Another great letter
November 11th, 2006 by admin
Yesterday’s Miami Herald included an excellent letter by ethologist and author Jonathan Balcombe. In the letter, Balcombe writes about recent studies that have shown how animals as varied as mice, monkeys, pigeons, iguanas and fish “experience the world essentially as we do.” Animals, “have their own cultures, and they may show malice, or compassion, for others. They deceive, tease, pretend and celebrate, and they exhibit a broad range of emotions including grief, gratitude, jealousy, joy and embarrassment.”
Balcombe writes, “Unfortunately, as our knowledge and understanding of animal awareness and sentience advances, our treatment of them lags further behind. We kill tens of billions of animals yearly, and the toll is rising. In just the time it takes you to read this sentence, a thousand factory-farmed chickens will have been slaughtered in the United States. Like most farmed animals today, they are deprived of the freedom to move about, fresh air to breathe and the sun on their backs. . . . The numbers strain comprehension. But science and common sense tell us that every one of these animals is a thinking, feeling individual.”