It takes diehard advocates to make ‘feel good’ news for animals

Capybara

A recent blog comment mentioned “feel good” news here with appreciation, as if that’s a rarity.  Well, it is!  Isn’t media focus usually on the unconventional-to-bad news?  Don’t headlines usually scream the same things (to those who still read newspapers)?  So-called “good” or “feel good” news really is the exception, isn’t it?

However true, that’s a huge shame. But consider: how long would we read or watch “feel-good news” with interest?  Wouldn’t it become ho-hum? even saccharine?

In the world of (non-human) animals, alas, bad news seems to prevail. Maybe it’s about helpless animals on factory farms (certainly no good in that!) or the latest plans for a deer hunt, or abuse of a pet.  And we haven’t even gotten to elephant, rhino and pangolin poaching, or the myriad other horrors animals are subject to around the world.

It can seem that (non-human) animal life is fraught with peril and death.  And to the degree that’s true, we keep reading and seeing “feel bad” news about animals.  Remember human entitlement?  the belief that we have dominion over all other creatures?  Far too many humans still subscribe to that outlook.

The very best news of all in animal reporting deals with those who aim to counter the hateful things done to animals by working for animals -- the animal advocates of all kinds (volunteers, legislators, donors . . .) who press for humane treatment of animals, who remind us of our values, who keep up the fight to improve the lot of animals -- which continues to be sorely needed!

Jaguar

Whether individuals, groups, state or national organizations, the animal advocates I’m speaking of are the ones who give us hope and invite us to join their rescue operations.  In reminding us of what’s possible, they recruit the “better angels” in us.  Their doing so is more important than ever now, with cruel, uncaring people in power, eager to strip away animal protections and penalties for offenses against animals.

In earlier blog posts here I’ve written, admiringly, about a few people who take specially good care of animals.  I want to learn about and talk up many more such people!  Now, with summer nearly over and school starting soon, it’s time for animal advocates to share their plans, appeal for support, enlist helpers and get going!  

Rain forest animals

The thousands of fires now burning in the Amazon rain forest are catastrophic for the millions of humans who live and work there, for people the world over and for the world itself.  The fires also terrify and jeopardize the more than 2,000 species of animals living there, who must somehow deal with this horrific situation to survive. 

Tapir

The Dodo story linked here outlines ways to help animals in the Amazon: (1) donate, (2) get involved, and (3) consider what you eat.  (That last section is lame, I think, doing little more than suggesting at least one meat-free meal a week.)

https://www.thedodo.com/in-the-wild/how-to-help-animals-amazon-rainforest-fires

Worth remembering: the Amazon rain forest is considered “the greatest reservoir of fresh water and biodiversity on the planet.”  It’s home to 1 in 10 animal species on earth.  It must be saved!
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/opinion/amazon-rainforest-fire.html?em_pos=small&ref=headline&nl_art=9&te=1&nl=opinion-today&emc=edit_ty_20190827?campaign_id=39&instance_id=11932&segment_id=16511&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd&regi_id=20760274emc=edit_ty_20190827

‘Do what I say, not . . .”

I can’t help feeling a little smug right now because I scooped the Times of Trenton -- which had published that ridiculous story about former Gov. Christie and his civility project (see previous post) without accompanying editorial criticism.  In contrast, I read it, disbelievingly, and reacted in print asap. 

But yes, the Times did later editorialize on the gross hypocrisy and cowardice of Christie’s initiative.  I wonder whether Christie read it. . . !
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2019/08/chris-christie-like-melania-trump-calls-for-civility-editorial.html

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The ‘silly season’ lives on, with both human & bovine animals

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There used to be a summer “silly season” in journalism, when legislatures were on break, people were on vacation and serious news was hard to come by.  Readership fell off.  What to do?   Newspapers used attention-grabbing headlines and off-beat stories to lure readers and advertisers, and make it through the dog days of summer.

Although silly seasons long ago faded away and news cycles nowadays are practically instantaneous, almost every day’s newspaper still brings silly season-style stories.

Here’s such a story, about a human animal, that I couldn’t resist.

Just last week, with editorial straight face, the Times of Trenton ran a story about how former governor Chris Christie will soon unveil “the Christie Institute of Public Policy” at Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark.  Its goal: bring civility to today’s politics.  

It is to laugh -- but you have to have been familiar with Christie’s public persona during his two terms to fully appreciate the humor.  Two other facts from the silly story: Seton Hall is Christie’s alma mater, in case you wondered, and “the institute will not focus on New Jersey politics,” the story said.

Enough of that silliness -- or hypocrisy.  Next, Christie may offer workshops on ending bear hunts. 

On to a non-human animal: the cow.  Typically calm, self-contained and non-threatening, cows have

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lately become therapists for humans. Their placid, non-judgmental nature, their stillness, their approachability. . . all these traits have recommended cows to people wanting to hug, pet, brush and confide in them. 

“Cow cuddling”:  It has a warm and welcoming sound, doesn’t it?  And it’s happening on a farm in upper New York State, where for $75 an hour per couple, people can spend time with either Bella or Bonnie, hugging, cuddling and conducting one-way conversations. 

This often happens on the ground because contented cows prefer lying in the grass to chew their cuds.  So, if the cows drop down, humans hunker down with them, where it’s easier to hug, anyway. 

The couple who own the farm heard of this practice in their native Netherlands during a recent visit home.  They bought two gentle, horn-free cows to become therapy animals, adding to their bed and breakfast offerings.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/style/self-care/cow-cuddling-therapy.html?fallback=0&recId=1O3HrWRaokjJs7AhVfN80TVOsZd&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=NJ&recAlloc=top_conversion&geoCountry=US&blockId=most-popular&imp_id=114326037&action=click&module=trending&pgtype=Article&region=Footer

                           NYTimes pic

Maybe this could become a future “career” for cows saved from slaughter as “meat-free meats” grow more popular.  Then again, whatever they might be doing, cows would still be the source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, in fearful quantities. 

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/methane-cow.htm

(Cows to the contrary, I’m persuaded that therapy begins at home, with two loving, highly huggable cats who listen, look concerned and hang in with me till the rough patches end.  And, unlike cows, they don’t emit methane.)

Moving away from the silly season into the gratuitously cruel one, there’s Arby’s reply -- or nose-thumbing -- to the meat-free meat movement: its meat-based carrot, or “Marrot.”  Essentially turkey meat with a glaze, Arby’s “megetable” looks like a carrot and reportedly has much of its nutritional value.

This concoction is simply needless and cruel, especially for turkeys.  Just what the world doesn’t need right now is more opportunity to consume animal flesh. 

(“. . . filet mignon is nothing but a piece of cadaver under cellophane.” -- Brigitte Bardot, in Tears of Battle: An Animal Rights Memoir)

https://www.insider.com/arbys-meat-carrot-made-out-of-turkey-2019-6

And just what the world does need right now is fish-free fish!  Well, it’s in the works, and why not?  Commercial fishing is accused of strip-mining the seas, hugely depleting the world’s fish stock, and we’ve clogged the oceans with plastics and other sea-life killers.  It’s time for seafood alternatives.  

One such substitute, Good Catch tuna, is available right now at Whole Foods, and it has reportedly inspired tuna melt binges.  If we’re slowly moving toward terrestrial meat-free foods, why not do the same for fish?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/business/fake-fish-impossible-foods.html?fallback=0&recId=1NtG1D2UAE9LFIir37dNPGwj8ox&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=NJ&recAlloc=top_conversion&geoCountry=US&blockId=most-popular&imp_id=795967017&action=click&module=trending&pgtype=Article&region=Footer

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People & animals can be mutually beneficial

Do you say “Ah-h-h-h-h!" or "Ug-g-g-g-g-h!" at the thought of the “dog days of summer”? 

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Much preferring heat and humidity (and a swimming pool) to the perpetual shivers of winter, I’m OK with the sultry days named for Sirius the Dog Star.  When Sirius rose with the sun in July, some ancients believed this added heat to the day.  And so, that high-season weather became known as the dog days of summer.

Such weather can definitely bring out the best in  people.  For instance, “G,” the handyman I know and admire, who drives 2 or all 3 of his rescue dogs with him to a job site.  Once there, he leaves his truck engine running so his pals stay cool in the cab.  He shrugs off his great good deed as if there were no other alternative.

That’s true animal advocacy.

Now consider “S,” a career cat specialist, who, besides her phone-consult time, attends to 8  formerly feral kittens who live temporarily in her large (thank St. Gertrude, patron of cats) bathroom with a mom cat until they find homes; 3 family cats and a 4^th  needing to be isolated.  And did I mention her human family of 4 others? 

That’s all kid stuff to “S.”  After weeks of planning, she has begun to build a catio for Spot, who has feline leukemia, and for other felines’ sake, lives alone in the capacious (thanks again, St. Gertrude!) house.  However, he’ll soon have his own custom-made indoor-outdoor space -- and share it with another cat “S” plans to find with the same diagnosis.

The dog days of summer should be so good for all animals!

(BTW, if you know of other good-for-animals deeds people are performing, please let us know about them via a comment here, and thanks!)

T. rex approaches

Moving even further back than the ancient origins of the dog days of summer, we come to Tyrannosaurus rex, resident of earth 66 million years ago.  The US Postal Service has announced the issue of a set of 4 T. rex first-class stamps at the end of this month.

One image shows T. rex as a fluffy (!) infant; the second, as a hunting juvenile; and the third as a full-grown predator. The fourth shows a T. rex skeleton at the Smithsonian.

As “forever” stamps, always good as first-class postage, the T. rex foursome is both fearsome and colorful.  All the kids you know who are into dinosaurs might love to receive something in the mail with such a stamp.  (“Collect all four!”)

A year-round read

   

I wonder how Sy Montgomery, my latest discovery on the subject of animals, would relate to a T. rex. After all, she has befriended such creatures as tree kangaroos and emus, a giant tarantula and an octopus, besides more predictable animals in our world.  

She writes about all of them in How to be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals, her beautifully written, designed and illustrated book (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018) -- with themes that include the otherness and sameness of people and animals, and how we learn to become empathetic.  

In short, Montgomery says, “Knowing someone who belongs to another species can enlarge your soul in surprising ways.”  

“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. . . . For the animal shall not be measured by man.  In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.  They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”  -- Henry Beston in The Outermost House (1928)

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