A "MAKE-BELIEVE" ANIMAL LOVING NATION

A special LGVN feature through Looking-Glass / VeggieGlobal by John O'Donnell

A web of moral double standards entangles the conscience of an "animal loving" UK. From the effects of Foot and Mouth Disease to the appalling treatment of animals used for sports in Britain and Ireland. And in-between this, the fluffy-bunny mentality, which somehow seems to make all other extremes of consumer based animal cruelty socially acceptable.

The UK and the USA display a high level of animal compassion, more than most countries and particularly enhanced by the media's portrayal of western society as a fluffy-bunny culture. But it could be argued that animal cruelty is as rife in the suburbs of London as elsewhere around the globe. It all depends on how each culture quantifies its view of the mistreatment of animals. The British, in their usual regimented determination to make a square fit a circle, will question and collate statistics for referral and debate. And so, on the surface it appears that they are doing all they can to alleviate the suffering of animals. But underneath, a story of undulating hypocrisy emerges.

The demographics collected through the subscriber forms of Looking-Glass and VeggieGlobal provides an interesting insight of how the Brits view their own levels of compassion.
The form first asks if they are vegetarian or not?
It then asks both veggies and meat-eaters how compassionate they believe they are?
1. Not compassionate
2. Sometimes compassionate
3. Always compassionate.
More often than not most meat-eaters will check 3 ... "Always compassionate".
Meat-eaters will also often check the box which says, "Animals are sentient life-forms that are callously exploited through mass farming / fast food commerce. It is also ignorantly hypocritical to eat a pre-prepared animal, which I could never personally bring myself to kill."

A meat-eater with a conscience, who is truly honest about his relationship with animals should realistically click "2 - Sometimes compassionate".
But the Brits, in particular are a nation of pretenders, enforced by a heritage of bombastic self-righteousness.
The British public will be the first to complain of animals being featured as abused props in TV comedy shows. But most won't think twice about true-life representations of animals being used to promote products in TV ads. Whereby the animals in those ads will be ritually killed after their TV appearance. (I.e. The Pamplona bull run as featured in a recent TV ad - and Nestle's KitKat ad featuring Greyhound racing, which gives an unrealistic representation of the racing Greyhound's life).
Even though the Looking-Glass "Ban the Bang!" campaign is primarily focused on the threat to wildlife, many voter comments omit this important aspect and instead express passionate views about their own "pets". The relationship between human and a companion animal in a comfort-culture like the UK appears to be based on self-affecting sentiment rather than accepting the full picture of human abuse to all animal life.

In the middle of August 2001 British television reported that consumers where back in the butchers to buy meat by the kilo… Any animal "compassionate" will remember that the entire handling of the Foot and Mouth crisis in the UK was an insane, criminal sham right from the start.
But the British public, who were shedding a tear at the sight of the burning animal pyres a few months previously, now had the audacity to pat themselves on the back as they rushed to the shops to stock up on more and more meat. This, said the reports, was apparently to "show support and sympathy for the British meat farmer". (Most of who were in fact raking it in through compensation, getting higher payment in this way than they would otherwise have done by selling each animal for slaughter under normal circumstances). One report said that a supermarket chain was requesting more lambs to be slaughtered to meet the public demand.
As an apparent animal loving nation, the people of the UK continue to display further hypocrisy and ignorance towards the fundamental meaning of animal compassion..

To top it all during the post Foot and Mouth crisis, the large percentage of the UK population who appear to be suffering from gnat-brain-itis, i.e. anyone who gets off on TV's Big Brother, could then replenish their sadly impaired taste in culture and entertainment, by voting to kill a pig via a website called "Pig Brother". All of this to support British farmers.

Every culture on Earth displays social characteristics in very different ways. On the surface, the effects of one culture's non-compassionate and non-humanitarian policies can present dramatic displays of cruelty and ignorance. But below the surface, is there that much difference between the on-the-surface actions of an "undereducated" culture and the glossy policies an "educated" westernised society? To some extent, perhaps the only difference is that the west can afford to package "compassion" into a social lifestyle, whilst shifting the goalposts to suit government self-interests.
Besides the obvious corruption and ignorance that undermines the structure of some countries like Brazil, China, South East Asia and even parts of Europe, the educated citizens of democratically stabilized countries like the USA and the UK apparently have the freedom to lobby and change something that is fundamentally wrong. However, the public in such countries are famously lethargic, and simply too comfortable to be bothered, if they can help it.
But Britons are very good at "posturing" a sense of concern and compassion, either through TV "pet rescue" type programmes or flurries of "compassionate" demonstration. But under this facade of compassion, the hypocrisy seeps through. Until Britons stop getting dewy-eyed at fluffy lambs on telly, and actually use their individual initiative to make a difference to the way their own culture abuses animals, things will get worse and therefore swept further under the carpet of sterilized democracy. (but where back-handers and corruption also steer the result)

Much of the sentiment found in the western world towards animals is nothing more than cosmetic endearment. In some circumstances, even the subject of pet ownership raises questions about the psychological purpose of a human / pet relationship.
To a lot of pet owners, the animal is nothing more than a responsive ornament / companion that needs feeding. If an animal is to cohabit a human's space then it is perhaps necessary to train the pet to follow the "rules of the house" (not that this happens the other way round… since we humans show no respect for animal habitats - being the natural world). In this sanitised way of control, a human can happily deal with their animal. In this way, a human doesn't learn anything about an animal's natural psyche, nor learn to feel concern about how its fellow species in the wild have to cope the overwhelming effect of human dominance.
And so, many pet owners abuse their relationship with the animal as a way to conduct authoritarian "therapy" to help themselves - to promote self-esteem or assertion perhaps. With this in mind, many like to shout down to their animals, putting them in their place over the slightest thing. It makes the owner feel powerful, and in control… perhaps in contrast to his/her relationship with other humans, as some people turn to pets due to a dysfunctional human relationship.
The phsycological extremes of pet ownership varies. Gross overfeeding and ultimate premature "death-through-kindness" is common, particularly amongst older pet owners. At the opposite end, some go as far as physically abusing their pets in conjunction with family abuse, (see "The Link").

With all the arguments of this article taken into account, this is why countries like Britain etc., react more passionately to TV shows that depict domestic animal death and mistreatment rather than the human equivalent. It is a culture-based, almost "programmed" response on the domestic level - and for meat-eaters it's also a subliminal "conscience-based" response to appease their culturally programmed hypocrisy - as to why they'll eat bacon - but they won't eat "Babe" (the baby pig from the movie).

As someone who has worked so extensively within animal welfare - from bloody hands while saving them to authoring websites about them, I've acquired - over years - a different perspective as to how I view animals depicted either fictionally in entertainment or factually in TV documentaries. I don't turn away when I see a dog die on an operating table during "Animal Hospital" - I even laugh along (although with slight discomfort) at the bizarre and unfeasibly surreal situations dead animals are represented in programmes like 'Monty Python' and 'One Foot in the Grave'.
It ironically it appears to be the fluffy-bunny, meat-eating hypocrites who rant on at such insensitivity towards pets - or more to the point, "pet" being an animal companion who's purpose is to gratify its owner. Shallow and superfluous perhaps?

However, it should also be said that generally, the British do engage in a more humanised interaction with their animals. As mentioned, like many western cultures, the UK generally aquire pets for ornamental value as well as companionship. But at least the animals stand more chance of a non-abused life. Whereby much of Eastern / Southern Europe and South America ... particularly Brazil, use cats and dogs for nothing more than rat catchers or guards. Dogs are confined in appaling conditions, while cats are similarly treated with complete disregard. Unwanted kittens and puppies are generally tied up alive in carrier bags and thrown in dustbins or rivers. In the regions of South East Asia, China etc, dogs and cats are exterminated as nothing more than vermin - or else caught and eaten or skinned (sometimes while still alive) for their furs to make cloths or cheap toy animals for children - much of which gets exported back to Europe and the UK disguised with fictitious, exotic fur names so not to upset the fluffy-bunny mindset of the Brits.

The British, Americans and some European countries may well cast a sad eye over the poor stray animals that walk the city streets and holiday resorts of the countries mentioned. But the befriended strays, which holiday makers leave behind, face certain death at the end of the season - either through starvation, poisoning or brutal extermination. The suffering of those animals is conveniently forgotten by tourists once back on their home turf ... just another sentimental memory of their holiday.

But while there is open abuse in other world countries, there is "disguised" mistreatment towards animals in the UK ... and it is widespread.
People who use animals for activities like racing and other sports is a prime example. And whilst reaping financial gain or pleasure in this manner, they have no right to portray themselves as animal lovers. This is false, self-justification. The same hypocracy also applies to those who bet on animal sports. (and vegetarians can argue this even further by questioning how can an "animal eater" consider him/herself an "animal lover"?)
A true animal lover takes no advantage of an animal for sporting gain. It's a sad fact that all animal sports result in unhappy endings for many of these exploited creatures.
BBC News on-line reported a story about a greyhound thrown from a car window onto a busy motorway because it was no longer wanted for racing.
Reported incidents like this are usually few and far between in the UK, who as mentioned, contrive to be a nation of animal lovers, but more to the point, through self-justification.
Why? Because people who own and use animals for personal gain in sports think they have the right to call themselves animal lovers ... simply because they own one. But sporting animals provide nothing more than one service for their owners ... to make them money ... That's the reality. Racing Greyhounds end up being either killed or shipped to Spain after they have past their "prime" on UK dog tracks - which is around 18 months of age. The Spanish kennel them in appaling conditions and race them on second class racing circuits. The dogs are then ritually hung alive when they are no longer any use... It's a long, torturous death - and the length of this torture is relative to how good or bad they have done in racing or coursing. These dogs begin their lives in Ireland / UK, and bred purely to live through such a horrendous existence.
Racing pigeon owners are known to frequently kill the pigeons that get lost and straggle back late. The birds are simply of no further use to them if they don't win the races. And of course, in horse racing any horse injured will normally be shot, whilst others are sent to the knackers yard when no longer useful for racing. Many of these and other unwanted horses will be transported to countries like France, where they will be slaughtered and eaten.

"Cat bagging" still goes on in the UK despite a ban on dog fighting. Underground dog fighters have been known to target neighborhoods, stealing domestic cats from gardens. They put them in alive in sacks, which are then used as target practice for training their dogs to fight. The cats are literally mauled to death.

Do we consider a livestock farmer an animal compassionate? ... Of course not… and farmers have no right to lay such claims.
So it seems both ironical and insane that a British farm can open its doors to children and families who pay an entrance for the privilege to interact with living animals - pre-slaughter. The children wander around a cutified arrangement of petting pens, stroking and cuddling the animals, while the next week the very same creatures may end up on those children's dinner plates… and the children none the wiser or any more educated about what they are actually eating.

The treatment of livestock prior - and during slaughter surmounts to one of the most monumental misdemeanours driven by everyday consumer ignorance." Ignorance" as in meaning "ignore the truth about how the chicken, steak, chops or tender duck in the Chinese restaurant travelled from its birth place to the consumer's plate". Livestock animals in their billions world-wide suffer inconceivable pain and suffering during their journey from birth ... to murder.

All these activities, where humans require the service of animals for personal consumption or financial gain have no place when compliling the annals of compassionate, harmonic interdependency between life on earth.

There are of course a few sanctuaries around the British counties who try to rescue as many of the animals as they can for re-homing. In an ideal world animal shelters wouldn't need to exsist and the quandary in the real world is that sports animal rescue organisations provide a "conscience easer" for those people who race the animals for sport … or rear animals for profit. The mistreatment of animals in all relative sports that cause distress to animals should simply be stopped in the first place.
And one way to bring that ideal a step closer is to educate the common person that animal welfare isn't just about fluffy bunnies, but to teach them about the terrible HIDDEN treatment of animals of all species. The "white-washed" murder and abuse engulfing most animal industries - whether for food, sport or even breeding - continues. But these "behind the façade" activities hardly ever stirs the conscience of the common consumer - some whom call themselves compassionate animal lovers. In true British "turn a blind eye" form, demands for such incensed animal usage - for food - for sport - for a whimsical pet, continue. These are all aspects of animal cruelty which most consumers are indirectly - or directly causing themselves.

And finally ... whilst waving the vegetarian flag ... To rephrase the "Dog is for life, not just for Christmas" bumper sticker …. let's open up the phrase a little:
"An animal is a life, not a big mac ... and not a blood sport".

John O'Donnell

For more about countries and their treatment towards animals read the major news story
Pride, Poison and Prejudice around the Parthenon here at LGVN

For more about animal care and considerations before owning an animal visit
How to Share this Planet with the Animals - The Animal Highway Code here at VeggieGlobal

For more about all aspects of animals, rescue and wildlife conservation visit
The Animal Gateway here at Looking-Glass and VeggieGlobal

Find out more about the serious abuse of dogs in the Greyhound racing industry by reading The Annette Crosbie Column here at Looking-Glass and VeggieGlobal.

If you are not already a vegetarian but are thinking of becoming one then please visit the VeggieGlobal front page and follow the links to the VeggieGlobal introduction for meat eaters.

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This article last updated or added to in: May2002

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