Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare

471 Pages·1998·2.91 MB·English

by  Marc Bekoff

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
ANIMAL RIGHTS AND
ANIMAL WELFARE
Marc Bekoff
Editor
Greenwood Press
Encyclopedia of
Animal Rights and
Animal Welfare

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
ANIMAL RIGHTS AND
ANIMAL WELFARE
Edited by Marc Bekoff
with Carron A. Meaney
Foreword by Jane Goodall
GreenwoodPress
Westport,Connecticut
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Encyclopediaofanimalrightsandanimalwelfare / editedbyMarc
BekoffwithCarronA.Meaney ; forewordbyJaneGoodall.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–313–29977–3(alk.paper)
1. Animalrights—Encyclopedias. 2. Animalwelfare—
Encyclopedias. I. Bekoff,Marc. II. Meaney,CarronA.,1950– .
HV4708.E53 1998
179'.3—dc21 97–35098
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:1)1998byMarcBekoffandCarronA.Meaney
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:97–35098
ISBN:0–313–29977–3
Firstpublishedin1998
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
TM
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover Acknowledgments:
Photo of chickenscourtesyof Joy Mench. Photoof Macacaexperimentaliscourtesy
of Viktor Reinhardt.Photoof LyndonB. Johnsoncourtesyof the LyndonBaines
Johnson PresidentialLibrary Archives.
Contents
Foreword by Jane Goodall vii
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
Chronology xvii
The Encyclopedia 1
Appendix: Resources on Animal Welfare and Humane
Education 383
Sources 407
Index 415
About the Editors and Contributors 437

Foreword
It is an honor for me to contribute a foreword to this unique, informative,
and exciting volume. Never before has an attempt been made to gather
together,betweentwocovers,comprehensiveinformationabouttheuseand
abuseofnonhumananimalsbyourownhumanspecies,alongwiththecom-
plexissuesthatmustbeunderstoodbythosewhoareconcernedwithanimal
welfare and animal rights, and some of the ways in which different groups
aretacklingtheseissues.Becausehumanbeingsareanimals,thisbookcould
have been expanded to include the horrible abuse and torture to which we
subject other humans—theoretically, there could be a whole section on hu-
manrights.Butthatisnotthepurposeoftheeditors.Thisbookisconcerned
with the essential dignity of the wondrousnonhumanbeingswithwhomwe
share this planet, and our human responsibilities towards them: the beings
knownincommonparlanceas‘‘animals’’—whichishowIshallrefertothem
here.
Of course, we humans are much more like other animals than was once
thought,muchmoresothanmanypeopleliketo,orarepreparedto,believe.
I have been privileged to spend 35 years learning about andfromthechim-
panzees,ourclosestlivingrelatives.Adetailedunderstandingofchimpanzee
nature has helped, perhaps more than anything else, to blur the line, once
thoughttobesoclearandsharp,dividinghumansfromtherestoftheanimal
kingdom. Once we are prepared to accept that it is not only humans who
havepersonalities,notonlyhumanswhoarecapableofrationalthoughtand
simple problem solving,andabove all,notonlyhumanswhocanexperience
emotions such as joy, sorrow, fear, despair, and mental as well as physical
suffering, then we are surely compelled to have new respect not only for
chimpanzees but also for so many other amazing animal species. (In fact, I
viii FOREWORD
received my first lessons about the amazing capabilities of nonhumansfrom
my dog, Rusty, before I was 10 years old.)
The only thing that we humans do that no other animals do in the same
way is to communicate by means of a sophisticated spoken—and written—
language, and this, I believe, lays on us certain responsibilities towards the
rest of the animal kingdom. (It might be mentioned that in English trans-
lationsoftheOldTestament—Psalm8—‘‘dominion’’isoftenused,butthis
is somewhat misleading. ‘‘Dominion’’is notthe besttranslationoftheorig-
inal Hebrew word, which is actually a verb meaning ‘‘made to rule over,’’
asawisekingrulesoverhissubjectswithcareandrespect.WhateverEnglish
word is chosen, it is clear that the original Hebrew phrasing implies a re-
spectfuland caringattitudetowardscreationandsuggestsasenseofrespon-
sibility. This, of course, gives the text a completely different meaning than
some of the narrower meanings, such as domination, which are often read
into the English translation ‘‘dominion.’’)
I have been fortunate. I have been able to spend many years observing
chimpanzees and other animals in their own natural environments, thereby
gaining unique insights into their true nature. For this reason,Ibelieveitis
myparticularresponsibilitytosharemyknowledgewithaslargeanaudience
as possible for the benefit of the animals themselves. Chimpanzees have
given me as much, and I am haunted at the thought of those who are im-
prisoned in the name of entertainment or science. As I have written else-
where, ‘‘The least I can do is to speak out for the hundreds of chimpanzees
who right now, sit hunched, miserable and without hope, staring out with
dead eyes from their metal prisons. They cannot speak for themselves.’’
This is why I am so very glad that this encyclopedia has been put to-
gether—for it speaks out for animals, for all kinds of animals. It broadcasts
a simple message, a plea, that needs desperately to beheardasweheadinto
the 21st century. Give animals the respect that, as sentient beings, is their
due.Andthissimplemessageisdeliveredherebyamultitudeofvoicesfrom
many different disciplines: from biology, including ethology (the study of
behavior)andecology,anthropology,psychology,philosophy,sociology,ed-
ucation, law, ethnology, history, politics, theology, veterinary science, and
public administration. This multidisciplinary collection of contributors
means that the essays discuss the central theme from different perspectives:
collectively they provide an astonishingly rich overview of the extent of an-
imal suffering in our modern society and the various steps that have been
taken by those fighting for animal welfare and animal rights. And, impor-
tantly, the material is presented in a straightforward way intendedtoappeal
tothegeneralpublicaswellasthescientists.Oncethisencyclopediareaches
the shelves of libraries in schools and universities, many young people, as
well as their teachers, will have access to this valuable information.
The encyclopedia provides the reader with an opportunity to acquire in-
depth understanding of complex issues. And because different contributors
FOREWORD ix
voice differing opinions, the reader will also be able to develop his or her
owncarefullyreasonedargumentstousewhendiscussingcontroversialissues
with peoplewho holddifferentviews.Thisisimportant.Themorepassion-
ate one feels about animal abuse, the more important it becomes to try to
understand what is behind it. However distasteful it may seem, it really is
necessarytobecomefullyinformedaboutagivenissue.Dogmatism,arefusal
to listen to any point of view differing from one’s own, resultsinmoraland
intellectual arrogance. This is far from helpful and is most unlikely to lead
to any kind of progress. The ‘‘us’’ v. ‘‘them’’ attitude bringsusefuldialogue
toanend.Infact,mostissuesarequitecomplexandcanseldombedescribed
in simple terms of black and white. And until we become fully cognizantof
allthatisinvolved,wehadbetternotstartarguing,letalonethrowingbricks
at anyone.
Let me give an example. Recently, during a semi-official visit to South
Korea, a press conference was set up by my host organization. The subject
of cruelty came up. I said that I would like to discuss their habit of eating
dogs.My interpreterblanched.Quiteclearlyshefeltthatthiswaspolitically
insensitive and would embarrass my hosts! I explained that in the country
where I grewup (England),peopletypicallyatecowsandpigsandchickens,
and that pigs at least are quite as intelligent as dogs and, in fact, make
wonderful pets. Yet only too often they are kept in horrendous conditions.
I suggested that the most important issue, if one was goingtoeatananimal
at all (which I did not), was not so much the species as how it was treated
in life. At this point one of the journalists assured me that thedogstheyate
werebredforeating.Thisledtodiscussionsaboutwhetherornotthismade
any difference, the ways in which dogs—and pigs—were kept, and avariety
of other issues. The point was that an almost taboo subject was aired in
public, and this led, for a number of people, to new ways of thinking about
animals in general.
Perhaps the bitterest pill that we who care about animals havetoswallow
is that only too often, it is through a series of compromises that progressis
actually made, and this seems agonizingly slow. There are, of course, situ-
ations when the cruelty inflicted is so great that no compromise is possible.
Then it is equally important, if not more so, to know as much as possible
about the situation: this encyclopedia may provide the animal activist with
information about how similar situations have been successfully tackled.
The essays in the volume are necessarily brief, summarizing information
whichinsomecasesisextensive.Eachessaycanservetostimulatethereader
to pursue a particular issue in greater depth, guided by the extensivelistsof
references and key organizations that have been compiled for the encyclo-
pedia. These lists will be a goldmine for all those who care about animal
issues.
Albert Schweitzer once said, ‘‘We need a boundless ethic that includes
animals too.’’ At the present our ethic concerning animals is limited and