Buck was about six weeks old, covered in fleas, with fireworks tied to him and he’d been given poison. He was on the road when found by a kindly worker.
The worker wrapped the puppy in a blanket and brought him home (he was going to look for someone to adopt him). A roommate took one look at him and wanted to keep him. The puppy was in really bad shape. He also had Parvo and the medical exam found that he’d been beaten.
Eight years later, Buck is reported to be the sweetest and most even tempered dog — ever known by his owners.
This is a story that plays over just about every day. Animals in need of rescue are plentiful.
Here is a short video debate on animal rights:
What do you think?
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If you can do something to help, please do. Here are a few resources:
Humans are not smarter than animals just different, experts say
Humans have been deceiving themselves for thousands of years that they’re smarter than the rest of the animal kingdom, despite growing evidence to the contrary, according to University of Adelaide experts in evolutionary biology.
“For millennia, all kinds of authorities – from religion to eminent scholars – have been repeating the same idea ad nauseam, that humans are exceptional by virtue that they are the smartest in the animal kingdom,” says Dr Arthur Saniotis, Visiting Research Fellow with the University’s School of Medical Sciences.
“However, science tells us that animals can have cognitive faculties that are superior to human beings.”
He says the belief that humans have superior intelligence harks back to the Agricultural Revolution some 10,000 years ago when people began producing cereals and domesticating animals. This gained momentum with the development of organized religion, which viewed human beings as the top species in creation.
“The belief of human cognitive superiority became entrenched in human philosophy and sciences. Even Aristotle, probably the most influential of all thinkers, argued that humans were superior to other animals due to our exclusive ability to reason,” Dr Saniotis says.
While animal rights began to rise in prominence during the 19th century, the drive of the Industrial Revolution forestalled any gains made in the awareness of other animals.
Professor Maciej Henneberg, a professor of anthropological and comparative anatomy from the School of Medical Sciences, says animals often possess different abilities that are misunderstood by humans.
“The fact that they may not understand us, while we do not understand them, does not mean our ‘intelligences’ are at different levels, they are just of different kinds. When a foreigner tries to communicate with us using an imperfect, broken, version of our language, our impression is that they are not very intelligent. But the reality is quite different,” Professor Henneberg says.
VIDEO PROGRAM source: Paul Dejillas
How does our brain differ with that of animals? How does an adult brain differ with that of an infant or toddler? What’s in our brain that makes us humans? What makes us humans smarter than animals? How does our brain really work?
“Animals offer different kinds of intelligences which have been under-rated due to humans’ fixation on language and technology. These include social and kinesthetic intelligence. Some mammals, like gibbons, can produce a large number of varied sounds – over 20 different sounds with clearly different meanings that allow these arboreal primates to communicate across tropical forest canopy. The fact that they do not build houses is irrelevant to the gibbons.
“Many quadrupeds leave complex olfactory marks in their environment, and some, like koalas, have special pectoral glands for scent marking. Humans, with their limited sense of smell, can’t even gauge the complexity of messages contained in olfactory markings, which may be as rich in information as the visual world,” he says.
Professor Henneberg says domestic pets also give us close insight into mental abilities of mammals and birds. “They can even communicate to us their demands and make us do things they want.
VIDEO PROGRM
Although most people wouldn’t typically associate extreme intelligence with animals, that is a bit of a misconception. While they are obviously not able to match the computational and meta cognitive power of the human brain there are certain things some animals specialize in for which their minds are uniquely adapted. In some ways you could say they are smarter (or more functional) than even humans at performing these tasks.
Basics about 25 intelligent animals species:
The animal world is much more complex than we give it credit for,” Henneberg says.
The article is more than enough for me to see. I cannot look at the pictures and read it. Honestly, I did scroll through it — but I was unable to look at it long enough to read it. I signed the petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/929/929/857/?z00m=20677266
Willow, a one day old baby Giraffe with its mother.
Picture credit: Ralph Daily
I had no intention of writing today, but coming upon this story and the petition that accompanied it, changed that in a heartbeat.
For as long as I can remember, the Giraffe has been the object of my affection and admiration.
There is something so regal, so fragile, so graceful, so endearing about them, how could you not love them.
In my lifetime, I have, with little shame, amassed a collection of Giraffes in every form, all manner of clothing, toys for my children and my dogs of course, stationary, Christmas cards, birthday cakes, Giraffes made of paper, wood, copper, bisque, brass, you name it, if it is a Giraffe anything, I have it.
In my defense, many of the above were gifts, as my love of this animal was well-known.
I love animals. I’d probably have loved to be a trainer — well, maybe — if it really is as much fun as I believe, then I’d have liked that I think.
Robin Williams met with my online favorite animal buddy — Koko the Talking Gorilla.
Program Description Robin Williams met with her, has a tickle fight with Koko, and she checks his id.
The next video includes some colorful language and sexual talk. Here is what Robin Williams said about his visit.
From what I can find, researchers report evidence that human love for animals dates back perhaps as much as 100,000 years. Love of other animals is not strictly a human trait and I’ll come back to that in another post. However, our human capacity to relate to the mental states of others is key to human fascination with animals.
Domesticating animals too made good economical sense. Since the dawning of human interaction with animals we’ve increasingly sophisticated social exchanges with one another.
This post really was more for a break from the seriousness of my week. I hope it was entertaining. Do you have pets? I believe that pets help people feel the love. If people would have a pet, I hope it is for and with love.
December is self-improvement month at this blog — let’s all get in touch with our best true selves and make this our month to end the year at our best. I’ll feature lots of content to improve the inner and outer us. Check back frequently.
Eric
“The belief of human cognitive superiority became entrenched in human philosophy and sciences. Even Aristotle, probably the most influential of all thinkers, argued that humans were superior to other animals due to our exclusive ability to reason,” Dr Saniotis says.
Eric
the Hunt for Truth 