Below is a true account of what happened yesterday while I was buying nightcrawlers for the frogs. I think that the conversation really perfectly crystalizes how far we have yet to come in the struggle for animal rights, animal welfare, and recognition of an animal's legitimacy beyond how it can be used as a means to human ends.
Note: Those of you who mind will have to pardon the use of "pet" since there was already a language barrier (this was an ESL individual) I didn't wish to further complicate things.
I share my life with a dozen Horned Frogs, adoptees from former caregivers who lost interest. Native to South America, these frogs are essentially walking stomachs; they are ambush predators with a voracious apetite. They need live, invertebrate based prey to survive, and one such prey item that is very nutritious for them is Nightcrawlers. Please spare me the lectures on live feeding; the simple reality of the situation is that these animals are in captivity with no prospect of returning to the wild, are carnivorous by nature, and require live invertebrates for survival. With that out of the way...
Yesterday, I purchased my typical weekly requirement of about sixty nightcrawlers from a local vendor. As I was checking out, the cashier - a small middle aged Latina woman - smiled and commented on my purchase.
"Oooh, you're doing a lot of fishing huh?"
I paused, wondering if it was worth even engaging in this conversation, and ultimately decided that I dislike fishing sufficiently to say otherwise. I smiled back at her.
"Actually, they're to feed frogs."
The cashier looked somewhere between confused and alarmed.
"You feed frogs?"
As a wildlife rehabilitator, I oppose feeding wildlife, but I suspect her confusion had more to do with an ill opinion of frogs than an ill opinion of feeding wildlife.
"Well they're my frogs." I tried to think of a way to explain this more clearly, especially without being encumbered by semantics for my own sake when talking to someone who, from her thick accent, was an ESL learner. "Pets?"
The cashier's eyes grew even wider.
"PET frogs?" She paused contemplatively. "What kind of frogs?"
In my experience, about 99.9% of laypersons have no clue what a horned frog was.
"Horned frogs - from Argentina," I replied, so as not to leave her trying to figure out where in New York one might see a Horned Frog.
The smile returned.
"Ah, little frogs? For kids?"
Oh goodness. Am I getting old enough to look reproductive?
"No, big frogs." I gestured their approximate five inch size.
The cashier's smile broadened; she was apparently having an epiphany.
"Oh! For eating!"
I tried to keep the alarm off of my face as I contemplated Fen's tiny, feeble horned frog hindquarters served up French style.
"No, just as pets."
The cashier scowled now.
"Why? How do you play with them?"
I was starting to see a trend: she was trying to figure out what I got out of "owning" these frogs.
"Well... you don't play with them, you just feed them and care for them and watch them."
I imagine cognitive dissonance was hitting her like a freight train from the expression on her face. Finally, afer a long pause, she threw her hands up in a gesture of defeat.
"I don't know, if I was going to have a pet you could eat, I'd just get a guinea pig; at least they're cute."
I want you to put aside your instinctive American horror at the thought of eating anything but the standard species of choice in the US, as farming and slaughter for food is farming and slaughter for food regardless of if you're eating a dog in Asia, a cow in England, or a guinea pig in South America. And I want you to put away any disdain you have for this woman, because she is merely a product of her environment; she was not being deliberately malicious, but rather truly couldn't understand the value of an animal that is not companionable, not edible, and not aesthetically appealing.
This interaction demonstrates the roots of anthropocentrism and speciesism. The majority of people are so heavily socially conditioned to think of animals only in terms of their value to us that many have difficulty even grasping the concept of the value of animals as animals. It is important to recognize this instead of lumping all non-vegans into the category of being selfish as we so often - and so wrongly - do from atop our perceived moral high ground.
What we must remember is that we are looking at something that sociologically is deeply imbedded in humanity. No ammount of disdain or smug superiority is going to correct this; we need to hack at the roots of speciesism by compassionately, patiently raising awareness about animals. And we musn't do it merely by talking about how wrong exploitation is, because until people better understand animals outside of the context of human utility, an anti-exploitation viewpoint is going to be seen as radical, irrational, and inflammatory since it directly contradicts society.
I feel that one area that needs to be emphasized more by the animal rights community is communicating in an attractive light the lives of animals when unincumbered by the yoke of oppression. Humans can and do delight at the natural world when shown in a light that generates reverence and wonder. I will offer another example of a more positive interaction with someone about an animal they had trouble grasping the value of:
I rescue exotic animals victimized by the pet trade. While I realize some may balk at this thought, I also use them as ambassadors to teach about their biology, ecology, conservation, etc. with the hopes that people will want to conserve them in the wild where they belong rather than in the confines of captivity. I avoid subjecting them to undue stress and only utilize species that are calm and amenable to handling; if anything it could be seen as a form of enrichment via the change in settings and interaction with myself and the public. But let us not focus on debating something that most sanctuaries also do to spread awareness because it has an inkling of exploitation. This is the take-home point:
Some of the most difficult animals to educate about are ones traditionally viewed as frightening, repulsive, or dangerous. These animals more than any other need our persistent advocacy efforts, as they are routinely killed, denied basic protections, and exploited unchallenged due to their lack of mass appeal. One such species is the centipede. Between its ample supply of legs, large size, rapid movements, and venemous nature, many people despise and rush to kill this species. I discuss the centipede during my educational talks.
One woman was particularly alarmed and disturbed by the centipede during one of my talks. She expressed that they "see the business end of a boot" in her household. I could have rushed to anger at her remark, called her an animal murderer, but this is counterproductive. Instead, I continued my talk, discussing the undeserved negative reputation of the centipede. Since we had many parents in the audience, I made it a point to note one of the more endearing aspects of centipede behavior: they are fantastic mothers, carefully tending to their eggs and young with a dilligence that puts the average parents of a wandering brat in Walmart to shame.
At the end of the show, this woman approached, and asked if centipedes were really good mothers like I'd said. I confirmed this fact, describing in detail how a mother millipede will carefully tend to each of her scores of eggs to prevent them from developing mold, how she will attack a species much larger to her at hazard of her own safety to protect them. Call such behavior instinct if you wish; it is still something a human mother can relate to. In that moment, the woman looked closely at the centipede, and she smiled. In a very childish way, she broke into a grin and said "That's so cool." In that moment, the centipede went from a hated household pest to something inspiring wonder and awe in a grown woman raised in a society that taught her to never think of that invertebrate as anything but a pest to humanity, not a complex, fascinating fellow species with its own life.
Meaningful connections, education that broadens the narrow scope of our view of animals from their relevence to us to their relevence in general. This, my friends, is how you begin to dismantle speciesism.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Vegan Companion Animals
A popular subject of debate within the vegan community is that of imposing veganism on carnivorous and omnivorous companion animals such as dogs and cats. Living with meat eating animals presents a unique moral dilemma for the vegan: is it acceptable to support the exploitation and killing of animals to support the life of another animal? This problem is so preeminent for the vegan community that a variety of vegan pet food products for dogs and cats have been produced - and do indeed successfully sell.
Yet feeding dogs & cats a vegan diet raises other moral questions for the conscientious vegan. For one, is it truly healthy to feed these animals a vegan diet despite claims of complete nutrition posed by the companies that produce such products? And do we have the right to impose our ethics on another species, to such an extent that we alter basic fundamentals like their natural dietary preferences?
There are good ethical arguments to be made on both sides of the coin. Animal nutritionists - and I would be inclined to agree - point out that an unnatural diet heavy in vegetable matter is largely the reason why dogs and cats have so much diet related illness to begin with. For an obligate carnivore like the cat, vegan diets present certain health obstacles, and while it would stand to reason that fortified nutrition should solve these issues, I am yet to see any lengthy peer-reviewed studies on the validity of vegan diets for felines OR canines.
AAFCO does not require extensive trials before approving foods. There is no requirement to study the life-long effects of a given diet. What's more, AAFCO standards deal with animal nutrition the way we've approached human nutrition. We cut everything down into percentages while ignoring the importance of nutrient context and nutrient interactions. Food science is so complex that it is constantly evolving, and the more we research, the more one thing becomes glaringly apparent: processed diets are poor nutrition - for humans and other animals.
The best nutrition for a dog or cat, point blank, is a diet based in varied whole animal proteins, and for dogs, some plant proteins as well. Ideally an obligate carnivore like the cat should be feeding on whole prey items, not pellets or canned foods. Ideally an omnivore like the dog should have varied nutrition from plant and animal sources, not a limited scope of one or two types of protein mixed with an abundance of soy, corn, and wheat. And neither animal should have a diet dominated by vegetable products alone.
Despite this, it is inarguable that feeding meat to dogs and cats conflicts with vegan moral philosophy. There is very little room for grey area on the matter of animal exploitation, and meat is the product of animal exploitation regardless of if it is fed to those on two legs or those on four. For the dedicated vegan, imposing veganism on one's dog or cat seems like the only viable option.
I, however, would challenge the assumption that the only options are to support the meat industry or feed a vegan diet to dogs and cats. My solution is a simple one: vegans should adopt animals that are naturally herbivorous by nature. The third most populated companion animal in the United States is the rabbit. Rabbits are strict herbivores by nature, and unlike dogs and cats, which generally receive proper care in typical homes due to their elevated status as "members of the family," most rabbits short of those kept by enthusiasts receive improper care - even in the homes of well meaning "animal lovers." Qualified adopters are sorely needed for rabbits, and vegans are the perfect candidates to fill these shoes.
Rabbits are hardly the only naturally herbivorous companion available to vegans. Parrots and Green Iguanas are two additional species with exponential surrender rates to exotic animal rescues and shelters, and both thrive on a vegan diet. Both also require highly dedicated, specialized care - perfect for someone with a high regard for animal well being like a vegan. Once reared in captivity these exotic animals are not candidates for return to the wild, so homes willing to provide for their extensive needs as non-domesticated animals are the only option - an option we can offer.
There are also several vegetarian-leaning omnivores that do well on a vegan diet. Omnivores exist in a spectrum; there are animals that consume predominantly plant matter and enrich their diets with animal products, and there are animals that consume predominantly animal matter and enrich their diets with plant matter. Canines fall into the latter category; animal products are a critical part of their nutrition and indeed most thrive even in the absence of plant matter. Their opposites can thrive on an absence of animal matter and require plant matter as critical nutrition. These animals are far better candidates for a vegan diet than a creature like a dog.
Rodents are primarily granivores, and while granivores by nature consume some animal matter (generally invertebrates) when available, they are very capable of adapting to a vegan diet with plant-based protein items. Mice, rats, hamsters, and gerbils have a very low standing in society and are frequently subjected to abuse and exploitation. They can easily be fed a balanced vegan diet to maintain health and make wonderful companions for vegans who live in cramped quarters. Guinea pigs, degu, and chincillas are primarily grazing rodents with no need for animal matter in their diet, and also are in need of adopters.
Finally, vegan homes may be a good option for some of the meekest creatures on earth: humble fish and invertebrates, some of the most ignored and mistreated creatures on the planet. There are many algae-grazing, herbivorous fish species that a vegan may open their home to, and a quick browsing of any pet placement classifieds will show that fish routinely are want for good homes. Though less commonly in need of rescue and adoption, exotic invertebrates such as tropical millipedes and cockroaches are also sometimes offered for adoption, and make for fascinating companions.
In short: it is our duty and obligation as vegans to avoid the exploitation of animals whenever possible, but it is also our duty to protect the health and well being of any companion animals we elect to share our homes with. A vegan diet for a dog or cat is of questionable integrity, particularly in the case of the latter, so a very appropriate compromise for a vegan who wishes to welcome a rescued animal into his or her home is to seek out a naturally herbivorous species. There is no shortage of vegan-friendly companion animals in rescues and shelters across the country. Please, adopt an herbivore.
Image (c) Cats & Rabbits & More
Yet feeding dogs & cats a vegan diet raises other moral questions for the conscientious vegan. For one, is it truly healthy to feed these animals a vegan diet despite claims of complete nutrition posed by the companies that produce such products? And do we have the right to impose our ethics on another species, to such an extent that we alter basic fundamentals like their natural dietary preferences?
There are good ethical arguments to be made on both sides of the coin. Animal nutritionists - and I would be inclined to agree - point out that an unnatural diet heavy in vegetable matter is largely the reason why dogs and cats have so much diet related illness to begin with. For an obligate carnivore like the cat, vegan diets present certain health obstacles, and while it would stand to reason that fortified nutrition should solve these issues, I am yet to see any lengthy peer-reviewed studies on the validity of vegan diets for felines OR canines.
AAFCO does not require extensive trials before approving foods. There is no requirement to study the life-long effects of a given diet. What's more, AAFCO standards deal with animal nutrition the way we've approached human nutrition. We cut everything down into percentages while ignoring the importance of nutrient context and nutrient interactions. Food science is so complex that it is constantly evolving, and the more we research, the more one thing becomes glaringly apparent: processed diets are poor nutrition - for humans and other animals.
The best nutrition for a dog or cat, point blank, is a diet based in varied whole animal proteins, and for dogs, some plant proteins as well. Ideally an obligate carnivore like the cat should be feeding on whole prey items, not pellets or canned foods. Ideally an omnivore like the dog should have varied nutrition from plant and animal sources, not a limited scope of one or two types of protein mixed with an abundance of soy, corn, and wheat. And neither animal should have a diet dominated by vegetable products alone.
Despite this, it is inarguable that feeding meat to dogs and cats conflicts with vegan moral philosophy. There is very little room for grey area on the matter of animal exploitation, and meat is the product of animal exploitation regardless of if it is fed to those on two legs or those on four. For the dedicated vegan, imposing veganism on one's dog or cat seems like the only viable option.
I, however, would challenge the assumption that the only options are to support the meat industry or feed a vegan diet to dogs and cats. My solution is a simple one: vegans should adopt animals that are naturally herbivorous by nature. The third most populated companion animal in the United States is the rabbit. Rabbits are strict herbivores by nature, and unlike dogs and cats, which generally receive proper care in typical homes due to their elevated status as "members of the family," most rabbits short of those kept by enthusiasts receive improper care - even in the homes of well meaning "animal lovers." Qualified adopters are sorely needed for rabbits, and vegans are the perfect candidates to fill these shoes.
Rabbits are hardly the only naturally herbivorous companion available to vegans. Parrots and Green Iguanas are two additional species with exponential surrender rates to exotic animal rescues and shelters, and both thrive on a vegan diet. Both also require highly dedicated, specialized care - perfect for someone with a high regard for animal well being like a vegan. Once reared in captivity these exotic animals are not candidates for return to the wild, so homes willing to provide for their extensive needs as non-domesticated animals are the only option - an option we can offer.
There are also several vegetarian-leaning omnivores that do well on a vegan diet. Omnivores exist in a spectrum; there are animals that consume predominantly plant matter and enrich their diets with animal products, and there are animals that consume predominantly animal matter and enrich their diets with plant matter. Canines fall into the latter category; animal products are a critical part of their nutrition and indeed most thrive even in the absence of plant matter. Their opposites can thrive on an absence of animal matter and require plant matter as critical nutrition. These animals are far better candidates for a vegan diet than a creature like a dog.
Rodents are primarily granivores, and while granivores by nature consume some animal matter (generally invertebrates) when available, they are very capable of adapting to a vegan diet with plant-based protein items. Mice, rats, hamsters, and gerbils have a very low standing in society and are frequently subjected to abuse and exploitation. They can easily be fed a balanced vegan diet to maintain health and make wonderful companions for vegans who live in cramped quarters. Guinea pigs, degu, and chincillas are primarily grazing rodents with no need for animal matter in their diet, and also are in need of adopters.
Finally, vegan homes may be a good option for some of the meekest creatures on earth: humble fish and invertebrates, some of the most ignored and mistreated creatures on the planet. There are many algae-grazing, herbivorous fish species that a vegan may open their home to, and a quick browsing of any pet placement classifieds will show that fish routinely are want for good homes. Though less commonly in need of rescue and adoption, exotic invertebrates such as tropical millipedes and cockroaches are also sometimes offered for adoption, and make for fascinating companions.
In short: it is our duty and obligation as vegans to avoid the exploitation of animals whenever possible, but it is also our duty to protect the health and well being of any companion animals we elect to share our homes with. A vegan diet for a dog or cat is of questionable integrity, particularly in the case of the latter, so a very appropriate compromise for a vegan who wishes to welcome a rescued animal into his or her home is to seek out a naturally herbivorous species. There is no shortage of vegan-friendly companion animals in rescues and shelters across the country. Please, adopt an herbivore.
Image (c) Cats & Rabbits & More
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