NEWS
CONCERNING ANIMAL ETHICS
----- Original Message
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From: "DawnWatch"
news@dawnwatch.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Subject: DawnWatch: Time Magazine article on animal ethics --
7/11/05 edition
The July 11 edition of Time Magazine (on stands now) has a positive
article headed "Honor Among Beasts.
Think altruism, empathy and a sense of fair play are traits only
humans possess? Think again." (Pages 54-56.)
It opens with a description of the "play bow" dogs do before
engaging in mock fights. The magazine spread includes lots of fun
photos of dogs in various play-fight postures. Marc Bekoff, an
ethologist at the University of Colorado, tells us that dogs
playing are also "exchanging an incredible amount of
information."
The article lets us know how much things have changed for the
better:
"Only a decade or so ago, scientists were arguing vigorously over
whether animals had emotions: just because a dog looks sad or a
chimp appears to be embarrassed doesn't mean it really is, the
skeptics said. That argument is pretty much over. The idea of
animal emotion is now accepted as part of mainstream
biology."
Given the place rats generally have in society, largely considered
vermin worthy of only of extermination and not even included in
laws that protect laboratory animals, the following line was
welcome:
"And thanks to Bekoff and other researchers, ethologists are also
starting to accept the once radical idea that some
animals-primarily the social ones such as dogs, chimps, hyenas,
monkeys, dolphins, birds and even rats-possess not just raw
emotions but also subtler and more sophisticated mental states,
including envy, empathy, altruism and a sense
of fairness."
Later in the article a researcher notes that social animals such as
"dogs and rats" clearly have a sense of justice.
The article discusses various studies showing that animals who
share work will also share the food reward, even when not forced
to.
One researcher suggests that animals may have rules of conduct but
that "doesn't mean they're ethical creatures."
Following that line, the article ends with:
"But while animals may not possess true ethics or morality, Bekoff,
De Waal and a growing number of their colleagues think fairness and
cooperation may be the forerunners of those qualities, just as the
apelike brain of our distant ancestor Lucy was the forerunner of
our own, much more sophisticated minds. After all, Lucy was no
Einstein-but without her, the leap from the tiny brains of
primitive mammals to the subtle intelligence of an Einstein could
never have occurred."
I wonder about the assumption that all humans are "ethical
creatures."
The article is lengthy and a fun read. You will find it on line
at:
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1079521,00.html
It gives us a great opportunity for letters about the way human
society treats members of other species.
Time Magazine takes letters at:
letters@time.com
Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number
when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more
likely to be published.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal
issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the
relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up
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"starting to accept the once radical idea that some
animals-primarily the social ones such as dogs, chimps, hyenas,
monkeys, dolphins, birds and even rats-possess not just raw
emotions but also subtler and more sophisticated mental states,
including envy, empathy, altruism and a sense of
fairness.">>
Hi Friends, if you write you may want to draw info from the
following phenomenal sites...: Adela"
Cows:
www.goveg.com/feat/hiddenlivesofcows/index.asp
Baboons:
www.peta.org/feat/baboon
Rats & Mice:
www.stopanimaltests.com/feat/hiddenrats
Turkeys:
www.goveg.com/feat/TurkeysLife
Fish:
www.fishinghurts.com/feat/fishlives
Pigs:
www.goveg.com/feat/Pigslife
Chickens:
www.peta.org/feat/hiddenlives
Sheep:
www.savethesheep.com/f-fascinating.asp
National Geographic
