AR 2009: Perceptions Of Animals
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One workshop at the Animal Rights Conference was on people’s perceptions of animals. For details about the event, please take a look at arconference.org.
“Perceptions of Animals”
by: Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns
Pattrice Jones, Eastern Shore Sanctuary
Kim Sheridan, Compassion Circle
Pattrice Jones:
Jones spoke on human perceptions of animals, saying they are often what you want them to be. We adjust our perception to our needs and backgrounds. When faced with facts contrary to our beliefs we can take two paths: assimilation or accommodation.
“Assimilation” is when a person adds the new information to her prior knowledge and adjusts her thinking accordingly. “Accommodation” happens when a person “sees what he wants to see”. The person accommodates his own beliefs by adjusting what he sees.
Jones’ remarks were generally academically focused, and she tended to use philosophical jargon. She spoke of peoples’ “schemas” ( a mental structure we use to organize and simplify our knowledge of the world around us, according to changingminds.org) – in other words, the way we pigeonhole people – and animals. We make assumptions, for example, about the gender-related activities of animals, concluding that male animals are naturally more aggressive than females. When we see animals act in ways that are contrary to this vision we dismiss it or re-interpret the act to fit with our previous perception.
She spoke of “social construction” – animalisation in the process of oppression. I think she was referring to our tendency to categorize species and genders so that we can find ways to oppress them, but I could be wrong. I am not uneducated but I make a point of finding understanding through the use of the simplest terms possible. My belief is that if you cannot explain it then you do not understand it, and I further believe that jargon gets in the way of understanding. When I mentioned this session to another attendee later, the other person said she finds Jones’ books better than her speeches. That may be so.
Karen Davis:
Chickens are jungle fowl. They have full-spectrum color vision – infrared and ultraviolet included. They forage, teach their young, and they have a great capacity for enjoyment.
Karen mentioned her 1996 book, Prisoned Chickens Poisoned Eggs (download the 1996 version from the link), a small book on modern factory farming, which has just been updated. She said the book addresses chicken farming from the point of view of the chicken, which was a perspective generally lacking.
But she noted that you don’t need to read her book to find out the truth. Just read industry literature; it tells its own story.
The more you know about an animal the more you will understand how factory farming abuses farm animals. Chickens like to live their own lives, have families. In factory farms they are prevented from following their most fundamental instincts and desires: to be outside, to forage, to stay with their families, to revel in the feel of sunshine on their bodies.
Davis said factory farming is pure molestation, and the motives for the farmer go beyond money. Raising animals in this way brings perverse, immoral satisfactions, a sense of power and control. She noted that in egg industry publications, the industry works to convey the idea that hens are distinct from companion species. By separating them from the animals we know and love, these farmers are able to justify their treatment. It is getting more difficult to accomplish this goal, however, as animal advocates become more knowledgeable all the time.
Locavore movement: chickens are a big part of this movement. A family has a few hens, the family gets to like the chickens, and more and more people come to realize that these animals have needs and desires and distinct personalities, just as the family dog has. Thus the egg industry is not thrilled with this movement.
From the point of view of the chicken, the locavore movement is not all sunshine and benign attention, either. Most locavores send away for their baby chicks, buy them from a catalog. The chicks are ordered from hatcheries in which the male chick is destroyed. A few years ago 100 thousand a week were sent out by the largest hatchery, and many more are shipped today. Postal regulations allow these combo packs to be sent by airmail – the airlines are forced to ship them as “luggage”. No temperature control or anything else, no food. Over 30% arrive dead. Many of those left are not picked up. They are then drowned or thrown in the trash.
Davis read from a recent essay about the many facts about these complex animals that most people do not know. There is much we will never understand about them.
Kim Sheridan: I have no notes of Kim – I know that I attended one workshop that was missing a presenter but I don’t know if this was the one. I’d love to hear from others who were there.
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