“The Case Against Pets” + “Natural Human Diets” + Bees + bird flu 6/30/24

Between the New York Times Science section focus on pets today, a UK Telegraph article condemning pug promotion, and the extraordinary Time Magazine article, “The Case Against Pets,” DawnWatch is focusing on pets more than usual today. Plus, we have a Scientific American article on natural human diets, a review of “Meet the Neighbors,” a widely distributed piece on the wonder of bees, and another Los-Angeles Times front-page story on the spread of bird flu.

Before I explore those, let me thank all of you who wrote to the New York Daily News about candidate’s differing stances on rat extermination. The paper published two letters on the issue, first Julia Serrago’s 2-liner (I always advise that the shorter your letter, the more likely to be published) under the heading “The humane choice” and then Robin Kolwicz’s under the heading, “Do what works” with that letter making clear that killing is not what works because the survivors just have more offspring. Because legislators and other decision makers look to the letters pages as barometers of public opinion, letters like this matter.  I hope you’ll check them out for inspiration.

Time Magazine’s wonderful piece , by bioethicist Jessica Pierce, is so far online only, but loads of shares and great feedback might change that – and are worthwhile regardless. And though Time Magazine rarely prints feedback these days, it still calls for it loud and clear under the heading “Talk to Us,” with “Send an email: letters@time.com .” So, if you appreciate “The Case Against Pets” as much I did, I hope you will send Time a one or two-liner of thanks. And please share it!

One of the reasons DawnWatch focuses less on pets than other animals is that most coverage, even generally positive coverage, tacitly condones the idea that other beings are here for us to buy and sell and take pleasure in. (Another reason is that their suffering is far less by the numbers, and generally less in intensity, than that of farmed animals.) Therefore seeing this piece published by Time was gratifying indeed!

It includes:

“Some harms are what you might call attitudinal. In buying and selling animals, and in using them for our own gratification—whether to provide amusement or emotional fulfillment, or to make a profit—we are treating them as objects, not subjects; as commodities and not as living beings with inherent value. When an animal is a product, it becomes difficult for us to appreciate the experiential world of the animal from their own perspective. We think about how our pets make us feel, not how our keeping them as pets makes them feel.

“Other harms are more direct. A robust scientific literature leaves no doubt about the anguish pets experience. Physical confinement, social isolation, and chronic exposure to stress—the hallmarks of captivity—can lead to measurable physiological damage, including loss of neural plasticity and a long-term activation of the fight-or-flight response, which can affect immune function, increase the risk of chronic disease, and shorten lifespans….

“Dogs are perhaps the least captive pets. They are well-adapted behaviorally to sharing domestic space with humans and can have experientially rich and satisfying lives in our homes, sometimes with a high degree of freedom. Yet pet keeping practices seem to still be taking a toll on them. Dogs experience social isolation, lack of behaviorally appropriate sensory stimuli, physical confinement to small spaces, forcible restraint, and other issues. Veterinary research has found that roughly three-quarters of all dogs are suffering from anxiety severe enough to compromise quality of life—sad evidence of the felt effects of captivity.”

Again, the whole piece is well worth reading and sharing and thanking Time for.

Today’s, Sunday June 30 New York Times has Section F, a “Pets special section on scientists’ growing interest in our animal companions.” I will share three articles from it:

A page 2 article, by Emily Anthes, titled “Scientists’ New Best Friends,” includes this welcome quote from Monique Udell, who directs the human-animal interaction lab at Oregon State University:

“We have a responsibility to deeply understand these animals if we’re going to live with them.”

And, complimenting that Time article, we read: “Early results from the Dog Aging Project suggest that dogs with active lifestyles are at decreased risk for ‘doggy dementia’ and that living in a social environment, such as a home that includes other pets, may be good for canine health.”

Towards the end Anthes writes, “Dogs and cats have become supremely successful at navigating the human world, but deepening our relationships with them might require understanding them on their own terms.”

DawnWatch can provide you with this gift link compliments of Teresa D’Amico.

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A piece on the astronomical cost of veterinary care, penned by Katie Thomas, appears on page F3 and is titled, “How Much Is Your Pet’s Life Worth?” It tells us:

“Private equity firms and large corporations have bought hundreds of facilities around the country, an acquisition spree reminiscent of the corporate roll-ups of doctors’ offices.

“Veterinarians from around the country told The New York Times that their corporate managers were pushing clinics to become more efficient profit centers.”

I found this vignette chilling:

“Even run-of-the-mill visits can rack up big bills. Dr. David Roos, an 86-year-old veterinarian in Los Altos, Calif., said he decided to retire one day in 2014, when he checked on a dog whose owners were longtime clients. The animal had been admitted for vomiting. Dr. Roos said he normally would have told the owner to take the dog home and to give it sips of water. Instead, another vet had ordered X-rays, blood tests, intravenous fluids and a hospital stay. Dr. Roos knew the owners could not afford the bill.”

Here’s a gift link to that one.

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And another piece by Emily Anthes, titled “Pet Blood Donors Come to the Rescue,” (page F6) explores the welcome replacement of the traditional commercial animal blood banks, of which we read that animal rights activists had “exposed mistreatment and abuse” with “an alternate model, which recruits local pets to become regular donors” with perks for the donors including” free veterinary exams, blood work and flea and tick preventatives” and lots of treats and toys.

Here’s a gift link to that one.

Perhaps you will be inspired to comment on the coverage with a letter to the editor .

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On a similar theme, the harm we do to those we love as “pets,” the Sunday Telegraph, in the UK, includes the page 13 headline, “Pug stamps ‘glamorise’ cruelty, say critics.”

That article includes:

“’There is nothing first class about promoting pugs or representations of breathing-impaired dogs. By withdrawing Royal Mail’s pug stamp and committing never to promote flat-faced breeds, you would champion the underdogs of this world and win the praise of animal lovers.’…

“Pugs are twice as likely to experience one or more disorders annually compared with other dogs, according to the Royal Veterinary College.”

Folks in the UK, or others from elsewhere who feel strongly about this issue should email a quick note of thanks for the coverage to stletters@telegraph.co.uk .

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Finally on pets, the current edition of People Magazine, page 105, is actively encouraging rescue with its “World’s Cutest Rescue Dog Contest.” Here’s the online submission information! You might want to submit your pooch, or you might want let People Magazine know how much you appreciate the competition.

“People Magazine support looks forward to hearing from you at feedback@people.com ”

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Moving from pets to the Los Angeles Times continued front-page coverage of avian flu spread. Today’s article (also shared here on Yahoo ) by Susanne Rust, is titled, “Can bird flu among cows be stopped?”

It tells us:

“Since the disease was first publicly identified in dairy cattle on March 25, there have been 129 reports of infected herds in 12 states. In recent weeks, there has been a surge — from 68 confirmed cases May 28 to nearly twice that many as of Tuesday. There are no cases in California.

“So far, the dairy industry has proved reluctant to work with state and federal governments to allow for widespread testing of herds.”

Those of us who write regularly to the Los Angeles Times can only get published there once every 60 days. As the Los Angeles Times has shown such a willingness to publish letters on animal issues, especially when those issues have made the front page, may I urge those who haven’t been published in the Los Angeles Times in the last 60 days to shoot off a quick appreciative letter for the coverage, perhaps with some kind of dump dairy message? (In whatever style of language works naturally for you.) Even if your letter isn’t published, your having written gives the editor more cause to publish somebody’s on the same issue.

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The current, July/August, edition of Scientific American has on the cover, “The New Science of Health and Appetite.” The lead story, on page 22, by Kate Wong, is titled (both in the Contents and on the page) “What did humans evolve to eat?” with the subheading reading, “Nutrition influencers say we should embrace meat-heavy diets like our ancestors did. But our ancestors didn’t actually eat that way.”

Thank heavens! And thank Scientific American, please. You’ll find the article here and can respond with a letter to Editors@Sciam.com .

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The same issue has a review of Brandon Keim’s new book, “Meet the Neighbors: Animal minds and life in a more-than-human world.” The review is titled, “From Nuisance to Neighbor: Rethinking the Animals in our Backyards.”

Reviewer Tove Danovich writes:

“I was hooked from the opening pages, which detail a woman’s relationship with a bumblebee that she saves and nurses back to health.”

Well, that got me to open up the copy that’s been sitting on my desk and I share Tove’s excitement. The Introduction is beautiful, both in content and writing style, with Keim known for his work in the New York Times and Atlantic.

We read:

“In this thoughtful book, people’s experiences with animals and scientific studies about animal behavior become a springboard for asking bigger questions about how to treat animals more fairly.

“In later chapters, Keim looks at various efforts to give animals legal standing so that their needs are represented alongside ours.”

Check it out on Amazon!

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Scientific American has also just released an article online titled, “The Science Is Clear: Offshore Wind Isn’t What’s Killing Whales,” with the subheading, ”

“Politicians and nonprofit groups have blamed offshore wind turbines for whale deaths, but the science doesn’t support those claims—at all.”

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PETA brings us a lovely op-ed titled, “Want to save bees? First, relearn everything you ‘knew’ about them,” which today, Sunday June 30, appears in print in

The Kansas City Star, page 53

The Olympian, page 29

The Star-Telegram, page 50

The Centre Daily Times, page 23

The Island Packet, page 40

The Belleville News-Democrat, page 39

The Idaho Statesman, page 37

The Wichita Eagle, page 33

The Beaufort Gazette, page 34

The Sun Herald, page 44

And The Sun News, page 17.

If one of those papers is local to you, please take just a moment to send a quick note of thanks! Others should enjoy and share.

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Last week Northern Californians were sent a DawnWatch alert about a lovely San Francisco Chronicle front-page story titled, “Feathered rats’? Pigeons misunderstood, S.F. rescuer says.”

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Over the last week I posted the following major media animal news stories to the DawnWatch Facebook page:

— UK newspapers, including the Daily Mail, shared a heartbreaking story of a deer who became too reliant on snacks given to him by humans who loved to visit with, and who authorities decided to “euthanize” as his teeth were rotting and he couldn’t forage.

Imagine “euthanizing” a human with rotten teeth who couldn’t get to the grocery store to shop. Meanwhile our zoos are packed with prisoners who don’t need our care and don’t want to be there.

— NPR’s All Things Considered covered un upcoming vote in Dallas regarding a ban on horse-drawn carriages.

— Meanwhile the New York Post nicely covered “Central Park carriage horses suffered in sweltering 90-degree heat: animal rights group.” That one just came out so why not follow up with the Post? ” Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@nypost.com. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style. ”

— Good news from Los Angeles via the Westside Currant and other publications: “Judge Orders LA Metro to Pay Court Costs to PETA in Bus Ads Lawsuit.”

— Awesome news from Denmark via ABC: “Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first — Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming.”

— And the ABC station in Nevada, KOLO TV, has today released the depressing news, ” BLM rounds up 382 wild horses in southeast Nevada.”

Sigh. We still have our work cut out for us. But gosh the tone of coverage, let alone the amount, has changed in the last two decades. Thank you for all you are doing to help.

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch