More Than One Way To Save A Life
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The NY Times has a piece out now about the factions of the pro-animal movement. Here’s the main thesis of the article:
“[T]here remains a widening divide still simmering within the animal-rights community over the treatment of abused, high-risk animals. The friction boils down to a matter of life and death. PETA generally advocates euthanizing rescued fighting dogs, while other groups lean toward rehabilitation.
“The public disagreement is eye-opening for those of us who assumed animal-rights and animal-welfare groups were all on the same page. After talking to both camps, this much is clear:
“They all love the animals, but can’t seem to get along with each other.”
It’s true. We disagree about all kinds of things. Just like all other movements for social change, the pro-animal movement exhibits a wide variety of ideas, personalities, and methods of activism. The Michael Vick dogs represent one area of disagreement among animal people, but more specifically, the disagreement was between two major players: wealthy, pro-animal organizations. PETA wanted to ‘euthanize’ (kill) the Vick dogs but Best Friends wanted to ‘rehabilitate’ (convert into pets) them.
From the article:
“‘These are celebrity dogs,’ [Ingrid Newkirk of PETA] said this week in a telephone interview. ‘That isn’t a good use of money, it isn’t the best uses of time. The Vick dogs are the least likely candidates for success. It’s just a much more exciting story that comes with money attached to it.’
“The founder of Best Friends, Michael Mountain, said PETA, for all its high-profile advocacy, is boxed in by an outdated philosophy.”
I think they’re both right. I think PETA is right that saving these dogs isn’t the best use of money. The Vick money could have done any number of wonderful things to help animals. But I don’t think that’s a good reason not to save the Vick dogs. I think Best Friends was right to rescue them.
But PETA’s also right that these are ‘celebrity dogs.’ Many people pick and choose which animals to love and which animals to hate. For example, after Hurricane Katrina, lots of people wanted to adopt a Katrina dog or cat but they wouldn’t adopt a cat or dog from their local shelter. Another example is whenever a cow escapes a live market in New York City. The general public cheers for that particular cow, but doesn’t care much for the cow who became their hamburger. It’s not rational and it’s anti-animal. And pro-animal organizations shouldn’t encourage the public to treat some animals better than others by playing into the celebrity animal mindset.
However, I think PETA ignored the potential that saving the Vick dogs has in educating the public about animal abuse, exploitation, and proper dog care. Even though they’re an animal welfare organization, not an animal rights organization, Best Friends is doing something incredibly positive in rescuing these dogs. They are saying loud and clear that every life counts. They are taking more of a rights-based, individual approach that shows animal rights is about individual animal’s rights to live free from harm from humans.
“Here’s where they agree. They oppose cruelty to animals, advocate for an end to dogfighting and believe in animal population control. PETA believes in the ideal of the no-kill shelter; Best Friends carries it out.”
But Best Friends isn’t perfect. On my week long visit out there last year I was delighted to see they have cheap veg lunches available to both staff and visitors. But the lunches were vegetarian with a vegan option, not totally vegan or vegan with a vegetarian option. A pro-animal organization should be vegan and should encourage veganism, plain and simple.
Humans are animals, too. Many pro-animal organizations manage their human resources as though they’re all volunteers. If they pay high wages, it’s only at the top tiers. All animal organizations could do better by providing health insurance and better wages for their employees. I remember asking about this when I was at Best Friends and I remember thinking that I could easily earn more money by working elsewhere. Not that money is everything, but the wages for non-skilled workers at Best Friends were not high enough to support a family. They were close to minimum wage. I remember thinking I would love to work at Best Friends, but after talking to employees about it I wasn’t sure I wanted to work there. So I made the decision to volunteer every now and then instead of applying for a job with them. That, and I’m just not sure I could emotionally handle daily work with needy animals.
And when I worked with Best Friends in New Orleans for a week after Katrina I remember witnessing some mismanagement of resources and personnel. Volunteer coordination is incredibly difficult and I commend anyone for trying, but some do better than others. (One volunteer was very upset when there was miscommunication about a dog she wanted to adopt. The dog was given to a stranger to adopt and the volunteer was heartbroken. I think Best Friends deserves a bit of a free pass on that, though, because some chaos is inevitable in a disaster like Katrina. And well, you can’t please everyone. I felt so bad for the volunteer at the time. I know exactly what it’s like to develop a relationship with a dog at a shelter and plan on adopting that dog, when someone else comes along and takes ‘your’ dog.)
Worst of all, in my opinion, is Best Friends’ attitude that they’d rather not offend or alienate potential animal people by being too ‘extreme.’ So they never come out against breeding, only against large scale breeders (puppy mills). And they only rescue pets (and some wildlife). They don’t rescue meat animals. They rarely take firm stands on the issues. And this is why they’re vegetarian, not vegan. I see Best Friends as a sort of gateway animal organization. They make it easy for omnivores to help animals.
That said, I think they’re doing a great job promoting peaceful human-animal interactions. I enjoy watching their show, Dog Town and reading the Vick Dogs Updates. I certainly think there is a place for Best Friends in the pro-animal movement.
I think there’s a place for PETA, too. PETA’s great at grabbing attention and making a fuss. They know how to push animal issues to the forefront of the mainstream media. Those issues would normally be brushed under the rug were it not for PETA. And PETA is so well known that it’s often the first place people look for more information about animal issues. But PETA receives a lot of criticism, some of that criticism is well deserved. Personally, I think the most valid criticism is exactly this one: PETA isn’t very good at rescue so they should probably just stay out of it.
I like the way the Times article concludes, so I’ll conclude the same way:
“[T]his is not really a dogfighting issue or an animal-rights issue or an overpopulation issue. This is a caring issue: If we, as a society, cannot treat the defenseless with kindness, how can we ever hope to truly care for one another?
“Under Newkirk’s direction, PETA has launched many important initiatives — including shining a light on the brutal dogfighting industry. But she is on the wrong side of this pit-bull issue. If a dog can be rehabilitated, rehabilitate; if a life can be saved, save it.”
That’s what vegans do everyday, just by being vegan. Vegans save lives, whether they try to or not. Veganism is the easiest, least contradictory activism of all. And best of all, you can be vegan and rescue dogs, too.
Interesting post. I’ve had a similar conversation with a friend who is very active in investigating and breaking up dog fighting and cock fighting rings. One of the main issues, as he explained it to me, is that many (not all) of the dogs rescued from dog fighting rings have been bred for fighting, and thus have a fighting temperament. The problem with this is that it makes it extremely difficult to integrate these dogs into “normal” families–they aren’t very good with little kids, and most likely would see little domestic animals as prey, or objects for attack. The problem then is where do these animals go if they can’t be adopted into a regular family? They need very special care, and it comes down to numbers–there needs to be enough people out there who 1. can take care of and handle a trained fighting dog, and 2. always keep them away from children and small pets to avoid a potential disaster. Unfortunately, the solution often is that there isn’t enough places or people like this, so these dogs are euthanized.
Cassie,
Thank you for your comment. You’re right that dogs bred for fighting can be difficult to convert into pets. And that might not even be the best outcome for them, either, depending on the dog.
Indeed there are numerous issues involved in rescuing fighting animals and simply not enough resources. But in this particular case the resources existed to save these dogs’ lives.
Euthanasia must be a last resort, not a convenient choice in order to maximize resources.
Completely agree–euthanasia of a perfectly healthy animal should always be the last resort. I’m very happy that Vick’s dogs are being given a second chance.