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/

Philosophers and Animal Rights

Human Enough. Perhaps this should be a question rather than a statement. The ambiguity is deliberate, on my part. At what point is an animal considered ‘human enough’ to have rights, and at what stage in our evolution did we disconnect from our own Animality so that we could become ‘human enough’? Human enough for what, and why does it matter? The answer is simple; for animals, it is human enough to matter and for humans, it is human enough to matter more. This is why the struggle for equality beyond humanity exists. For animals to matter more, humans will matter less and this ‘right to matter’ is what is at the core of this blog. Animals Matter.

So where exactly is the metaphorical line drawn in the metaphorical sand? The line which divides humans from animals and which ultimately determines the ‘mattering’. And more importantly who holds the stick that draws the line? As the sands of time shift with the winds of religion, science and feisty debate, so too does the line.In this virgin post, I will release from the stick, the ghostly grappling hands of philosophers, one by one.

We so often humanise those outside of our own species in our fight for their rights, when perhaps we ought to be seeking the animal within ourselves, ‘being animal’,  to empathise with that in others.  Instead of proclaiming, ‘ but look, they are so much like us’, should we not instead be saying ‘ but look, we are so much like them’?  My inner Greek philosopher tells me that this is a ridiculous suggestion.

According to Aristotle (384-322 BCE), it all comes down to positioning; the position of men. What is the rightful position of animals to man according to Aristotle? Firmly at the bottom of the ‘Great chain of being‘ , Scala naturae. Animals dangled there with a limited contribution by virtue of their inferior position to men (this blow lessened slightly by the position of women who again were also inferior to men).

Leaping forward to the 13th century and it was the philosophical-theological leanings of St Thomas Aquinas which positioned animals, again, as existing solely for the purpose of satisfying the needs and desires of humans. Creating a  hierarchical- Christian philosophical hybrid, according to Aquinas, animals became the lowest creature in God’s pyramid of creation.

Yes, Aristotle and Aquinas believed that animals served man’s purpose, but does this mean they were making a statement about animal exploitation? Probably not, but it was undoubtedly the future interpretations and re-modeling of Aristotle’s taxonomy and Aquinas’ religious infusion that did.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650), a french philosopher, divided the world as he saw it, into mind and matter in a process popularised as ‘Cartesian Dualism’, from which his famous maxim Cognito ergo sum, ‘I think, therefore I am’ was derived.  In Descarte’s view, animals were mere machines, Automata, incapable of thought, reason, intelligence and self-reflection. Thus, without thought, animals need not exist, except to serve man. In other words, to be exploited.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), a German philosopher, also positioned humans as superior to animals based on our capacity for cognition and the possession of a conscious, but he did recognise a place for some ‘duties to animals’. But this was not about animal rights. Instead Kant was positioning humans as superior beings driven by a moral compass, which would veer humanity of course should an animal be mistreated by human hands. In other words Kant considered duties towards animals as merely ‘indirect duties towards humanity’. Kant implored that the heart of a man could be judged by his treatment of animals. Kant did not recognise a capacity for cognition in animals and in fact the exact opposite is the crux of his argument, ‘animals are not self conscious and are merely as a means to an end. That end is man’. According to Kant, tender feelings towards ‘dumb’ animals begets humane feelings  toward mankind, which after all is moral. While Kant did advocate, in some sense, for the interests of animals, the principle was based on morality contained within the human context.

Few philosophers extended the concept of moral obligation beyond our own species, but one who did was the founder of utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) who advocated for the abolition of slavery, equal rights for women and the abolition of corporal punishment. Bentham was perhaps the first modern western philosopher to promote the entitlements of animals, based on what he considered to be a ‘common capacity for suffering’, claiming ‘it is not can they reason, nor can they talk but can the suffer?’ It was the late 1700s which saw one of the most major advances in western thinking about animal welfare when Bentham turned Kant’s philosophy on its head by proposing that animals, as well as humans, had the capacity to feel pain and that the line drawn in the sand by philosophers past, was incorrect.

The philosophical stick was carried by the utilitarian winds to be picked up and held by an Australian born ethicist, Peter Singer. Considered by many to be the founder of the modern movement of animal rights, Singer advocated for equal consideration to be given to animals based on their shared capacity with humans- to suffer. Singer criticises the effects of speciesism, a phenomenon described by his colleague Richard Ryder, in which humans mistreat another species in a way that we would not treat our own. Does this imply that we as humans are more likely to exploit animals that are less like us? How then do we treat species who are closet to our own and what does this mean for Animal Rights?

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” ~

Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948)- Indian Independence Leader

At the end of each of my blogs I will reference any sources that inspired and informed my ramblings.

Texts referred to:

• Bagaric, M. & Akers,K. (2012). Humanising Animals: Civilising Humans. CCH Australian Limited
• Bruce,A. (2012). Animal Law in Australia: An integrated approach. Lexis Nexis
• Grant,C. (2006). The No-Nonsense Guide to Animal Rights. New Internationalist