Tales & Tails of New York

Jmuhjacat Writes:  Absolutely agree, and as I never tire of telling, my parents' greatest gift to me was the teaching of compassion and the demonstration of caring they gave me every single day, starting with the fact that when I was born, their rescued cat was there to greet me, befriend me, sleep with me, be my confidante and my "big brother" and constant companion for many years.

Reply:  As anyone who works with rescuing and trying to socialize "feral" cats and kittens knows, it is so critical to try and get these animals very early in life in order to have the best chance of nurturing trust and later placing them.  Early upbringing is as crucial to humans as it is to animals, in terms of later behavior, personality, adaptability and yes, "attitude."

The truth is, we learn our values very early in life.

The child who grows up with animals and is taught very early to respect, appreciate and treat kindly other life forms indeed receives perhaps the greatest gift we as parents can give them.

Children who are taught empathy and kindness towards animals usually do better in school, have more friends and are genereally healthier.

Empathy, responsibility, caring, understanding and compassion are qualities that are far reaching and necessary in terms of creating the better and more peaceful world we all so crave and pray for.

Conversely, the child who is not taught these values early or who grows up in a home where animals are mistreated, neglected and/or callously abandoned grows up with a sense of insecurity that few "things" can fill.  Such children are likely to have more problems with trust and relating to other humans.  They may try to "bully" their way through life or attempt to find "meaning" through gadgets, things, superficial relationships, sex, alcohol or drugs.

One of the things I have learned in trying to promote better treatment towards animals over the years, is that it is very hard to reverse attitudes or instill values where people have had very different learning experiences when young.

It's like trying to "socialize" an adult feral cat whose early learning experiences have been to fear and avoid people.

One of the reasons I switched from being an Animal Rights activist to directly rescuing and trying to place abandoned cats and dogs, was because I saw how very difficult it was to try and change public attitude and values.

Not impossible, but extremely difficult.

Certainly, the greatest ways animals are abused in our culture is meat production.

But, trying to persuade people to give up meat despite all the arguments in the world whether they be environmental, human health or animal cruelty is an exercise in despair and extreme frustration.

The fact is, meat is an ingrained part of our culture. From the time we are toddlers we are fed meat.  It is part of our early upbringing and family.  It is part of our value system.  It is what many of us believe animals were put on earth for.

Trying to reverse these core values in others is, as said, very hard.

Many people who grew up with pets and were taught kindness to the family cat or dog draw a line between those animals and the ones on the dinner table.

Unless some life-altering experience occurs in their lives or, on their own, they seek to expand their compassion horizons to include other animals, they are unlikely to change.

Many in the Animal Rights Movement think its a matter of beating people over the heads with an avalance of information, grizzly pictures or guilt trips.

"Its not good enough to just be vegetarian.  You have to be vegan. You have to be a purist!"

Those things don't work. -- People simply turn away or turn off.  Invaribly, they won't do anything at all -- such as give up the meat products most indicative of cruelty -- veal, pork or chicken.

We have to recognize the world we live in and accept that, unless children are taught very early in life to respect and appreciate ALL animals, the struggles for true animal justice in this world are decades, if not centuries away.

Of all the things we might achieve on behalf of animals, Humane Education in the schools, is, in reality, THE most important and the most far reaching in terms of creating a better and more peaceful future world for both, humans and our four legged friends.  -- PCA

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• #1 Comment from jmuhjacat 
  5/1/08 4:36 PM | Permalink

  Absolutely right, Patty!  Well said.  That's a very handsome tabby btw.