The Animal Manifesto (24 page)

Indeed, the problems facing animals are so broad that they require creative proactive solutions drenched in deep humility, compassion, caring, respect, and love. We cannot allow our worries and fears to make us inactive and pessimistic, and we must not give in to cynicism. As we consider what to do, we need to be pro-something, not anti-something — we need to advocate for whales and mice as sentient beings, not think of our position as being anti-whaling or anti-animal research, though we don’t favor either. Of course, advocating for mice means working to end invasive research on them, but in theory that research serves a purpose; we ‘ll only achieve our goals when scientists find ways to satisfy their goals without such research. We need to be pro-elephants, not anti-zoos, to make a difference in the lives of elephants who suffer in zoos. We need to concentrate on being positive in difficult and challenging times and not let our frustration get the best of us. We need to act locally and think globally.

Finally, it’s essential to remember that every individual counts and that every individual makes a difference. As Margaret Mead noted: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” It’s also important to remember that Gandhi was right — no matter how hard people fight against you, believing in what you’re doing will eventually result in victory.

“Our stewardship of wild animals should continue to seek a balance of nature — but only ever upon a fulcrum of empathy.”

— Clive Marks

It’s impossible to develop a relationship with an animal and remain unmoved. We should encourage relationships with animals, particularly in our scientists, for we are always affected and changed by them. Surely, animals don’t communicate like we do. They don’t express themselves in the same ways. When they suffer, animals don’t cry in the way that we do. But if our eyes are open, we recognize their pain anyway, and if our hearts are open, we feel it and are affected by it. When it comes to animals, we can be certain that their eyes and hearts are always open.

My friend and esteemed colleague Benjamin Beck, Director of Conservation at the Great Ape Trust, wrote the following notes:

On the day of my retirement from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in 2003, I walked around to say farewell and express thanks to the many people and animals with whom I had worked for 20 years. I saved two of my favorite animals, orangutans Azy and Indah, for last. I had known them since they were youngsters and worked with them collaboratively in cognitive research projects. We had close and trusting relationships, although Azy sometimes treated me as a competitor and performed impressive displays of his dominance. Indah was always sweet and curious, and was probably the brightest ape I have ever met. When I said goodbye to her, my emotions caught up and tears streamed down my cheeks. Indah had probably seen people cry before, but she had never seen me cry. She watched my tears closely, and then fixed my eyes. She reached out, and gently patted me on the shoulder and neck. She had
never before done this, usually preferring to examine my pockets or nudge me toward hidden treats whose location she, but not I, knew. I have no doubt that Indah was able to recognize my state of sadness, and that she responded appropriately, as a friend, with consolation. Later I realized that I had never seen Indah, or any other ape, cry. Our jobs would be easier if apes did cry, because we would have an observable measure of pain and sadness. Instead of tears we must rely on, in Jane Goodall’s words, ‘eyes filled with pain and hopelessness’ in an ill-treated, newly motherless chimpanzee orphan.

Ben is a renowned hardcore scientist with a heart. His sentimentalism makes him more human and also shows clearly that he appreciates that the animals with whom he has worked are sentient beings worthy of respect and admiration. We must stop averting our gaze and closing our hearts to our fellow animals. If we remain aware and attentive, who knows how our lives might be transformed?

Take, for instance, the experience of Dan Southerland, executive editor of Radio Free Asia, who found his life briefly upended and his worldview changed by an errant butterfly. In 2008 in the
Washington Post,
he wrote about his encounter, beginning: “In July last year, a butterfly landed on my shoulder while I was taking a break from my office for a few minutes one afternoon to talk business with a colleague. I was sure the butterfly would soon fly off. We were walking through an L Street canyon near 19th Street NW that was surrounded by granite, concrete and glass. I had never seen a butterfly in this part of the city before. Now I had one clinging to me. It
migrated to my shirt collar and stayed there.” For over two hours, through a trip to a photo shop and lunch in a restaurant, the butterfly clung to Dan, who eventually decided to take him home in a taxicab. Dan named him Poppy, and the butterfly stayed in his family’s backyard for over five weeks, fluttering out to “greet” Dan almost every evening when he returned home from work. Along the way, Dan discovered that he wasn’t the first person to develop a relationship with a butterfly, and by his own admission, “my feelings at this point were approaching love for this small creature.” Observing the butterfly’s behavior so intimately, Dan came to believe Poppy “had a tremendous sense of joy,” and “I began paying a lot more respect to all insects.” One day, Poppy didn’t return; presumably, his short life had ended. But, Dan wrote: “I can certify that at least one D.C. butterfly managed to escape[living in the city], take a taxi ride out of town and survive to have the time of his life in the suburbs.”

This is the true “butterfly effect” that all animals can have: if we open our eyes and hearts to them once, we don’t ever forget it. We are, in ways large and small, transformed. Sarah Bexell, in her work with her Chinese colleagues Luo Lan and Hu Yan, has noted a similar “light bulb effect” in the attitudes of children toward animals in China, in her studies of animal conservation camps. Bexell told me that, after their experience, many teachers and children said they would never think about animals with indifference again. The program participants spent time getting to know animals as individuals with emotions and personalities, and this alone transformed attitudes. Bexell summed up her findings aptly: “Once you see them, you can’t unsee them.”

Why should we expand our compassion footprint and respect an animal manifesto? Why should we care about
animals and treat them better? There are numerous reasons I could list, and yet sometimes getting to know one animal is all we need.

Still, here is the list of reasons, a work in progress, I originally wrote as I developed this book:

• because they’re smart
  
• because they feel
  
• because they are
  
• because they care
  
• because we don’t have to use or abuse them
  
• because we can do better science without them
  
• because we’d be healthier if we didn’t eat them
  
• because they’re our buddies/consummate companions
  
• because we’re so powerful
  
• because we all need to look out for each other
  
• because they’re good for our souls and we are for theirs
  
• because we’re a compassionate species
  
• because they’re innocent
  
• because animals make us human
  
• because they bring us joy
  
• because we’re all animals
  
• because silent springs are unacceptable
  
• because we’re their voice
  
• because compassion begets compassion
  
• because by taking care of animals, we take care of ourselves
  
• because if we lose animals, we’re screwed.  .  .we lose ourselves
  
• because we need more peace among all beings
  
• because animals do not harm Earth, humans do
  

This list is only a start. As we’ve seen, there are many more reasons to care for animals and to increase our compassion footprint, and these reasons generate even more reasons. I hope you will add to this list and do more for animals because there’s always more that can be done. All of us animals will surely benefit.

“In reality there is a single integral community of the Earth. . . . In this community every being has its own role to fulfill, its own dignity, its inner spontaneity. Every being has its own voice. . . . We have no rights to disturb the basic functioning of the biosystems of the planet. We cannot own the Earth or any part of the Earth in any absolute manner.”

— Thomas Berry,
The Great Work

Most research nowadays supports what Dacher Keltner has said: “Human beings are wired to care. . . and it’s probably our best route to happiness.” It feels good to help others, and this is no accident. Egalitarianism as well as competition help shape animal societies, including human ones. It is natural to want to build a world based on compassion and unity, one that respects and cherishes the beautiful and magical webs of nature.

In order to transform our world, however, we have to transform ourselves. We owe it to future generations to transcend the present state of our relations to our fellow creatures, to dream of a better world, to step lightly, to move cautiously and with restraint. We all need to be both dreamers and doers. We owe it to ourselves and to our fellow animals. As big-brained, omnipresent mammals, we are the most powerful beings on Earth. We can influence every species and every ecosystem, and
inextricably tied with that might are innumerable staggering responsibilities to be ethical. We can strive for no less, and we can always do more. “Good welfare” is never “good enough.”

My notion of “deep ethology” applies here. Deep ethology is similar to the term “deep ecology,” which asks people to recognize that not only are we an important part of nature but we have unique responsibilities to nature as moral agents. Deep ethological research pursues a detailed and compassionate understanding of the unique worlds of nonhuman animals in order to learn more about their own points of view — how they live, what they want, and how they experience emotions, pain, and suffering. Deep ethology recognizes that many animals have a broad set of feelings that function as social glue; these emotions are important for forming and maintaining social bonds among themselves and with human beings, they motivate specific actions and influence choices, and they insure behavioral flexibility, so that animals do what is appropriate in a given situation, whether with friends or competitors. By embracing deep ethology, we recognize animals as sentient beings, and as beings with intrinsic or inherent value with ways of life that deserve respect; living this belief, and working to improve the quality of life of our fellow animals when it’s threatened or destroyed, naturally expands our compassion footprint.

We must also adopt what philosopher Gary Steiner, in his book
Animals and the Moral Community,
calls cosmic justice, the principle that demands nonviolence toward animals just as social justice demands nonviolence toward humans. Cosmic justice “will let animals be in such a way that we no longer project upon them a diminished reflection of our own image but instead value their mortality as we value our own.” Animals aren’t third-class citizens; they’re nations of beings who
deserve dignity and respect. So let’s get hopping toward elevating their moral status right now, not later when it’s more convenient for us and too late.

When we allow compassion, empathy, justice, and love to guide our actions, we surely will go a long way to healing wounds and dysfunctional relationships. If love is poured out in abundance, then it will be returned in abundance. There is no need to fear depleting the potent and self-reinforcing feeling of love, which only and continuously generates more compassion, respect, and love for life. Each and every individual plays an essential role, in part because each individual’s spirit and love are intertwined with the spirit and love of others. These emergent interrelationships, which transcend an individual’s embodied self, foster a sense of oneness. These interrelationships can work in harmony to make ours a better and more compassionate world for all beings. We must stroll with our kin and not leave them in the tumultuous wake of our rampant, self-serving destruction.

We need to replace “mindlessness” with “mindfulness” in our interactions with animals and Earth. If we do, nothing will be lost and much will be gained. We can never be too generous or too kind. Surely, we will come to feel better about ourselves if we know deep in our hearts that we did the best we could and took into account the well-being of the magnificent animals with whom we share Earth, the awesome and magical beings whose presence makes our lives richer, more challenging, and more enjoyable. Wouldn’t it feel good to know that we have helped animals “out there,” even if we cannot see, hear, or smell them? Wouldn’t it feel good to know that we did something to help Earth and other humans, even if we do not see the fruits of our labor?

It’s essential that we do better than our ancestors, and we
surely have the resources to do so. Foresight is becoming the new survival skill — we have the facts and heart, and now we must put them to proper use. Perhaps the biggest question of all is whether enough of us will choose to make the heartfelt commitment to making this a better world, a more compassionate world, before it is too late. I believe we have already embarked on this pilgrimage. My optimism leads me in no other direction.

My colleague Jessica Pierce says that we need more “ruth,” a feeling oftender compassion for the suffering of others. Ruth is the opposite of ruthless, being cruel and lacking mercy. I agree. Kindness, living kindness, empathy, and compassion must always be first and foremost in our interactions with animals and every other being in this world. We need to remember that giving is a wonderful way of receiving. We need humility in head and resolve in heart. We must go from heartless to heart-full.

We owe it to all individual animals to make every attempt to come to a greater understanding and appreciation for who they are in their world and in ours. We must make kind and humane choices. We must all work together, for in the end we all want the same thing — a better life. Our better life must not come at the expense of other beings, and it is made truly better when it includes all beings. There’s nothing to fear and much to gain by developing deep and reciprocal interactions with our fellow animals. Animals can teach us a great deal about responsibility, compassion, caring, forgiveness, and the value of deep friendship and love. Animals generously share their hearts with us, and we should do the same. Animals naturally respond to each other because we are all feeling and passionate beings. Let us embrace our fellow animals as the kindred spirits they are.