Speaking Up for Animals

LOST: One female voice, often heard gabbing with girlfriends and belting out Def Leppard lyrics in the loo. Last seen on Christmas Day in the Hidden Valley area. Answers to the name of Karen. Needs medication. If found, please send an e-mail message to karenleestevens@cox.net. Large reward. Please help bring Karen’s voice back home; her family misses it very much!

Losing your voice is no fun; especially when you’re a Chatty Cathy, like myself. So when I awakened on Christmas Day with laryngitis, I did what any effusive wordsmith would do: I started writing. For a week, I scribbled my comments and questions while visiting with friends and family. I whispered whenever I conversed on the phone. I even jotted down my drink order for the barista at Starbucks.

Being vocally-challenged, albeit for a short while, was a nuisance, but I lived through the ordeal with little more than a touch of writer’s cramp.

But what about all the animals who have no voice? Animals communicate beautifully with one another, yet some of us are guilty of calling them stupid simply because they don’t connect with us in a way that we readily understand. Cows, for instance, are intelligent individuals who form complex social relationships, can recognize one another, and enjoy an array of activities, including problem-solving. Dr. Donald Bloom, a researcher at Cambridge University , described the pleasure that cows derived from figuring out an intellectual challenge. He said, “The brainwaves showed their excitement; their heartbeat went up, and some even jumped into the air. We called it their Eureka moment.”

Dr. Bloom also states that, because fish are anatomically, physiologically, and biologically similar to birds and mammals, they feel pain in much the same way we do.

“Fishing is not painless for fish by any means,” he says. “When fish are hauled up from the deep, the sudden change in pressure on their bodies causes painful decompression which often leads their gills to collapse and their eyes to pop out. As soon as fish are removed from the water, they begin to suffocate. Hooked fish struggle because of physical pain and fear.”

Countless other animals suffer at the hands of humans. Take for instance the beating death of a baby raccoon last October at Columbus High School in a rural Texas town. News reports stated that some of the students in a wildlife management class brought in a live baby raccoon and proceeded to stomp it to death, before they skinned, cooked, and ate it in front of other stunned classmates. “They started stepping and stomping on it, joking that they were tenderizing the animal,” said Police Chief Danny Jackson. Because the suffering of the animal was deemed “minimal,” no criminal charges were pressed against the two boys involved in the incident.

Forgive me for sounding a bit dense, but who exactly has the right to call one’s suffering minimal? Was it because the animal didn’t make any noise as it was being beaten? Was it because it didn’t fight back? Witnesses said the raccoon appeared to die quickly and I hope that was indeed the case. The thought of an innocent baby—torn from its mother and surely terrified—being cruelly tortured by those rednecks (there, I said it) is almost too much to bear. Studies show that children who abuse animals are likely to grow up to become violent adults.

Unfortunately, animal cruelty occurs everyday and too often, the crime goes unreported because people think that “it’s only an animal” or “boys will be boys” or other such flimsy excuses. The fact is that we are all stewards of this earth and we are responsible for all of its inhabitants—whether furred, finned, or feathered. Right now, we’re failing miserably at our task, but we can change. You and I can use our voices to speak out against animal cruelty or send a donation to organizations that are helping animals. Please visit my Web site at www.allforanimals.com to learn more about how you can make a difference.

My voice may be a bit hoarse right now, but as long as I have my keyboard nearby, I will continue to raise my voice and raise the consciousness of people everywhere. Animals have no voice and they have no choice, but we do. It’s simple, really: choose compassion. Thank you for listening.

 

Karen will come down off her soapbox long enough to search for her lost voice. If you find it, please send let her know by sending an e-mail message to karenleestevens@cox.net.

 

---

By Karen Lee Stevens,
Founder & President, ALL FOR ANIMALS, Inc.
Copyright © 2008. All Rights Reserved.

---

Return to Karen Lee's Home Page
Return to the ALL FOR ANIMALS Home Page