The tragic death of one of Zimbabwe's most loved lions – Cecil – has sparked global outrage. And understandably so. It's hard to fathom why anyone would want to kill such an incredible animal. The American dentist who hunted and shot Cecil with a bow and arrow, reportedly paid $55,000 for a permit to kill a lion. Reports say that Cecil was lured out from the protection of the Hwange National Park (where it is illegal to hunt) and killed.
Cecil's death is undeniably devastating. But it begs the question -- would this story even be told if it had been any other lion who was shot? Approximately 600 lions are killed every year on trophy hunts. In a statement, the hunter who killed Cecil said:
"I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion."
This lion.
Had he shot any other lion (or any other animal) we might never have heard about it. But Cecil had a name. He had a personality. He was loved.
Cecil nuzzles a lioness at Hwange National Park.
Does having a name make Cecil's life more valuable? All lions have unique personalities. They have loved ones. They may have cubs, like Cecil did. But their deaths would not make global headlines.
Rightly or wrongly, it is an undeniable trait of human nature that we care more about those we know than about those we barely know. With Cecil, we see on a global scale that even by simply knowing an animal by name, we feel more connected to them. We understand that they are someone. If you've ever given a house spider a name (I know I have) you'll know how something so simple can build a bridge from 'other' to 'friend'.
And if we look at humankind's "best friend" we can see how deep this connection between humans and animals can go. Most of us will have at some point in our lives welcomed an animal into our homes. We will have learned about their likes and dislikes, watched them experience joy and fear and loved them just like a member of the family.
If you've ever loved a companion animal you'll know that you'd never let anyone hurt them. And it's this love that has dictated the protection our pets have in broader society. In Australia there are legal ramifications for cruelty to dogs and cats that are not afforded to millions of other animals. If someone were to take a dog and cut off his tail without any pain relief, they would face cruelty charges. And yet, this painful procedure is inflicted upon countless piglets in factory farms every single day.
Recently, there was worldwide outrage over the dog eating festival in China. I'm the first to be saddened by the thought of a dog being killed and eaten but perhaps some cultures just don't know dogs like we do? If they did, surely they wouldn't consider them "food." Meanwhile, here at home, countless animals who are really no different to dogs are killed everyday ... to be turned into pork, bacon and ham. Why do we not feel outraged by this?
Dogs and cats have a special place in our society simply because we know them as individuals, we love them and we stand up to protect them. What if we could expand our compassion to the animals who we don't know? Imagine how different the world would be if we stood up to protect all animals?
Just like dogs, pigs have a desire to live, and feel love and have in fact proven to be even smarter than the tail-wagging slobber monkeys we share our homes with. Chickens too each have their own unique personalities, likes and dislikes and the capacity to feel pain.
Cecil's life mattered not because he was a lion, or because we knew his name. Cecil's life mattered because all lives matter.
Every day we make choices about how we treat individuals who we will never meet -- from what we wear, to what we buy, and most especially what we eat. To create a kinder world, we need only harness the power of our everyday choices to transform the lives of these animals for the better. And we can start today. Take the first step here.
This epic documentary is about to hit screens across Australia with an aim to get people to see the world through new eyes. Here's the trailer:
I got to see a preview of UNITY and the message is plain and simple, yet something that we too often forget: We all exist on this earth, we all experience joy and we all suffer. So why do we tend to focus on our differences instead of what unites us? Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? Or can we open our eyes (and hearts) and learn to truly love ourselves, our planet and our fellow species?
From the writer and director of EARTHLINGS, UNITY is told by 100 different narrators, including Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Aniston, Dr. Dre, Geoffrey Rush, Selena Gomez, Aaron Paul and Jaoquin Phoenix. With a message that's close to our hearts, we were delighted when Mushroom Pictures asked Animals Australia to partner with them for the launch of UNITY in Australia.
We're giving away 25 double passes to the Sydney preview of UNITY on August 3. Click here to enter!
PLEASE NOTE: UNITY is a deeply thought provoking film that is not afraid to challenge its audience. It contains images of human and animal suffering that may be confronting for some viewers. It is not suitable for children.
Unless you've been living in the depths of the South Atlantic Ocean, you'll have noticed that the media is having a field day with surfer Mick Fanning's encounter with a shark on the weekend.
This morning as I was getting my coffee, I caught a glimpse of the Herald Sun and the front page headline read "I BEAT JAWS".
Legit newspaper cover.
Firstly, let me just say that I'm very glad Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson are safe. Secondly, -- this headline, and much of the media's portrayal of this incident, is shark poo.
Here's how the story should have been written up based on the surfer's retelling of what happened:
Shark gets tangled in surfer's leg rope. Surfer pulled out of water unharmed.
Experts who have studied Great White's stalking seals say that when these sharks attack they move at speeds of up to 40 km p/h, coming up quickly and precisely from depths of 8-14 metres below their prey. The shark in this footage with Mick Fanning is seen swimming around on the surface before bumping into the surfer. See for yourself:
There's no doubt that had this shark wanted to he could've seriously hurt Fanning. But sharks are very curious animals and -- surprise, surprise -- they live in the ocean. Surfers are not blind to the fact that they're paddling around in the natural habitat of a wide variety of marine animals, including sharks.
George Burgess of the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) said: "By all appearances, it was a situation where a White shark was coming up for an investigation of the situation. The fact that there was no bite suggests that the animal was simply there to check it out, to see what was going on."
Sadly, however this will still go on record as an incidence of a shark attack as by the ISAF definition a shark attack is any instance where contact between a human and shark was made. Does this seem weird to you? Yesterday a dog touched my hand with his nose. Was that a dog attack?
And on top of that, many media outlets have decided that they'd rather tell this story:
The problem is that sensationalised stories like this put sharks at risk. Already there are those who want Great White sharks to have their protected status revoked and for more "diligent management" (also known as shark culls) to happen.
Only last year, caring Aussies spoke up to protect sharks, resulting in a cull in WA being scrapped, saving the lives of countless sharks. Why? Because sharks are a crucial part of the ocean ecosystem. What's more, there's no evidence to suggest that bloody culls make beaches any safer. In fact, there are many surfers who are amongst the most vocal in their support of protecting sharks.
But while the media goes on a joy ride to demonise sharks, it cheers me up no end to see that at least the internet is thinking about things from the other side of the story:
If you love sharks, and don't want them to be portrayed as the flesh-hungry beasts of horror movies, you might like to write a letter to the editor of your local paper and share your thoughts. We've got some great tips to get you started.
If you could choose 4 words to describe your companion animals I'm 100% sure these would NOT make the list.
For most of us, the animals we share our homes with are not something -- they are someone. We know their quirks, their likes, their dislikes. We talk about them as part of the family. But this isn't how most animals in human 'care' are talked about.
You won't believe these 4 words are used to describe living, breathing, thinking beings.
Livability (noun): The likelihood that a chicken who is bred for meat will survive long enough to be sent to slaughter.
For the chicken meat industry, the bottom line is how much meat they can produce. So chickens have been bred to grow as fast as possible. As a result of this unnatural growth, many birds do not even survive the 35 days or so before they are sent to slaughter.
These baby birds --who still chirp and have soft feathers -- often become crippled by the weight of their overgrown bodies. Some starve when they can no longer stand up to reach food or water. For others, their organs shut down, unable to cope with their body's rapid growth.
But for the industry the math is simple -- if the extra weight on birds who make it to slaughter brings in more profit than what they lose in dead birds then it's good for business.
Chopper cow (noun): A dairy cow whose body can no longer produce the high volumes of milk needed for her to be profitable, and so she is sent to slaughter – usually to be turned into ground beef.
Like humans, to produce milk cows need to have a baby. So cows who fail to get pregnant or who don't produce enough milk don't have value to the dairy industry and are trucked to slaughter.
But it's not only older animals who face this fate. The moment calves are born they have often served their purpose -- to make their mothers produce milk. So every year an estimated 1 million calves are separated from their mothers and killed in their first week of life as waste products of the Australian dairy industry.
Service date (noun): The date on which a mother pig is impregnated — either by mating or artificial insemination.
Pigs are clever animals who will often seek out company and affection. Yet factory farms talk about them like they were machinery or 'units' on a production line. When a pig fails to get pregnant she will 'return to service' to be 're-served'.
Sometimes farmers will think a pig is pregnant but after a full term she won't produce piglets. If this happens, she is labeled a "NIP" (not in pig). And, like faulty machinery, if she keeps failing to get pregnant she will be 'destroyed' and sold as low-grade pork.
Spent (adjective): Used to describe an animal who can no longer produce enough milk, eggs or babies to be profitable, and so is sent to slaughter.
Like dairy cows and mother pigs, there is no retirement plan for egg-laying hens. For all of these animals, when they don't produce enough to make a profit, they are disposed of like garbage.
Most dairy cows are considered 'spent' by roughly 6-7 years of age and mother pigs at just 2-3 years of age. Egg-laying hens in Australia are sent to slaughter from as young as 18 months of age.
In the language we use -- and in the eyes of the law -- farmed animals are so often treated differently to the animals we share our homes with. But in their capacity to feel pain, and in their desire to be treated with kindness, they are the same.
If you agree that all animals deserve kindness, the power is in your hands. By making simple, kind choices, you can help protect animals, save lives and inspire others to do the same. Take the first step here.
I don't think I could put it any more eloquently than Indie-Rose has.
"Animals are very nice."
If you don't want the "animal-people" to be chopped up, you can be a vegetarian.
In case you're a bit unsure, like Indie-Rose was, this is what a vegetarian does:
Sounds pretty awesome right?
P.S. Indie-Rose's mum told The Mirror that she hasn't eaten meat since this moment 3 months ago :) Share some love for Indie-Rose in the comments below, and for her family for being so supportive of her choice.
A woman in China was shocked to find a piece of beef she had just bought was twitching and pulsating. You have to see it to believe it:
Excuse me for one second while I ...
An Aussie butcher has explained that when an animal is slaughtered there are sometimes involuntary spasms from the nerve endings.
We as a society seem to foget too easily that meat comes from a live animal so when this fact is brought into our focus, we are (understandably) turned off by it. The woman who bought this piece of meat was so disgusted that she chose to film it rather than eat it.
But all meat had pulsing nerves once. And veins. And a beating heart. In fact in my opinion this "beef" is not fresh enough. I prefer "meat" that has all it's nerves and veins pulsing and pumping.
Like this:
And this:
And this:
And this:
And this:
If you're with me that animals should be playing and jumping and getting hugs, rather than dead and twitching on a plate, take the first step to being meat-free today.
Disclaimer:
We’re supposed to let you know that the ideas expressed here are the views of the individual authors, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Animals Australia or Animals Australia Unleashed. So now you know.
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