Between the passage from the Jungle Book, and the story of the White Seal the theme of hierarchy is easy to pick out.Though when reading these passages, one must remember that it is a man that has written these stories telling them through the eyes of the central animal figures.It is true that animals do have their own systems of hierarchy.Wolves and dogs alike have leaders to lead their packs, while many of the feline family walk alone.
In both of these passages, men are referenced to be killers and to be feared.In the jungles and on the sea, men have taken the lives of animals for food and for the adrenaline of the hunt for centuries.These passages also shed light of the laws of the jungle and within the seal clans as well.The character Kotick (a white seal) took leadership after fighting the largest seals on the beach.Calling out, “Here you, fat pigs of the sea!Who comes with me to the Sea Cow’s tunnel?Answer, or I shall teach you again.”Kotick thus established himself the leader of those who would follow him.They in turn called out, “We will follow Kotick, the White Seal.” (866)
2. A rare white seal
The leadership of the wolves was settled once the current leader failed to complete a kill.The younger wolves would turn to kill the leader, with the successful one taking the role of leader of the pack.The character Mowgli would have to follow a different path then the brothers he grew up with, since he was born of men.Once he had taken the life of Shere Khan he asks himself questions aloud in song. “ Waters of the Waingunga, the Man-Pack have cast me out.I did them no harm, but they were afraid of me. Why?Wolf-Pack, ye have cast me out too.The jungle is shut to me and the village gates are shut. Why?”(877)
Having not read Black Beauty in over a decade, it was a nice treat to read familiar text.After reading some of the other blog posts from my classmates, I will base some of my blog on Ducks DB A Horse by any Other Name.
Duck writes on the topic of Black Beauty’s name, which changes many times throughout the book.Each owner chooses a name for B.B. mainly based on his color.His different names include: Black Beauty, Black Auster, Jack and the nickname of Blackie.Throughout the book, B.B. refers and acknowledges himself to be Black Beauty (which of course was his original name and his last).On the second to last page of the book, B.B. remarks “after this it was quite decided to keep me and call me by my old name of ‘Black Beauty’”. (212)Through the name changes, it is clear that B.B. does accept his name and shows acknowledgement to his owner of that recognition.B.B. is a fictional character, so does this translate to real animals.
Having just adopted my new companion from Animal Pets Alive, I decided to keep his name Bear.He is over two years old, and having been called Bear for that duration I found it a bit cruel to give him a new one.I could understand renaming a young animal that has not found attachment to a spoken name, but with age a name sticks.He came right up to me the first time I called his name, so it stuck.With my pet bird Jazz, he shows acknowledgement each and every time I speak his name.Writing this currently I tried to call him Jack (still a J name) and he didn’t respond.
1. My dog Bear and his white patch on his head
Black Beauty is a beautiful story of a character with a strong heart and a good soul.In reading the afterward for the copy of Black Beauty that I hold, I find it interesting on how the author, Anna Sewell, beliefs were molded.Lucy Grealy writes, “Anna’s beliefs were shaped in part by a book called Essays on Animals by Horace Bushnell.Bushnell believed man to have brains superior to those of animals, yet rather than affording man the divine right to use them to exploit lesser creatures, Bushnell believed the very fact of our superiority demanded that we treat those below us with kindness and fairness.” (221)
2. Sewell Family at Dudwick House
I end with a quote that I had also included in my video road map.This quote speaks to me and my difficult travels, though I am much younger than Beauty in the book. Joe Green after realizing that the horse in his care is indeed Beauty remarks: “Give you a fair trial!I should think so indeed!I wonder who the rascal was that broke your knees, my old Beauty!You must have been badly served out some-where; well, well, it won’t be my fault if you haven’t good times of it now.”
I realize that this blog is late in terms of being posted.I feel though that my time was spent in better ways filling out an application form to adopt a dog from Austin Pets Alive!Wish me luck that Bear and I will have a great meeting that will lead into a lifelong friendship.So tomorrow is a new day.
I have always thought that people who said animals can’t speak were less of a person for saying such.Though we cannot understand the direct meaning of a dogs bark, or the whistle from a pet bird, their emotion can come through if you listen with your heart and not your ears. “They speak to us, and we to them.In how many several sorts of ways do we speak to our dogs, and they answer us?” (836)When time is spent with an animal, communication can transverse spoken words. Being a communication major I learned a long time ago that 97% of the act of communicating is non-verbal, and 3% being the actual words used.Of that 97% a large portion is the tonality of the voice (rate, pitch, depth) and the rest with gestures, gaze, and facial expressions.So of course animals can tell when we are upset with them, and when we are happy or sad.The problem is most of us don’t see things the other way around.We don’t take the time to see that animals do express their emotions, and if we paid attention we could read their non-verbal’s.It is easy to see when a dog is happy when he wags his tail.It is also very apparent the suffering animals express when they are treated with a cruel hand.People that take a cruel approach to handling animals (and that is what they do, handle) are past the point to realize the emotional connection that can be made with that animal.In the 1700s, “wide diffusion of biological notions…gave birth to a conventional, almost fashionable, mode of sentimental commiseration with the sufferings of animals.” (804)
John Berger writes in Why Look at Animals about this concept.“With their parallel lives, animals offer man a companionships which is different from any offered by human enhance.Different because it is a companionship offered to the loneliness of man as a species.Such an unspeaking companionship was felt to be so equal that often one find the conviction that it was man who lacked the capacity to speak with animals—hence the stories and legends of exceptional beings, like Orpheus, who could talk with animals in their own language.” (796)
The world is changing and common slang changes as well.There are some terms that have gained group through the years as well.I am referring to terms that are used to degrade or expressing a disrespect to a person, gender or race.The terms used disrespectingly toward humans also show a lack of respect of the animals from which the term was coined.“These linguistic habits are rooted in speciesism, the assumption that other animals are inferior to humans and do not warrant equal consideration and respect. (785)
A cartoon expressing the loosely used term bitch. (1)
The Webster dictionary dates the definition of bitch back to the 12 century and defines bitch as “the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals.”The second definition provided defines bitch as “a lewd or immoral woman” or “a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman” that is “sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse.” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bitch) John Dunayer writes in his article Sexist Words, Speciesist Roots that “bitch denotes a female dog able to produce a litter.As pejorative, the term has remained female specific.” (786)
Dunayer continues in his article to explain the derogatory nature of the word when used to describe a woman.“Why should calling a woman a ‘bitch’ impute malice and selfishness?Given that most dogs are loving and eager to please, the metaphor’s sharp contempt seems puzzling.Breeders, however, have always treated the female dog with contempt—as a means to a useful, profitable, or prestigious litter.” (787)I turn my attention back to the definition provided by the Webster’s dictionary, where it states the definition of bitch dates to the 12th century. Men during that time, and still today use that term to provide themselves with the notion that they are superior to animals, and superior to Women.“The animal is a word, it is an appellation that men have instituted, a name they have given themselves the rightand the authority to give to another living creature.” (720)The term bitch can be understood as used to describe a Women and a female dog/mammal to be only a vessel to provide off spring.
A humorous view toward the term bitch. In this modern time, it seems that the disrespectful connotation of the term is loosing its power and is being more embraced. You decided if this is better or worse. (2)
In the article Sexist Words, Speciesist Roots, Dunayer continues to describe many of the derogatory phrases we use today.It is an interesting read if you are courious to the meaning behind slang phrases and the falsehoods behind them.The term “make pigs of themselves” for example is false in relation to the animal.“Unlike many other animals (including humans), they show no tendency to overeat.” (789)
Puppy Mills seem to be a highly debatable issue, yet I don’t recall having ever talked to an individual that was for them. There are numerous definitions for puppy mill. Wikipedia defines it as “a commercial dog breeding facility that is operated with an emphasis upon profits above animal welfare and is often in substandard conditions regarding the well-being of dogs in their care.”(1) The National Companion Animal Coalition defines puppy mills as “a high-volume, sub-standard dog breeding operation, which sells purebred or mixed-breed dogs, to unsuspecting buyers.”(2) The formal, Webster’s definition is “a commercial farming operation in which purebred dogs are raised in large numbers.”(3) A huge part of the debate over puppy mills would seem to be whether or not all puppy mills are bad, but that would take much more time than is allowed for the purpose of this discussion. For the purpose of this discussion, let’s use the assumption that all puppy mills operate under sub-standard conditions. Should these facilities be allowed to operate and if so, what can be done to assure the well being of the animals? If you have ever been in a discussion with anybody over this issue, the general consensus is to totally abolish puppy mills or make it totally illegal to operate one. Then you have the argument focused toward government regulation of these operations to make sure they are managed properly. But are either of these options really feasible?
Let’s start by analyzing what is the purpose of the puppy mill. At its core, the puppy mill breeds numerous breeds of pure-bred and mix dogs for the purpose of selling the offspring to pet stores and individuals for the enjoyment of their companionship. This being the case, then totally abolishing puppy mills really doesn’t make sense. So, does this mean that the solution is to have the government step in and regulate the industry? It would seem that would be a simple answer to the problem of managing puppy mills.Government regulation could be a viable plan, but would take years, if not decades, to implement and put into practice. Not to mention all the special interests that would end up in a bill of this nature. So that solution is not really a common sense approach either.
With all the technicalities we go through daily, how is it that inhumane operations continue under the radar?When was the last time you read a licensing agreement online before clicking the ‘I accept’ option and proceeding to what you wanted to view on that particular website? Fewer people could profit from puppy mills if we focused less on money and more on ensuring humane methods of breeding animals. Puppy mills exist simply for the purpose of breeding dogs as a product.These dogs are kept in uncomfortably confined spaces, in some cases without the room to even turn around, fed enough to barely stay alive, and their litters are pawned off like any other bit of property.Many of the offspring from these operations tend to have respiratory, genetic and mental disabilities from the unsanitary conditions from which they are bred. The mothers of these offspring face a life of constant pregnancy, and are auctioned off or killed once they fail to produce consistent litters. (4) If a law were passed to regulate dog breeding, which made it impossible for anyone to sell a breed of dog without a proper breeding license, the problem would diminish if not disappear. Though there are no laws at the national level for regulating breeders and puppy mills, many states have implemented some regulations.
Images of these animals leave a lasting impression (visual 1)
Individual states have already taken action against puppy-mills by implementing state puppy mill laws.The problem is that not all states have implemented laws such as these.In the state of Georgia, a breeder must pay to obtain a license to operate.They are subject to inspections by the commissioner of agriculture’s office, including new facilities, and must follow specific guidelines set by the state to maintain their license.The stipulation for this license is to provide humane care and proper facilities including: being in a “good state of repair, sanitation, ventilation” and free from “disease”. (5) Other states do not require a license to operate as a breeder, thereby leading to unregulated puppy mills.
Two of the largest states do not require a license to run a business of breeding and selling dogs. These two states are California and Texas.California does provide a definition for a breeder and requirements.However, the state does not regulate these facilities, and does not require inspections.Texas does not have any laws regulating breeders or animal facilities.
There is an assumption that state anti-cruelty laws would be applied toward this type of operation.This assumption has cloaked the fact that “most puppy mill dogs are often treated as agricultural ‘crops’ and not as pets.” (6) Most of the time, these businesses do not allow purchasers to view their facilities. I will use the state of Georgia as an example.Yes, Georgia does regulate breeders within the state, yet it is the office of the commissioner of agriculture that mandates the states stipulations.They bring their “product” to the doorsteps of unsuspecting businesses under the guise of a reputable breeder.“Some local humane societies and governmental agencies investigate conditions at puppy mills and intervene to rescue the animals if necessary. In many cases, though, local authorities may not set foot on a puppy mill unless they have received a complaint from a credible person who has personally witnessed substandard conditions and animal suffering. Because so few puppy mills invite customers onto their property to purchase dogs, it can be extremely difficult for law enforcement to intervene.” (7)
If all states adopted laws that were passed to regulate animal breeding, making it impossible for anyone to sell a breed of dog without a proper breeding license, the problem would shrink significantly, if not disappear altogether. Hypothetically, in this law, a dog breeder would need to go through an extensive process to be allowed to breed.This should not just apply to dogs, but any animal.This law would force every breeder to undergo inspection to see if they were fit to raise animals for breeding, if the living conditions were suitable for the animal, and if the dogs were indeed being well taken care of.If every breeder had to pay a fee to acquire a license and bi-monthly inspections on the animals and the owner were mandatory, it would be a strong deterrent for abusive dog-mills. The law should also dictate that pet shops be held liable for checking the authenticity of breeding license before buying animals from a breeder.
That said, common sense dictates a much more directly manageable plan if we are to make a difference in the lives of the poor animals that are bred, born and raised in these hell-holes we call puppy mills. One of the most effective means of combating the problem of abuse and neglect in puppy mills is on site inspections, looking for compliance of animal cruelty laws. These inspection jobs already exist, but training these people takes money and maintaining these jobs takes a decent salary. However, just having these positions is not enough either. There needs to be more of them than are currently out there, so the kennels and breeding facilities that are in non-compliance are actually caught and dealt with. The infrastructure and laws regarding animal cruelty are already in place. What is lacking is financing. We have National Kennel Clubs such as the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the United Kennel Club (UKC) and each individual breed of both dogs and cats have individual Kennel Clubs for their specific breed. All of these clubs have action plans for protecting the integrity and breeding of their individual breeds. We have organizations like PETA who are dedicated to the protection of animal rights. So why re-invent the wheel? It would seem that all we really need to do is reach into our pocket books and help fund the plans that are already in place. We all talk the good fight, but that is all we do! TALK!!
Every action plan needs to start somewhere.Awareness is already being raised for animal cruelty as a whole, and a focus needs to be made toward puppy mills.The public needs to face public problem recognition of the issue surrounding puppy mills.“Problem recognition occurs whenever the consumer sees a significant difference between his current state of affairs and some desired or ideal state.He perceives there is a problem to be solved, which may be small or large, simple or complex.” (8) The consumer being the person who unknowingly buys a puppy from a local pet store that, knowingly or not, purchased the animal from a puppy mill.There are documentaries such as Earthlings that show the dire conditions animals live through in puppy mills.The public does not search out images or information about this depressing subject.Commercials and public campaigns for animals in shelters are blasted across the airwaves and the impact has been made.However, the attention now need to go from a broad focus to an intense focus on puppy mills, themselves. “On May 29, 2008, MSNBC aired a report about puppy mills, in which Oprah Winfrey revealed an industry fraught with problems and apparent cruelty. The broadcast showed puppy mills having small cages with chicken wire floors, stacked in rows from floor to ceiling and stated that many dogs spend their entire lives within these tiny cages. Many of these dogs are sold on the internet or by pet retailers to buyers who are unaware of the dogs' backgrounds.” (9)More coverage and attention needs to be made toward this industry.Only continued exposure will lead to the public gaining knowledge about these practices.
Clip from the documentary Earthlings (Visual 2)
We should use the resources that AKC and UKC have set in place.There are many free avenues that can be used to start an awareness campaign.Facebook is a good example of a free median that can be used to raise awareness.Many other organizations have used fan pages and groups to gain membership and awareness on a subject.A starting point would be to focus on an individual city or state.Once membership climbs to a substantial number, use other free media to give exposure to the cause.Ask members to go to their local pet stores to inquire where they purchase the animals they sell and ask for documentation.In the city of Austin TX, Pet Smart works hand and hand with the non-profit organization Austin Pets Alive.In these Pet Smarts, rescued animals are up for adoption within the store instead of puppies.I would tend to believe that this has diminished the demand of puppies from puppy mills in this city.This also shows how a small group (in this case a non-profit organization) can make an impact, and start a chain reaction of change.
The largest impacts can start as small individual plans and actions. A huge difference can be made by raising awareness for the cause of creating jobs to combat animal cruelty in puppy mills.The tools are in place, so now is the time to use them!If you truly love animals and truly want to see the abuse and neglect that is occurring in these breeding facilities come to a halt; get off your lazy behinds and start helping to fund the programs that are out there to combat this abuse and neglect! Or, if you don’t have the extra money, donate your time. Just a couple of hours a week could make a difference! If you are going to buy a pet, do your research first. Look for a reputable breeder. If you buy from a pet store, find out where they get their pets and make sure that place is reputable. You could also do as I did and adopt a pet through a non-profit organization that focuses on rescuing animals.
Self explanatory (visual 3)
Word Count (without quotations): 1,733 Word Count (with quotations): 2,014
Works Cited
1. Wikipedia. “Puppy Mill.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_mill (accessed March 29, 2010).
2. Animal Advocates Society of BC. “Puppy Mills- a definition.” Animal Advocates Society. http://www.animaladvocates.com/dog-breeding/definitions.php (accessed March 29, 2010).
3. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. “Puppymill.” Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/puppymill (accessed March 29, 2010).
4. Miscavage, Loriane. "Mother Dogs at Puppy Mills Have Nothing to Celebrate." The Humane Society of the United States. http:/http://www.hsus.org/ press_and_publications/press_releases/mother_dogs_at_puppy_mills_050909.html (accessed April 20, 2010).
5. Humane Society of the United States. “State Puppy Mill Laws.” The Humane Society of the United States. http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/pets/puppy_mills/puppy_mills_laws_chart.pdf (accessed March 29, 2010).
6. Human Society of the United States. “What about anti-cruelty laws? Don’t those affect puppy mills?” Human Society of the United States. http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/qa/puppy_mill_FAQs.html#What_about_anticruelty_laws_Dont_those_a (accessed March 29, 2010).
7. Human Society of the United States. “What about anti-cruelty laws? Don’t those affect puppy mills?” Human Society of the United States. http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/qa/puppy_mill_FAQs.html#What_about_anticruelty_laws_Dont_those_a (accessed March 29, 2010).
8. Solomon, Michael R. "Consumers as Decision Makers." InConsumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being7th ed., edited by Katie Stevens, 308. 1996. Reprint, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.
9. Wikipedia. “Puppy Mill.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_mills#cite_note-15 (accessed March 29, 2010).
When we are children, we don’t pay attention to the race/gender/ or species of others.The family dog can be your best friend, rooming freely around the house with you taking part in adventures.You could care less about the race or gender of your playmates on the playground.The ability to distinguish these traits is taught to you while you are growing and learning.The world around you starts to get smaller as people around you teach you what you should believe. (PICTURE 1)
“I was shocked that I had forgotten that human animals and nonhuman animals can communicate quite well; if we are brought up around animals as children we take this for granted.By the time we are adults we no longer remember.” (760A) Alice Walker expresses this idea beautifully in her story Am I Blue. Relating the treatment of animals, specifically a horse named Blue, to the treatment of slaves.She describes the relationship of adolescence and equality to the conditioning the person faces by the times/parents/ and peers on how to treat those that are different.“About slavery: about white children, who were raised by black people, who knew their first all-accepting love from black women, and then, when they were twelve or so, were told they must “forget” the deep levels of communication between themselves and “mammy that they knew… many more years later a white woman would say: ‘I can’t understand these Negroes, these blacks.What do they want? They’re so different from us.’”(760B) Racism is defined as “a belief that human races have distinctive characteristics that determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.” (762) Slave owners taught their children that they were better than the slaves they owned.Had their parents not told taught them, they would have continued to have a lifelong love for their “mammy” and slavery would have ceased to exist.
2."I Remember Mammy: Mattie Lee Martin ("Mammy") By one who loved her, Sharman Burson Ramsey
A story of love that didn't die, and didn't leave. A true Mammy that made an impact.
Animals can feel the despair of lose just as family of slaves when a loved one is taken from their arms. In the story Am I Blue, Blue’s mate was taken from him at a time where he seemed the most tranquil.“Blue was like a crazed person.Blue was, to me, a crazed person.He galloped furiously, as if he were being ridden, around and around his five beautiful acres…It was a look so piercing, so full of grief, a look so human,I almost laughed to think there are people who do not know that animals suffer.People like me who have forgotten, and daily forget, all that animals try to tell us.” (760B)We are taught as we grow up that we are human, and that animals are different from us.This is called speciesism.“Speciesism: a belief that different species of animals are significantly different form one another in their capacities to feel pleasure and pain and live an autonomous existence, usually involving the idea that one’s own species has the right to rule and use others.” (762)We forget that we ourselves are animals, sharing this planet with other species.What power are we given that other creatures aren’t?Do we have a bestowed right to treat animals as objects? “The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But, can they suffer?” (757) The answer is yes!Blue’s eye told the story of his pain, and he never trusted the human’s that took his partner away.Animals feel the pain of lose, and we choose not to acknowledge that.Even a goldfish can feel loss.My 7 year old goldfish stopped eating and continued to swim back and forth in his tank for days after the death of another gold fish.I realized that he was mourning the loss of his “friend”.I did find another goldfish to add company to the lonely tank, and after a week my goldfish started to eat again.Though a story of a goldfish isn’t one that should in itself sway you, it should serve as an example that even a goldfish can express loss.
3. A Goldfish expressing himself to his owner
“Comparing the suffering of animals to that of blacks (or any other oppressed group) is offensive only to the speciesist: one who has embraced the false notions of what animals are like.Those who are offended by comparison to a fellow sufferer have unquestioningly accepted the biased worldview present by the master.To deny our similarities to animals is to deny and undermine our own power.It is to continue actively struggling to prove to our masters, past or present, that we are similar to those who have abused us, rather than to our fellow victims, those whom our masters have also victimized.” - Spiegel (766)
A final thought:“ Dale Baum, a history professor at A&M, said UT’s statues and fountain inscription make it arguably the most Confederate campus in the South.” (784) Taking a walk down the great lawn and past these statues, do you ask yourself about the racism embodied on the Campus of the University of Texas?
The subject of sympathetic imagination is difficult to talk about in direct terms.For today’s class discussion I plan on using poetry/ fiction writing as a way of expressing the emotions of a power animal in class. Another item that will be focused on is the difficulties of abstractions in writing; directly relating to sympathetic imagination.
TO BEGIN CLASS DISCUSSION:
A student who chooses to will be asked to read: The Panther (Rilke) and A Second Glance at a Jaguar (Hughes)
The class will be handed note cards with a specific animal (from the classroom power animals) written on the top.Each student will then be asked to write a short nonfiction story or preferably a poem about that animal.The topic of prose should be to express the animal on the card without naming the animal itself.The student should use sympathetic imagination to express how that animal would feel being in a cage for example, or the freedom of being in the wild.
Abstract arguments need examples and/or concrete images. Use “word pictures” like “illustrations, analogies, vivid quotations, metaphors, similes” (76). This helps your reader both understand and remember your argument
POEM: “A piece of writing or an oral composition, often characterized by a metrical structure, in which the expression of feelings, ideas, etc., is typically given intensity or flavour by distinctive diction, rhythm, imagery, etc.; a composition in poetry or verse.”
Each student will then anonymously place the card in a bag.A random student will then pick out a random card from the bag and read the poem.The class as a whole will try and guess what animal was the topic and answer the following questions:
Is the animal easy to guess?
Were you able to make a mental image of the animal and the surroundings? (cage/ in the wild)
Were you able to relate to the conditions the animal faced? (Use sympathetic Imagination)(“aperson’s ability to penetrate a spatial barrier and enter an object for a moment of complete identification.")
Were there to many abstractions? Were you able to gain a firm grasp of the idea presented?
a.To add to this question, I will read from Professor Bumps literature on Abstractions:
i.Hence the usual advice for good writing is to avoid abstract B.S.:
*John Trimble asks, "Are you being specific enough?" (Ex. “The character of Hamlet displays the qualities of a tragic hero.” LIKE WHAT???)
ii.Abstract arguments need examples and/or concrete images. Use “word pictures” like “illustrations, analogies, vivid quotations, metaphors, similes” (76). This helps your reader both understand and remember your argument
b."When vague abstractions are introduced, the leader is expected to ask for definitions and examples immediately. (Students who introduce vague abstractions should be prepared to supply these definitions and examples.) Why? "Without a firm hold on things, we shall waste ourselves in vague speculations'."
5. What phrase could have been changed to give a better (concrete) understanding of the animal?
At the end of the class I will pose this question.Though writing as the voice of the animal were you able to relate to the conditions faced by your subject?Do you feel that this exercise allowed you to have a better grasp of sympathetic imagination?
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