects, but wasn't sure what the overall effect would be on the
viewing audience.
As an animal advocate, I...
Media Paparazzi and Bully Dogs
A Pacifica, California man, Greg Napora, arrived home from work to
find his pregnant wife, Darla, lying in a pool of blood. One of the
family's dogs, a pit bull type named Gunner, was standing over her
body. It was determined that Gunner had bitte...
Animal Hoarding: The Paradox of the Caring Abuser (2)
In an earlier blog (Animal Hoarding: The paradox of the caring abuser
[1]; May 23, 2011), we discussed the enigma of the person who cares
for animals and yet is responsible for the gross neglect of those in
her care (most, but not all hoarders are...
Redemption or Just Forgetting?
You may have heard by now that Michael Vick, the quarterback for the
Philadelphia Eagles, just won a one hundred million dollar, six year
contract, just two years after being released from the Leavenworth
penitentiary after being caught running a ...
Dolphin Day 2011
Those of us who saw "The Cove" [1]will never forget the image of the
waters around Taiji Japan, red with the blood of dolphins who are
captured and trapped in the inlet, destined for captivity or a more
immediate death.
(Image courtesy of Save...
Cows Gone Wild
This is an epilogue to a previous article [1] I wrote about
slaughterhouse escapees, who always seem to capture the world's
attention in a way that other, more generic farmed animals do not.
Recently added to the list of famously frisky farm fug...
First taste of freedom
From the pictures that follow it is easy to see how these chimpanzees
feel. They are just a few of the 38 who recently got their first taste
of freedom after over 30 years of captivity.
These chimps were sold that long ago to a European research...
Art or Violence
Today, the Huffington Post reports on a controversy brewing at Paris
Fashion Week, where two dresses made out of over three thousand cow
and yak nipples are going to be shown by British fashion designer
Rachel Freire. Animal rights activists are o...
Helping Animals while Occuyping Wall Street
Anyone who hasn't been hiding under a rock this past week has heard
about "Occupy Wall Street," a movement that seemingly has come out of
nowhere, beginning in New York City a few weeks ago, and now spreading
each day to more cities small and larg...
Arguing for Vegetarianism
The CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations; Cassuto, The CAFO
Hothouse [1]) is, belatedly, on the social and political agenda in the
U.S.
Witness the following:
* Passage of laws in several states addressing the issue
* Publication of a...
Disentangling the Intricate Web of Confusion
In 1976 at the RSPCA's Rights of Animals symposium at Trinity College
in Cambridge, England, I heard Lord Houghton of Sowerby say, "My
message is that animal welfare, in the general and in the particular,
is largely a matter for the law."
Fast-f...
When Rhinos Fly
There was good and bad news in the species conservation world last
week, and since bad news tends to travel faster, here it is:
The western black rhino is extinct [1]. This particular rhinoceros, a
subspecies that lives (or lived) in Cameroon, w...
Remembering Marti Kheel
On November 19, ecofeminist, author, and human-animal studies scholar
Marti Kheel died. She co-founded Feminists for Animal Rights in 1982,
the first organization to work to end the dual oppressions felt by
animals and women, and to show the links...
"One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic."
Two incidents this fall in Detroit have reminded me of this pithy and
perceptive quote from, yes, Joseph Stalin. These are the stories of
Ace and Queenie, two dogs who have come to represent the millions of
victims of prejudice against urban pit b...
The Race Back to Slaughter
There is an ugly urgency with which proponents from various
agriculture and even a few "humane" sectors are working to bring horse
slaughter back to the United States.
Last month slaughter proponents in Congress tacked a provision onto a
larger ...
A Holiday Wish
On behalf of the ASI board and staff, I wish you a peaceful holiday
season. As the year draws to a close, IA¢I? 1/2 I? 1/2 d like to
share some of the highlights of our work and some stories from 2011.
This year, we were able to:
A¢I? 1/2 A¢...
