Animals, Pets, Healings & Humanity's Inhumanity

[FrankGSterleJr]

Indeed, one would be morally justified in fully exposing humanity’s institutionalized mistreatment (at best) and/or utterly-brutal slaughter of animals as a whole (usually as one of humanity’s food sources).
It’s in our fundamental mindset, as a whole, to place animals on a lower category of life than humanity and thus not worthy of the same protection from cruelty. It began as early as the Bible/Torah/Koran, all of which promote the sacrifice of animals, the lamb in the case of the Bible and Torah, solely for the alleged spiritual benefit of humanity.
As for domesticated animals, pets mostly: Whenever I observe stress in the facial expression of my mother, a typical senior, I also observe how that stress drains from her face and is replaced with joyful adoration when our young pet feline, Simon, enters the room: “Hi, sweetheart,” she’ll say. And I know that countless other seniors with domesticated pet cats also experience the emotional benefits of being such a host—though younger middle-agers, such as myself (whether consciously or subconsciously) also very much benefit.
As for our cat, he (born February 1st, 2010) occasionally gently bites us when he gets feisty—or teased, of which I’m known to be guilty—yet we nonetheless cherish him for being himself and for the therapeutic benefits that just his presence alone bestows upon us.
Because they have scent glands on their cheeks and hips, cats tend to (adoringly) rub their hips and cheeks against their human hosts’ legs (or other parts of our bodies when we’re sitting) as a sign of both affection and to mark us as their territory. This is also why they just love to have their cheeks scratched. Furthermore, many cat lovers misinterpret pet felines’ licks along their hands, arms or even cheeks, as affection, while the cats most probably are simply savoring the natural salt on their hosts’ skin. Regardless, many of us love watching/feeling our cats’ adorable pink tongue enjoying the salt. Also, when a host is feeling depressed, a pet cat’s sweet purrs and murrs can lift one’s heavy heart, and one’s left only desiring to hear some more of the feline’s soul-soothing chatter.
So, being a fan of felines myself, I often enjoy the presence of others’ pet felines. Indeed, when I missed an editorial-board-members’ meeting of a publication to which I often contribute (I got my days mixed up and thus made the long trip from White Rock to Vancouver apparently for naught), I nevertheless felt some gratitude by the fact that I got to visit and pet the black cat—who happens to look just like our family cat—at the veterinarian clinic near my destination (i.e., I felt it was not a totally wasted trip).
And cats, like their canine counterparts, can be very special and sensitive in nature: According to a Feb. 2, 2010, metro-daily-newspaper story headlined, “Oscar, the cat that can sense death … Feline curls up with nursing home patients in their final hours,” an adoring feline was adopted by the nursing home, and its nature is to sleep next to patients, mostly dementia sufferers, who are about to pass on. The cat also outsmarts highly-trained nurses who try, but often fail, to accurately predict when certain patients are about to pass away. Indeed, Oscar has been so accurate that the relatives of patients are often contacted immediately and notified that the cat has cuddled up next to their sick loved-one, so that they can come and be with him/her when Oscar, once again, proves his accuracy.
My mother says that, “humans are the real ‘animals’; it’s the animals who are human(e).”
For so long, domesticated animals have been abused and discarded like trash if they were not adored by some animal lover. Ironically, this cruelty occurs while the abusers are ignorant to the healthy symbiosis existing between animals (many of us see them as family members) and their loving and appreciative human hosts—especially physically- and/or mentally-ill hosts.
Indeed, animals have an influence over humanity that many in society cannot fathom. And this beautiful reality of animals’ positive emotional influence over their human hosts can be beneficial to the animals, as well. Besides numerous studies revealing the health-benefits to humans (their high blood pressure is alleviated, for example) when in proximity, and especially when in physical contact, with a domesticated animal, the fact is, when a cat or dog, for instance, is lovingly petted down along its back, it acts as a sort of soothing and healing massage, and that animal’s lifespan and good health increase considerably.
Many health-care homes are already adopting cats and/or dogs to reside at the facilities, and the data available has revealed the improvement in the health of many patients since the facilities’ adoptions of the pets. One major newspaper columnist wrote in a June 14, 2000, article that scientific proof reveals a “powerful man/beast bond that transforms lives, alleviates depression and disease, gives direction to the blind and comfort to the lonely and fills homes with a measure of uncomplicated joy that is impossible to fully appreciate until it is gone.”
All of which is why I was pleased to read in a news story some time ago that a local branch of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) had a limited-time “moratorium” on its non-health-related euthanasia of excess unwanted animals, the vast majority of which were/are felines. To solidify a no-kill policy within SPCA policy would undoubtedly be a spectacular achievement in the history of “humane” humanity.
It’s very true that when a pet animal’s host—especially a person with mental illness—loses his or her pet, it’s difficult to be philosophically positive about the loss, such as the thoughts regarding the matter put forward by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: “’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” It all seems to go out the window, though, especially in regards to my own tendency to get over-attached to my pet cat(s), presently and even from my past.
However, it seems that in the long run, those of us who love our pet animals, do benefit greatly, as do our animal companions themselves; although the sad reality is that such mutually- beneficial couplings and compassion for pet animals (and for other domesticated animals, for that matter) in general, are nowhere near as prevalent as they really could be—and definitely should be.*

Frank G. Sterle, Jr.
White Rock, B.C., Canada

[FrankGSterleJr]

Western society has simply gone too far astray, in the name of science and/or medicine, when we have no moral qualms about injecting potentially-loving-pet felines with monkey and jellyfish genes—the latter until the cats and their kittens glow green!—to see if these test-subject feral cats can/will become, directly or indirectly, future vaccines or cures for AIDS, as some scientists are doing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota (USA), according to a news-story dated Sept.13. (Hmm …. It can also make one wonder what cruel fate many of those missing pet felines are meeting.)
I don’t at all enjoy ‘pet politics,’ though I nonetheless feel compelled to say what many people, especially cat-orientated people (like me), already know: Society would not tolerate, for even a second, a domesticated canine (such as an adorable beagle) being utilized as lab test subjects, especially in such a manner described above.
But, many canine-orientated folk might say, dogs are “man’s best friend”—indeed, very special; there’s nothing special or unique about cats to equate them with domesticated dogs.
Yet cats, like their canine counterparts, can be very sensitive in their core nature: According to a Feb.2, 2010, Vancouver Sun story headlined, “Oscar, the cat that can sense death … Feline curls up with nursing home patients in their final hours,” a feline was adopted by a nursing home, and its nature is to sleep next to patients, mostly dementia sufferers, who are about to pass on within just hours. The cat also outsmarts highly-trained nurses who try, but fail, to accurately predict which patients are about to pass away. Indeed, Oscar has been so accurate that the relatives of patients are contacted immediately and notified that the cat has cuddled up next to their sick loved-ones (and obviously with an explanation at some point), so that the relatives can immediately come and be with them when Oscar, once again, proves his accuracy.
Meanwhile, according to the news-story, one of the above-mentioned scientists has the gall to add that all is good for the glowing-green test-subject felines, too. “Cats suffer from this [feline immunodeficiency virus] all over the world.”
Naught but crocodile tears, as the proverbial salt on cat-lovers’ wounds!

[Bill Wiltrack]

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Thank you Frank for this thread.

It is a real insight into your nature and your intelligence.

I love the quote from your mom, “humans are the real ‘animals’; it’s the animals who are human(e).”




SOOoooooooooooooo true.




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[Gary Childress]

It is interesting the way we humans view animals. I wonder if wolves ever pity the sheep they are about to kill. Is there any other animal that actually feels bad when it treats some other creature cruely? I think of my cat ruthlessly playing with the small lizards in the yard. It taunts them until it kills the poor thing then leaves the dead body. The cat doesn't seem to have an ounce of remourse for what it does. But we humans, at least some of us, get all bent out of shape over hunting or the way chickens are treated by the poultry industry.

Some people treat their pets better than they treat strangers. Some pets probably eat better and have a better life overall than many street beggars. You can actually get icecream for dogs now!

I suppose some of us have simply grown soft by the life of comfort we live. I think of the simple farmer who takes his cow to the slaughter and kills it himself. How many of us "city slickers" are capable of killing an animal with our bare hands? Or in Army special forces training, soldiers are taught how to live off the land by killing small animals with their hands and eating them raw. Life is cruel. We must kill and destroy to survive. And yet...and yet at the same time we recognize that life is "cruel". We understand what cruelty is. Does my cat understand what cruelty is when it plays with a lizard? Why do we humans possess a conscience? Wouldn't it be easier on our psyche if killing other creatures didn't really bother us?

[Gary Childress]

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I love the quote from your mom, “humans are the real ‘animals’; it’s the animals who are human(e).”

SOOoooooooooooooo true.[/size]
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I couldn't disagree more. How many animals display compassion for each other? Ever heard of a dog rescuing a stray human? Yeah, I know, there are the occasional Lassie stories of pets helping humans. But I think it is a myth that we humans are any less humane or any more cruel than any other animal. In fact I would say that we are, in the aggregate, more compassionate and caring than most animals. As Frank points out, your cat probably licks you because of the natural salts in your skin. I once heard a story about a diabetic dog owner whose dog ate his numb foot, for no other apparent reason than the dog happened to be hungry. There's love for you! Yes, we humans can be cruel to animals but we can also be loving and caring at times. I don't see a whole lot of love and care in the animal world outside of filial relations. More like survival of the most ruthless.

[Bill Wiltrack]

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I think the long and short of it all is that, Whenever ANY animal is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human, it's fucked!





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[John Kelly]

.I think the long and short of it all is that, Whenever ANY animal is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human, it's fucked!.

Try telling my Basset Hounds that.

[Bill Wiltrack]

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...or to the chickens, pigs or cows that have been slaughtered to feed you and your Basset Hounds.


I totally respect your point. It's well taken and true.


There are many compassionate people like you that are kind to your pets.


This would be the exception to a rather universal truth that, Whenever ANY animal is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human, it's fucked!



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[Bill Wiltrack]

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I think the long and short of it all is that, Whenever ANY animal is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human, it's fucked!
~~~ Bill Wiltrack ~~~



Yes, there are MANY kind and devoted people who are humanistic in their views towards animals. These people and their efforts pale in comparison to the abuse and hostility homo sapiens show to ANY animal who is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human being.



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[John Kelly]

.Yes, there are MANY kind and devoted people who are humanistic in their views towards animals. These people and their efforts pale in comparison to the abuse and hostility homo sapiens show to ANY animal who is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human being..

Agreed. One of our dogs is a rescue animal; her old 'owners' where very cruel.

[Bill Wiltrack]

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What does this mean?



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[John Kelly]

[quote="Randy24"] When you kill an animal to survive and you have respect for that killed animal, then it is not a bad thing.



Unless you're that animal. But I agree with your point. Life in the animal kingdom isn't always pleasant.

[Bill Wiltrack]

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Whenever ANY animal is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human, it's fucked!




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[chaz wyman]

Cats are solitary mammals and their behaviour that looks like affection is not.
Dogs are gregarious and their behaviour is more like our own.

[chaz wyman]

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Whenever ANY animal is unlucky enough to cross the path of a human, it's fucked!




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not true.