The Many Dogs of India: Minding Animals Conference (MAC3), New Delhi, January 2015.

On January 12, as I boarded my Malaysian Air flight to India, with a backpack full of gorillas and butterflies,the stewardess informed me that I was seated in a particular position in the aircraft, which meant that in the unlikely event of a crisis, I would be solely responsible for releasing the Emergency Lever. About an hour after having this responsibility bestowed upon me, I was out-witted by the latch on my tray-table. 48 hours later I was traipsing the streets of New Delhi, considerably under-dressed for the Winter that the Bureau of Meteorology had fore-warned me about. Of course, I chose to ignore this advice based on my previous experience in India, a Summer Wedding, at which I narrowly avoided heat induced spontaneous combustion. Community Announcement: New Delhi winters are Arctic. Subsequently, my first night in India was spent wandering around the streets asking locals if they knew where I could buy a hot water bottle and a woolen hat. Mission accomplished.Needless to say, the next morning I awoke in my hostel room, snug as a bug in a hessian rug. A snug bug awoken from a curry induced coma by the dulcet tones of Australian back-packers. My first day in India culminated in a blessing by a Monkey God, a most unexpected turn of events. It is the unexpected, that makes India, incredible. Unexpected, on this occasion because I am terrible at reading maps. I strolled confidently ‘North-East’ towards my destination of culinary delights, only to be informed by Hanuman, the monkey God, that I was in fact headed ‘North-West’. And not a single sweetie-treatie in sight. Twarthed. Seeing the disappointment on my face, he gave me a blessing, and sent me on my way. The primatologist in me adores India. Primates-a-plenty, a Monkey God, Monkey Temples. Monkeys.Monkeys.Monkeys. Having said that, my one pang of regret that lingers from my MAC3 experience, is that I did not spot a single monkey in New Delhi. In 2011, during my last visit, monkeys were everywhere throughout the city. This mystery was solved a few days after I returned to Australia.

Apparently, while we were all immersed in MAC3, Indian authorities were busily curbing the ‘activities of India’s animals’, in preparation for the US president’s January visit, so as to ensure that a monkey did not slip into Obama’s bed. Curbing Activities (*read, using sling-shots to scare monkeys away), also included authorities stashing  food in forests away from the city to lure monkeys back into forested areas.

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2926284/Indian-officials-hire-men-fire-slingshots-monkeys-Obama-s-sight-state-visit-cut-short-President-meet-Saudi-Arabia-s-new-king.html#ixzz3TtCIjuuY

January 13 2015

On the first day of MAC3, we attended a Baha’i interfaith program at the Lotus Temple (basically the Sydney Opera House on acid). There we listened to a Rabbi, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, and Jainist discuss the role of religion in the world’s treatment of animals. It was a very unique experience and an important conversation to be had in India, where humans and animals have such an enmeshed co-existence. There have already been some wonderful accounts of MAC3, which you can find here:

Wildlife Trust India

http://wti.org.in/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=1316

Kim Stallwood

http://www.kimstallwood.com/

Siobhahn O’Sullivan

http://knowinganimalspastandpresent.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/minding-animals-3-new-delhi-india.html

 

Fiona Probyn-Rapsey

http://sydney.edu.au/environment-institute/blog/indian-street-dogs-and-the-minding-animals-conference/

Ace Bourke:

https://acebourke.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/india-mac3-animal-studies-bears-animals-asia-foundation-vivek-menon-christian-the-lion-gir-national-park-diu-asiatic-lions-tony-the-tiger-world-global-march-for-lions-etc/

MAC3 was my first Minding Animals conference. Although I have been researching, studying and working alongside humans and animals for 15 years, I am relatively new to the field of Human-Animals Studies. Over the week we were together in New Delhi, I found myself madly writing down people’s words. Words create context. Words can move people to act. Words are powerful. Given that there are already terrific posts on the MAC3 experience, in this post, I take the liberty of sharing the words that struck me amidst a flurry of scribbling down with one hand, and live-tweeting with the other.

Christian Faith Fr. Dr. MD Thomas (Director of Institute of Harmony and Peace studies, New Delhi

 “It is an irresponsibility to allow animals to be orphans” Photo: Julia Cumes: https://www.thedodo.com/community/JuliaCumes/the-story-behind-an-orphan-ele-879151945.html

“In this age of consumerism, we humans want beyond what we already have. A lion who has made a kill will not be attacking anyone”.

“We as humans, learn from animals”

Andy Thomas shared the following story, in answering the question, ‘How do we, as humans, learn from animals?‘:

“ One day I was sitting in my home and I noticed that a sparrow couple were attempting to build a nest in the eaves of the roof. The grass that they were carrying up to make the nest kept falling back to the ground. I watched as they persisted. One bird would carry the grass up to the roof, it would fall, and the other bird would immediately fly to the ground, retrieve it and carry it back up. This went on for hours. I decided to help the birds and I took some wire and built a little ledge for them to build their nest upon. Eventually they laid eggs, and baby birds hatched. As I sat and drank my tea in the morning, the birds would sit and sing a song. It was as though they were bursting with thanks and gratitude and expressed it in a way they only knew how- in song”.

From this story, Mr Thomas said that he had taken note of 3 ways that humans can learn from sparrows:

1. Hard work: Persist and keep working hard until a job is done.

2. Collaboration: Instead of competing with one another, work together to get the job done.

3. Express gratefulness: Sing a song of gratitude each morning.

“White-browed Sparrow-weaver Nests”. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White-browed_Sparrow-weaver_Nests.jpg#mediaviewer/File:White-browed_Sparrow-weaver_Nests.jpg

Acharya Dr. Ravindra Nagar, Hinduism, Laxmi Narayan Temple, New Delhi.

“Look to the elephants. Look to Ganesha: Big ears. We humans need to listen more, and talk less”

Jainist, Acharya Kastur Munjii , Jain Monk, Acharya Muni Sushil Sushil Ashram, New Delhi.

“We all have powers and it simply depends on how we choose to use them. We can either do good, or do harm”. “As humans, we have 3 strengths:

1. Heart (Compassion- have good thoughts),

2. Tongue (speak- speak good things),

3. Physical strength: Use our strength for good, not harm.”

“ We must hold a mirror up to ourselves, to our lives”

In closing the pre-conference interfaith service, Kim Stallwood said: ” We find ourselves, in helping others”.

Whatever our motivation is, for most of us, animals and our relationship to them, define us and how we choose to live in the world we move in.

January 14 2015 Plenary Minister: Shri. Prakash Javadekar, the Hon.Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change., Government of India.

“ We must stroll with our animal kin, not walk away from them”.

(Photograph: David Lazar)

January 14 2015 Plenary: Jill Robinson, Animals Asia

” Oliver was our broken bear”.

Jill remembered Oliver, the bear who survived in a cage for 30 years. Oliver was forced to wear a full metal jacket. In describing him as their ‘broken bear’, Jill explained that Oliver’s head was larger than it should have been and his legs shorter than those of other bears. After 4 years at the sanctuary, Oliver  was euthanised in November 2014. I found myself holding my breath as we watched the footage of Oliver before he was rescued from the crush cages. Jill remembered Oliver beautifully and I was struck by her strength and composure as she shared his story, and reminded us why he mattered so much. https://www.animalsasia.org/au/media/news/news-archive/rip-oliver-%E2%80%93-the-bear-who-inspired-a-movement.html

January 15 2015 Lori Gruen- Marti Kheel memorial lecture  

“How do we understand the animal’s perspective? How do animals feel about their relationship with us?”

” Focusing purely on ‘sameness’ is anthropomorphic.”

” Empathy is a form of narcissism, what we think is happening for the animal. What we think is best for the animal, is based on our own interpretation and projection”.

Mark Tonnessen: What is animal agency?

“ Needs, desires, and preferences of animals: we have a responsibility to consider these”.

Vivek Menon Homecoming screening: The Loved One.

” Making an invisible whale visible, from under the depths of the sea, into plain sight and consciousness”

“ This is a Social, Personal, and Cultural experience. The only way conservation can work”.

The ‘Loved One’ Whale Mascot that graced us at MAC3. Source: HumanEnoughBlog.

January 16 2015

Will Kymlicka: Animal Rights and Sentience

” Animal Rights tells us what we shouldn’t do, but it does not tell us how we should relate to animals”

“As a society we have trouble imagining the ‘lives of animals’, that they should be able to choose. Animals need to have choice about how they live their lives”.

“Some animals, given the choice, would want more to do with us, and others would want less and less”

Source:Unknown

Shubhobroto Ghosh, Zoos: Preserves or Prisons?

“Animals do not just suffer, they know they are suffering. So why is there still such a disconnect?”

“A new relational order in a capitalist society. The metabolism of the natural laws of life itself, the capitalist drive alienates humans from nature”.

January 18 2015

The past, present and future of Animal Activism in Australia Panel Discussion:

“What is the single greatest threat to Animal Activism?”

Panel Members: Siobhan O’Sullivan, Christine Townend, Yvette Watt, Naty Guerrero Diaz, and Rod Bennison

Yvette Watt: ” We need to find a way not to be squashed by government intention to oppress the animal protection movement”.

Rod Bennison: “Climate Change is our greatest threat”

Christine Townend: ” Saturation capitalism and exploitation”

Naty Guerrero Diaz: ” The tendency to arrive at animal issues without further  action”

Siobhan O’Sullivan: ” We need to continue to bear witness to the way animals live and die”

The Many Dogs of India

A blog post on MAC3 would not be complete without remembering the many doggy faces we met during the conference and throughout our travels in New Delhi. Here are just a few:

  

I am looking forward to immersing myself in all things Human-Animal Studies again in July when The Australian Centre and the Human Rights and Animal Ethics Research Network (HRAE) present the 6th Biennial Conference of the Australian Animals Studies Group at the University of Melbourne from July 12-15, 2015.

http://australian-centre.unimelb.edu.au/event/animal-publics-emotions-empathy-activism-conference

Links:

Minding Animals: http://mindinganimals.com/

HRAE: http://humananimal.arts.unimelb.edu.au/about-hrae

Human Animal Research Network (HARN): http://sydney.edu.au/arts/research/harn/

Australian Animal Studies Group (AASG) http://animalstudies.org.au/

Military Menageries- they had no choice.

When we think about animal casualties in war, we think about Homo sapiens. Human animals are remembered for their contribution and sacrifice in the wars of today, yesterday and long ago. When we consider human participation in war, and the limitations to the degree of consent, this certainly also applies to Animal Conscription to the war efforts. Animals of the land, sea and sky have been used as ‘Military Animals’ for thousands of years- the intricacies and contributions of their roles overshadowed by those of humans- many of whom had animals by their sides, in what I call a Military Menagerie.

Land Animals

Equine

Wartime campaigns relied particularly on the Equine family: horses, donkeys, mules, and other domesticated animals.Of all the animals in war, horses are the best documented.The first Warhorse entered the battlefield 4000 years ago, considered indispensable in the war effort due to its size and strength, and I will add ‘stoicism’, for the sake of alliteration. It is estimated that in the Great War alone, 8 million horses died. Diseased. Wounded. Exhausted. Proportionately, a horse was more likely to die than its rider. 10 million men died in WWI. War Horses were trained to charge at live cannons and to haul loads of artillery through difficult terrain. Simon Butler accounts for the lives of these animals in his book , ‘The War Horses’. The following images are taken from this work.

A horse stands, unable to release itself from the grip of the dead rider, on its reigns. Experimental head-wear to protect horses from toxic gas. Yes, that is a machine gun strapped to the body of a horse.

“Nearly a century after the ‘war to end all wars’ , it seems that we are finally giving due recognition to a group of comrades who never gave up and who never complained, for the simple reason that they could not.” Robert Hardman, 2011 (writer for Daily Mail).

Eventually with the advancement of technology, horses no longer played a direct role in the field. One  of the most pervasive equine war stories, is that of ‘Simpson and his donkey’. In 1915, as part of the ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) efforts in the Great War, one man, John ‘Simpson’ Kirkpatrick and his donkey, Duffy, walked back and forth a treacherous path from battlefield to beach, carrying wounded soldiers for evacuation to medical treatment. Three weeks in and Simpson was fatally wounded by Turkish machine gun fire. Simpson’s donkey, so used to their well-trodden path, continued along to the beach with the soldier on his back. A statue of the pair, now stands outside the War Memorial in Canberra, Australia. Source: Human Enough (2008).

Elephantry

Elephants have played a role in wars dating back centuries to Ancient Rome and Greece. They were trained to charge at the enemy , scattering their ranks in mass confusion. Their size in the end proved to be more of a hindrance, to humans and to the elephants themselves. Elephants spooked easily particularly when confronted with weapon wielding humans and flying pig fire-balls. Yes, flying pig fire-balls. When it became apparent that elephants were skittish and prone to trampling the humans on their own side, opposing infantry took to upping the ante by setting pigs alight and pelting them at the elephants- who when terrified would indiscriminately crush the men on their own side. This became such a regular occurrence that elephant riders were equipped with a hammer and spike which they would fatally administer should their elephant turn to charge towards their own infantry line. With the introduction of gunpowder in the 1400s, elephants were no longer used in direct military efforts and similar to the Equine family, they were relegated to hauling artillery, as recently as WWII when elephants were able to traverse terrain too rugged for military vehicles. Carthaginian war elephants engage Roman infantry at the Battle of Zama (202 BC). Henri-Paul Motte – Das Wissen des 20.Jahrhunderts, Bildungslexikon, Rheda 1931

Beasts of Burden: Camels and Oxen

Terrain often dictated which animals would be recruited to war campaigns. In the Middle-East Camels and Oxen, ‘Beasts of Burden’, were utilised to carry heavy loads through difficult terrain. Camels were considered a more sustainable resource as they required far less water than oxen or horses. During the 1800s in their war against the Native Americans, North America launched the Camel Corp in which 60 camels carried supplies throughout the South-West region. As it turned out, the Camel Corp suffered the same fate as the Elephantry and was disbanded due to their skittishness, stubbornness and general irritability which spooked the horses and the mules- their participation compromising the efforts of the Civil War (1861-1865). This war is said to have claimed up to 700,000 human lives, and even more in animal casualties. Camel at Drum Barracks, San Pedro, California Rudolph D’Heureuse, who published a series of forty-one photos in 1863 [1] – http://www1.westcoastcwc.com/Images/other Source: http://www.thekentuckycivilwarbugle.com

Canines

The virtues of Man’s Best Friend has meant that dogs have been by the sides of soldiers through many wars. Most notably, 4000 dogs were deployed by America, as war dogs in Vietnam between the years 1964-1973. The dogs hampered the efforts of the Viet Cong to such an extent that a price tag was placed on their heads. Source: US Army

During World War I, dogs were used as secret messengers, locating live mines and laying communication wires. And often, dogs were best friends to the men and women in war. In WWI, 50000 dogs were deployed, but very few returned. Source: Frances Whiting Halsey.

By World War II the role of the dog had morphed into that of Kamikaze Canines. These anti-tank war dogs, intensively trained by the Soviets, carried explosives on their backs, the bombs then detonating upon their impact with German tanks. How do you get a dog to run underneath a tank and detonate a live bomb strapped to their bodies? Keep them hungry and hide food treats beneath enemy tanks. The training routine simulated war conditions, using real tanks with running engines. This made for a seamless transition during real-life battles. The training regimes though had disastrous results, killing many dogs and Soviet soldiers. During the simulated wars, dogs would get spooked by the tanks and run back to their human soldier companion, inadvertently detonating the bomb and killing both themselves and their master. To counter this, any dogs who were seen to be running back towards their human, to their perceived safety, were shot dead. Heart breaking. This Anti-tank dog regime continued until as recently as 1996. Source: Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2517413/The-kamikaze-canines-blew-destroy-Nazi-tanks-WWII-photographs-reveal-Stalins-dogs-war-explosives-strapped-them.html

Exploding dogs is a military tactic that has been used, although unsuccessfully, as recently as during the Iraq War, by Iraqi insurgents. In 2005, explosives strapped to the backs of dogs were detonated remotely,to blast passing convoys. Eventually, donkeys were used by the Iraqis, as it was normal for donkeys to be seen walking in civilian areas wearing large packs, only these packs carried explosives. Since then, in Iraq and Afghanistan, dogs are recruited to sniff out explosive devices, dead bodies and to clear out zones considered too dangerous for humans. Source: Australian Defence Force

The fate of war dogs, up until this century, was euthanasia.Imagine that, surviving the hell of a war zone, only to be killed anyway. In 2006, the US Military initiated a re-homing program for dogs returning from the war in Iraq. German Shephards, Labradors and Retrievers are the most common breeds sent to war, due to their intelligence and loyalty. A loyal dog will run under a tank, or into a barrage of gun-fire, for their master. Then of course there are the street dogs in these developing , war-plagued nations- it has been said:

“ the street dogs howling in terror were the most accurate indicator of an impending air raid on Baghdad”- source unknown.

Domestic Animals

Just days into the outbreak of the 2nd World War, in 1939, the first casualties were the domestic animals, killed by their owners. This largely came about after the National Air Raid Precautions Animals Committee (NARPAC) widely distributed a pamphlet which advised owners that this course of action was the most patriotic and most humane thing to do. The pamphlet said: “If at all possible, send or take your household animals into the country in advance of an emergency.” It concluded: “If you cannot place them in the care of neighbours, it really is kindest to have them destroyed.” One quarter of a million animals were euthanised in the first week.

Thousands of animals were pre-emptively destroyed by their masters who feared for the fates of their companions in the event of toxic gas attacks, and then there was the very real risk that humans would not be able to sustain the cost of feeding and providing for the animals in times of war rations. The largest number of pet casualties was in London where family pets were dropped off to animal welfare agencies to be euthanised. Sources document the number of animals euthanised to fall anywhere between 200,000- 400,000 (RSPCA). See Bonzo’s War: Animals Under Fire 1939 -1945 written by Clare Campbell with Christy Campbell. This image shows a vet treating an injured animal during war-time (Getty Images)

Livestock and Landmines

Millions more animals die in wars than humans. A large percentage of war deaths are those not often considered, that of livestock. During the Gulf War of the 1990s, up to 800,000 farm animals were left to die after farmers and families fled the war. These animals were left either to fend for themselves in war-torn streets, or suffered the fate of starvation, locked in their pens without access to food or water. Although ‘smart bombs’ were programmed to avoid hospitals, schools and other civilian targets, animal civilians were not considered, and were sitting targets. The misery is immeasurable. It is estimated that up to 50% of Afghanistan’s livestock perished during this war.

Sea Animals

Mammals that have evolved to navigate the high-seas have been used in war for decades. Covert military operations, such as the United States Marine Mammal Program, uncovered as recently as 1990, exploited the sonar capabilities of bottlenose dolphins, and the superior under-water eyesight of California sea lions, to infiltrate enemy advances. The dolphins were trained to detect and recover underwater mines, while sea-lions played marine sentry, spotting and alerting the US Navy to enemies in the water. Marine Mammals were deployed in combat during the Vietnam and Iraq wars. Dolphins are trained in San Diego bay, and sent to work in war- detecting enemy mines and activating a buoy to alert US Navy vessels to avoid the area. These mine clearance dolphins were deployed during the Persian Gulf and Iraq wars in 2003.

Even more remarkably, perhaps for the divers who are intercepted by the obedient mammals, dolphins and sea lions have been trained to track enemy divers, approaching them and attaching a device to the air tank, which then activates a buoy, visible to the US Navy. Sea lions are even more invasive in their approach, and have been trained to cuff the limbs of the enemy swimmers, again activating a buoy.

“NMMP Sea Lion Recovering Test Object”. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NMMP_Sea_Lion_Recovering_Test_Object.jpeg#/media/File:NMMP_Sea_Lion_Recovering_Test_Object.jpeg This Image was released by the United States Navy with the ID 030318-N-5319A-002

Animals at sea are dying by the millions, even beyond the borders of military action. Spanish scientists in the Canaries are reporting hundreds of deaths to sea mammals caused by ‘decompression’, or ‘the bends’. Dead whales have washed up on beaches just hours after naval warships have carried out sonar operations in the immediate area. It is likely dolphins and whales become disoriented and rise to the surface far too quickly than their bodies can sustain. These casualty rates don’t even account for those individuals that are struck by massive military vessels- hit and runs.

Air – The Birds and the Bees

Pigeons and parakeets, with their sensitive respiratory systems, were deployed during the World Wars, to detect chemical warfare. Birds dropping from the sky signaled to humans that a chemical attack was underway-gas masks ahoy. It really was bad luck to be a pigeon during war-times. With communication lines often cut by enemies, up to 200,000 pigeons, with their homing abilities, served during both World Wars, as messengers carrying top secret communication to and from battlefields, and were responsible for saving hundreds of human lives, often at the expense of their own. Cher Ami, a WWII Black Check Cock carrier pigeon, arrived exhausted, shot at and dishevelled (almost sans one leg), delivering the message from Major Whittlesey’s “Lost Battalion” of the 77th Infantry Division:

“ We are along the road 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake. Please stop it!”

During his lifetime, he delivered 12 important messages within the American sector at Verdun, France. During this, his last mission, Cher Ami was shot through the breast by enemy fire, the above message released from a capsule found dangling from the tendon of one of his legs that had been all but destroyed in the line of fire. On this day, Cher Ami saved the lives of 194 men. After being nursed back to his (not so) former glory, Cher Ami was lovingly fitted with a specially carved wooden leg.”Cher Ami” is on display at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History, Behring Center, in the exhibition The Price of Freedom: Americans At War.

Cher Ami- Smithsonian Institute

In WWII birds were trained to turn on each other. The Germans trained Peregrine Falcons to patrol the skies and attack and kill any carrier pigeons they encountered. WWII also saw the invention of the Bat Bomb, under President Roosevelt in 1943. Due to their tendency to take flight under the cover of darkness, and their preference to roost in or near houses, combined with their ability to carry more than their own body weight, Mexican free-tailed bats were strapped with explosives, parachuted into Japan’s Osaka Bay, and remotely detonated. The explosions caused carnage to Japanese homes, which were largely built from flammable materials such as bamboo and wood. 15 million dollars was invested into bat bombs, and prior to the development of the atomic bomb, bats were considered a most successful and cost-effective weapon. Source: Unknown

A lesser remembered casualty of the sky wars was the bee. Known as Entomological Warfare, a kind of biological warfare that uses insects as weaponry, bees were deployed during WWI and WWII. Bee hives were catapulted into enemy lines, or triggered to fall on enemy heads, by activated trip wires. Lest we forget the humble bee. Other insects that have served in wars, either in direct attack or as vectors, include fleas, beetles and mosquitoes.

Warfare Research

The nameless victims of wars to come, are those animals held captive in warfare research institutions. In the UK, at least 9,000 animals are killed annually at the Porton Down research facility. By the end of 2012, 28000 animals, including goats, sheep, mice, rats, cats and monkeys- had lost their lives under a barrage of blast attacks or small arms fire. In the US, the Pentagon reports a need for the continuation of the ‘Live Animal Model’, used in combat casualty training, which tests several different aspects of bioterrorism on animals- all part of a global 300 billion dollar weaponry market.

Source: http://www.iaapea.com/warfare.php

All creatures great and small

Let us remember the smaller animals who lost their lives in war. The common slugs that combusted under contact with mustard gas, signalling to humans that they should reach for their gas masks; the glow worms kept in the confines of glass jars- their last light of their lives used by human soldiers to read maps in deep trenches. For these creatures, it would be as though they were never there.

This post was informed by:

Animals in War

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-war-animals https://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/animals/ Legal conventions http://thesolution.org.nz/2010/03/08/guest-post-the-animal-casualties-of-war/ http://fn2.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~puppydog/gulfwar.htm http://www.ippnw.org/pdf/mgs/psr-1-4-loretz.pdf

British WWII http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/remembering-animal-casualties-of-war.html http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/1939_casulties.html http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/news/columnists/vet-s-view-remember-the-animal-casualties-of-war-1-5653203

Air Raid Cull:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24478532

Warhorses

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045816/Unshakeable-courage-real-War-Horses-The-million-forgotten-animals-killed-frontline.html http://faroutliers.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/the-role-of-horses-in-world-war-i.html

Canines

http://www.wspa-international.org/wspaswork/dogs/strayanimals/caninecasualtiessierraleone.aspx http://digitaljournal.com/article/285913 http://scribol.com/animals/news-war-dogs http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2517413/The-kamikaze-canines-blew-destroy-Nazi-tanks-WWII-photographs-reveal-Stalins-dogs-war-explosives-strapped-them.html

Animal casualties http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_other/ALL/913/ http://www.looking-glass.co.uk/animalsinwar/ http://www.care2.com/causes/remembering-the-750000-animal-casualties-of-world-war-ii.html American civil war http://www.thekentuckycivilwarbugle.com/2011-1Qpages/horses.html http://harvyoder.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/animal-sacrifice-other-casualties-of.html

Memorials http://aiwdedication.ca/

Medals http://www.pdsa.org.uk/about-us/animal-bravery-awards/dickin-medal-dogs

Animal research http://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-live-animal-testing-still-needed-to-prevent-war-deaths-1.217353 http://www.ourhenhouse.org/2014/02/animals-as-the-victims-of-militarism-in-wars-not-of-their-making-linda-bodicoat/ http://www.neavs.org/research/military Exhibitions http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/animals/

Lateral Violence and the Animal Rights Movement

My research focuses on (non-human) primates. ‘Non-human’ is in parenthesis, because I am not sure how helpful the differentiation is, as it implies some kind of human ‘benchmark’. Again, this brings me back to the title of this Blog ‘Human Enough’. We are all primates, we, being humans. A point which makes most people, that is, human people, quite uncomfortable in their primatey skins. Humans are animals too, but our membership to this species, carries with it immense privilege, drenched in power. Despite our sensitivity to the power we, as Homo sapiens hold over our furry, feathered or scaly kin, it is that very power, and our desire to ‘get somewhere’ in our activism and scholarly pursuits on behalf of, and for the animals, that ironically results in us, ‘getting in our own way’, in our mission to de-escalate the violence directed towards them. Before I get into that, I will indulge in some self-disclosure as to how I got here, and why I am sitting writing a blog about our relationships with animals.

I begin this post with an anecdote. An anecdote which throws me back to the 1980s, a time when I was a little person, strapped to my mother, while traipsing around a Zoo, on a leash. It was a harness actually, but regardless, I was restrained and tethered to my mother.  I was a toddler who had not yet learned to contain my free will within the limits of what was considered socially appropriate in vast open spaces. At least for me, at the end of the day, my mother unclasped my harness and I was free again, as free as a toddler can be I suppose.This particular day at the zoo haunted me in ways which would shape my view of the world, and the animals within it.

It was his empty eyes. At first I didn’t see him. Up against a concrete wall, he sat slumped. If he had been human, it would have been described as ‘catatonia’. A behavioural ‘stupor’.  In the DSM V, Catatonia is commonly associated with psychiatric manifestations such as PTSD and depression. He was a catatonic Orangutan. A catatonic Orangutan sitting in shredded newspaper. Of course I did not have the intellectual capacity then to understand the violation of rights that was happening here. But I did have the empathy to understand that this creature, was barely existing. I remember my mother pulling at my leash, as if to avert my eyes from the misery which was reflected in his. I know the sun was shining that day, but oddly, my memory of the Orangutan, is that of complete darkness, his massive body obscured by rusting bars and shadows. As my mother dragged me away, I remember asking her ‘what was that’? that. I remember trailing behind my mother, my small body feeling heavy with this sense that I had just stumbled across something I should not have seen, something that I did not understand. A shameful secret. A skeleton in a closet. Today, about 30 years later, I have finally found my way back to him, the ghost of that catatonic Orangutan. I quit my job and moved interstate to study primatology and completed research which looks at psychological wellbeing in great apes living in zoos. I often think about my memory of that day. Out of interest, I googled the history of orangutans in zoos in Australia during the 1980s. Anecdotal, non-academic articles of the time do not appear to reflect what I believe I saw that day. Instead, I read about Orangutan males who lived in social groups, in enriched conditions in zoos. Maybe, just maybe, I visited on a bad day. Maybe, my young mind, harboured an over-active imagination. Whatever the case, it matters little.  What I do know, is that there was not a tree or another Orangutan in sight. What I do know, is on that day, I looked into vacant eyes.

The point to this anecdote, is that we all have one. Most of us pursuing Human-Animal studies, and/or activism, experienced some kind of ‘turning’. An animal we encountered. An animal that changed us. An animal with whom our interaction was too fleeting, or traumatising. An animal to whom we ‘owe’ something. A debt to re-pay. An acknowledgement of their existence, to the life they lived, or to the life which was robbed from them.

Since then, I have seen that look in other animals; in dairy cattle who have given up calling for their calf, in battery hens who have dissociated from their hellish existence, in fish who float bloated in tanks, in humans who are numbed to their own psychological pain.

Several months ago, I attended my first human-animals conference. I was looking forward to immersing myself in an equal love and respect for all creatures, with a robust discussion about how we can all work together to advocate for equality beyond humanity for all living beings. As a chicken loving, anti-whaling, cow-cuddling primatologist, I navigated the heaving menagerie of  animal advocates. Great Apes were on the bill, not the head-lining act, that belonged to the factory farmed animals. Fair Enough- their voices are important too, and very little heard . Great Apes don’t need to be ‘up in lights’, they already have the lime-light. I get  that. However, the point I would like to make, is that Great Apes, along with other mammals, have been slapped with the label ‘charasmatic mega-fauna’. Labelled by association. Their association with us. It is this belief, held by some (not all) animal rights advocates, which permeated some (not all) of the conference sessions I attended. In one particular talk, which focused on Great Ape and human communication, the air felt heavy. At first I didn’t understand what was underpinning this, until finally someone put up their hand and announced, that by focusing on Great Apes, we are only reinforcing a human-oriented hierarchy in which only those animals, in whom humans can see themselves, are worthy of having rights attributed to them. Apparently this is a slippery slope. If Great Apes are recognised as having rights, then a greater chasm will separate them from all the other creatures, and thus, all other creatures from rights. As I sat in the audience, I felt embarrassed. I think I actually blushed.I felt shame. Shame, that in some way I was contributing to the oppression of another being. Shame, because I had never really questioned my commitment to advocating for the rights of Great Apes. Why would I? My voice for Great Apes, in my life, has not silenced my voice for the rights of other animals.Whilst researching Great Apes, I would also stand in front of Parliament House to protest Live Export. On weekends I sold second hand clothes at the local trash and treasure markets. Any money I made was donated to Animal Protection groups. My point is not martyrdom, but the detrimental effects of assumptions. Have we not learned from history, that ‘us’ and ‘them’, does not end well in any social movement. I  drove away from that conference feeling like ‘we have been here before’. Homo sapiens that is. Here being a phenomenon in which people claw each other down, in order to stop others, ‘the other’, from getting somewhere. Somewhere else. This all sounds very dramatic, I know. Dramatic enough and frequent enough to have a name. Lateral Violence.

Lateral Violence is a phenomenon that occurs in marginalised communities, where the ‘oppressed’ become the ‘oppressors of each other’ (Kwey Kwey consulting). Lateral Violence is observed in Indigenous Communities, particularly described in First Nation peoples of Canada and Australia. In my work with Aboriginal communities in Australia, Elders share the story of ‘crabs in a bucket’ to describe Lateral Violence. They say to imagine a bucket full of crabs that a fisherman has caught. Next to the bucket is a pot of boiling water. The bucket is bustling with crabs climbing all over each other, desperately trying to climb out to avoid certain death. But every time a crab makes its way to the top of the bucket, and can taste freedom from death, the other crabs claw it back down with the rest of them.

I wondered in what other realms Lateral Violence existed. In researching this post, I came across articles stating that beyond Indigenous communities, Lateral, or Horizontal Violence is common in the nursing profession.  Apparently it does happen in activist communities. While ‘trying to save the world’, we can be ‘extremely cruel to one another’ (Blog: Activist Communique: Activists really know how to hurt one another). There is no reference to this phenomenon in the realm of Animal Activism,and I wonder if this is simply because we don’t recognise it.

In the social movement, historically,  Lateral Violence has been rife in the Women’s Liberation Movement. Feminists have made accusations of classism, racism, homophobia, elitism, careerism, and male identification. In the Animal Rights movement, there are accusations of speciesism, elitism, apathy and anarchism. In the early days of the feminist movement, the ‘quest for egalitarianism was so strong that it became confused with sameness‘, a sense of competition, scrambling crabs, which ultimately held back the movement.It has only been my exposure to this concept in my other life, working with marginalised Homo sapiens that I recognised this phenomenon potentially occurring on a smaller scale in the Animal Rights Movement.  In reference to the bid for Animal Rights, is the fear of success for one species over another, actually damaging the progress for all animals? Besides the individuals who are harmed, Lateral Violence, if it does exist, is most likely harming the entire movement as seen in other social rights arenas.

Substituting the Human Rights Model as proposed by the Australian Human Rights Commission, into that of the Animal Rights Movement, there could be the potential to move the equality of rights for all animals, beyond humanity.

Before the Animal Rights movement can be successful, we need to build a more reconciled Animal Nation:

a) between the Animal Rights Movement and the broader Australian community

b) between the Animal Rights Movement and the Australian Government AND

c) between the Animal Rights communities, cliques and tribes (ie- the dog people, the rabbit people, the battery hen people, the Great Ape people).

There are factions within the Animal Rights Movement. Abolitionists versus Welfarists. Conservatives versus Anarchists. The hen people versus the Great Ape people. The scholars versus the activists. The vegans versus the vegetarians, and (gasp), meat-eaters.  Like the Human Rights Movement, the Animal Rights Movement faces many challenges, but some of the harm might eventually come from within our own community. Government and Industry will continue to operate in a system which fosters lateral violence and subsequently, any progress made will only come of strong and genuine unity within the animal rights movement (and to expand this idea further), between social movements, harnessing strength in intersectionality and interdisciplinary endeavor.

” When we are consistently oppressed, we live with the great fear and great anger, and we often turn on those who are closest to us” Richard Franklin, ( quoted in Chapter 2: Lateral Violence, Australian Human Rights Commission).

Colonisation underpins both the Human and Animal Rights Movements. Colonising powers (White, Straight, Male, Human) position themselves as ‘more than’, ignoring the basic rights and cultural identity of those it has power and control over (Un-White, GLBTI, Female, Animals). What chance then do animals have, when the very movement that seeks to protect them engages in gossiping, jealousy, shaming, bullying and conflict? The very elements which have hindered progress in other areas of social movement.

“Lateral Violence comes from being colonised…being told you are worthless and treated as being worthless for a long period of time. Naturally you don’t want to be at the bottom of the pecking order, so you turn on your own” (Richard Franklin, quoted in Chapter 2: Lateral Violence, Australian Human Rights Commission). It doesn’t take much of a leap to see the connection between natural dominance hierarchies in animal colonies,’red by tooth and claw’, and that as it plays out in human communities and social movements, specifically.

This is what I see occurring in the Animal Rights Movement. The ‘colonised’, in this case, the Animal Rights communities, recognise the oppressors within their own movement. It is my belief that all species can fall victim  to Lateral Violence in the Animal Rights Movement; the rabbit people versus horse people, the cane toad people versus chicken people, the whale people versus the factory farming people.  Lateral Violence will have a detrimental effect on the campaign for the recognition of rights for animals. I have reflected a lot on the response to the inclusion of Great Apes in human-animal studies. In writing this, I want to acknowledge the reality that Great Apes are a charismatic mega-fauna, and that other, lesser-known and smaller (less aesthetically pleasing) animals pale into insignificance in their ‘campaign to matter’. Having said that, I would also like to make the suggestion that perhaps (some) Animal Rights activists recognise the oppressor in the familiar faces of their Great Ape kin. Because Great Apes are so like humans, it appears there is a shared view that they don’t deserve or require the same degree of help, compared to those animals in which humans do not see themselves.It is ironic, that the reason Great Apes are suffering, that is, due to their human-ness which; fuels the pet-trade, their use in the entertainment industry and their exploitation in medical laboratories, is the very same reason that their voice is challenged in the Animal Rights Movement.  To me, it almost feels as though the suffering of Great Apes is considered by some, as ‘less than’, simply because of their phylogentic closeness to humans, to the oppressors, and the associated application of a  ‘moral status’. A status they did not ask for, by the way. How is it that our own propensity to project ‘human-ness’ onto another creature can interfere with their right not to suffer, simply because we ‘fear’ that this will impede the status of other animals, less ‘like’ us? This is counter-intuitive to me and makes me pose the question ” Is there enough room on the Titanic for All animals, or just a select few”?

I actually do not know the depth of Lateral Violence in the Animal Rights community.  But I do suspect it exists.My application of this framework to Great Apes, is just one example. Perhaps what the Lateral Violence framework can provide, is a context to the factions we know exist in the Animal Rights Movement, and a way forward. How widely spread it is, I do not know. I would be very interested to hear the views of others. I am not being explicit,but instead, respectfully putting an idea out there for consideration and conversation.

For this to work, and by ‘this’, I mean, advocating for the rights of all animals, we Homo sapiens need to play in the sand-pit together- (com)passion uncompromising. A sand-pit large enough for the hens to ruffle their feathers and stretch their wings, for the pigs to roll around and exfoliate their hides, for the elephants to lie down and cool their massive bodies, for the turtles to dig deep and lay their eggs, and for the gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans to stretch out their legs and feel the sand between their toes.

Animals and the Titanic. Image source: Super Von Erlach’s Blog (wordpress)