My apologies once again for being so late this week. As I've mentioned before: Ashur, Alex and Monkey are leaving China for good and going to Indonesia. There are many things they have to do before they leave and one of those cropped up [suddenly happened; mentioned unexpectedly] on Monday, in which I was needed to help.There are some times in our lives when being a parent and being at work conflict.
I had prepared two topics for Monday but because Monkey paid you all a visit we started off with the one about animal rights which went on for quite a while and had very little time for discussing How To Write an Essay.
It is always very difficult for me to judge how long a certain subject will take to discuss: topics that, outside of China, have everybody talking very heatedly [ involved and passionate] don't interest Chinese students sometimes, and a simple chance remark on something taken for granted in the West can suddenly take the interest of students here. Also, sometimes your reactions are so entirely different to what I expect that I get very excited and let the subject just go on.
Talking about the Bears on Monday proved to be one of those times. You've probably heard that English people especially, but many other nationalities are daft about[silly, crazy about] animals?I've also spent quite a bit of time in Buddhist countries too where animal welfare is a natural part of life. So I had thought I would just mention the Bears and we would talk maybe for a few minutes about them. I didn't realise or remember that animal rights are not a very familiar topic here.
Probably the most well-known and familiar group for Commonwealth countries is the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) supported by the Queen of England. In other countries like America, South Africa etc. this is merely called the SPCA.
This organisation has been in existence for a long time and in most bars, shops, railway stations etc. there are collection boxes where people put their spare change or even bigger donations to help them. Supermarkets also have bins outside the check out counters{where your goods are scanned and paid for] for people who want to buy cans of or packets of animal/bird food and products and donate them instead of/as well as money. As someone pointed out in class, animals are part of the complete cycle of nature - their protection is seen as necessary.
It is also quite common for students from Primary schools up to University levels, and for unemployed people, to do volunteer work at RSPCA shelters[places where injured, badly treated, or abandoned birds and animals are looked after] or similar places. Without volunteers these places could not operate as the only funding (money) they get is from the public.
The RSPCA is a very powerful organisation and has been responsible for the changing of laws and for introducing laws which make it a crime to treat birds or animals cruelly. People can go to jail, get huge fines or have their businesses closed down for being cruel to animals. If a neighbour reports someone being cruel to their pet the RSPCA or the Police will come and take the animal away and charge the owner. They will also insist that dogs which have been taught to bite people are taken away and destroyed as well. They will treat pets and animals of poor people for free rather than see them suffer.
Another huge organisation which is always in the News is Greenpeace which is now a political party. It didn't start off that way, though. When it started off it was a private group of people - mainly University students - who got together. In the last elections in Australia the Greens - the political arm of Greenpeace - got more votes than ever before and is becoming an increasingly popular political force. It is dedicated to eradicating cruelty to animals, birds and fish, and to restoring the balance between nature and the environment. It wants not just to Save the World, but to Save the Planet!
Added to these huge, worldwide organisations there are the Save the Whales, Save the Panda, Save the Gorilla,Save the Elephant, Save the Tiger and hundreds of other groups dedicated to saving species that are in danger and may die out. When I was in Malaysia I wanted to visit the centre for saving the Orang Utangs (a kind of Malaysian monkey) which is famous world-wide. I had been going to spend one of my holidays when I was at University working there but, at the last minute, was prevented from doing so.
All over the world private citizens set up shelters for the sick or abandoned pets or wild-life in their area and schoolchildren and students are encouraged to give their time after school or in the holidays to help out. In some schools there are even classes on how to do this! Most primary school classes will have a class pet which each kid takes turns in looking after for the weekend. Schools and Universities also have student organisations that deal with animal welfare and I don't think I have ever had any friends anywhere that did not support some kind of animal welfare group.
One of the wonderful things about Thailand (which is quite a poor country) is how dogs and cats are everywhere. No-one "owns" them - they (the animals) seem to own the towns and cities. They are all plump and well-cared for, people feed them and help when they are sick, and they are everywhere: I've never seen one harmed even a little.
I suddenly realised how you guys and I were looking at this subject from different perspectives [ways of thinking] when the idea that human beings are the highest of all creatures was accepted quite naturally by everyone.
This way of thinking, in the West, had led to a lot of cruelty and injustice towards animals. Bears and monkeys, for example, had been captured and dragged from town to town to do tricks for people. People used to bet money on fights where dogs, chickens and other animals tore each other to pieces or injured each other terribly. People who owned working animals like horses, ox, dogs etc. used to beat them and overwork them. Children used to throw stones at dogs or throw fie crackers at cats. While animals that were going to be eaten were killed very cruelly. Animals were used to test products like make up on and horrible experiments were conducted on them in laboratories.
It was decided that this was because people believed that they were superior to animals and that animals did not have feelings. So many more people set out to study animals and their behaviour - both in the wild and in captivity. The famous English scientist Jane Goodall spent years living in the forests of Africa with Mountain gorillas and her example and murder has spurred hundreds of people from all parts of the world to carry on her work with primates [monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, orang utangs, humans].
These people are not veterinary surgeons[animal doctors]. Some of them aren't even scientists but, by giving up everything to go and live in the wild and observe animals in nature we have increased our knowledge of animals and their behaviour incredibly. We now know that animals can not only feel pain but emotions such as sadness, happiness, fear, longing, - even embarrassment some studies believe.
The idea that humans are better than animals is not one that is heard very often these days. In fact, more and more people are concluding that in fact humans are the very worst kinds of animals and that we need to learn more from animals and how they live if we want to improve society. The family structures of whales, dolphins and primates, for example, are very involved and important and co-operation is another lesson we need to learn from them.
My own kids learned a lot about dolphins from being continuously in the sea and it has been proved now, as they always said, that dolphins (and other animals, of course) actually love to play. So many times my boys would come home from early morning surfing with big grins that carried them all through their day at school because the dolphins had been playing with them in the waves. In fact people who are sick or depressed have been taken to interact with dolphins and their condition has improved.
I once saw a whole pod [the collective noun for a group of whales] of whales form a circle in the sea. Every so often one would dive down for a while and come back up after some minutes. The others would move to close up the circle. Finally, in the middle of the circle up popped a baby whale followed by its mother. They had been both protecting her and supporting her while she gave birth and one of the old grannies had kept popping down to make sure she was doing o.k.!
When the little one appeared they were all so happy they crowded round it and its mother and some of them leaped high up into the air to celebrate. I was actually laughing out loud all by myself on the beach just watching them.
One important thing to remember is that animals can feel love. The wonderful thing is that, when an animal loves you it loves the person you are, not the person you are on the outside. It doesn't care if you are fat or thin, ugly, crippled, or that you have no friends. It doesn't want any reward for loving you either - except for being able to spend time with you. We have heard too many incredible and true stories of all kinds of creatures - pigs, bears, foxes, dogs, horses, elephants, lions, - even ducks and hens - and their devotion to their human friends: even giving their lives for them, for us to doubt it now.
I know that, as students, you sometimes feel you are cut off from the world. That's its all out there waiting for you but that you can do nothing to join it. Even if there are no societies you can join at the University to help animals, or you don't see any collection boxes to put money in you CAN do something. The Internet is a truly remarkable and wonderful thing. Each one of you has access to it. Just by going on-line and learning about all the groups that exist, the things that are being done, the things we now know about animals, you are taking the first step.
Just remember what we said, however. You are no longer children. You're adults.
1. Raising consciousness. This is increased when you talk to others - your friends, parents etc.
Then you can find out about thing like which companies are cruel to animals or conduct tests on them. One of the worst ways people use animals is by testing products like make-up or household cleaners etc. on them. There are lists all over the Internet of the companies that do this. There are petitions being made everyday to these places which need your help - all you need to do is press a button on your computer. Now you are learning to
2. Resist. Take no notice of their wonderful advertisements and what they say.
Finally, you can make sure you never buy that product again. Each time you buy some cream for your face for which some poor animal has had to die in screaming agony; or eat a MacDonald's hamburger you are helping to harm animals! Stop buying it: now you have registered your
3.Protest. Many of the world's leading companies have had to stop testing on animals or being cruel to them just because not just you, but thousands of other people protest in the worst possible way: they refuse to buy the product. The company has to change or go broke!
As for the bears in Sichuan? Go Google them. Look at the video on You-Tube. Are WE really the Kings and Queens of all the animals?
I had prepared two topics for Monday but because Monkey paid you all a visit we started off with the one about animal rights which went on for quite a while and had very little time for discussing How To Write an Essay.
It is always very difficult for me to judge how long a certain subject will take to discuss: topics that, outside of China, have everybody talking very heatedly [ involved and passionate] don't interest Chinese students sometimes, and a simple chance remark on something taken for granted in the West can suddenly take the interest of students here. Also, sometimes your reactions are so entirely different to what I expect that I get very excited and let the subject just go on.
Talking about the Bears on Monday proved to be one of those times. You've probably heard that English people especially, but many other nationalities are daft about[silly, crazy about] animals?I've also spent quite a bit of time in Buddhist countries too where animal welfare is a natural part of life. So I had thought I would just mention the Bears and we would talk maybe for a few minutes about them. I didn't realise or remember that animal rights are not a very familiar topic here.
Probably the most well-known and familiar group for Commonwealth countries is the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) supported by the Queen of England. In other countries like America, South Africa etc. this is merely called the SPCA.
This organisation has been in existence for a long time and in most bars, shops, railway stations etc. there are collection boxes where people put their spare change or even bigger donations to help them. Supermarkets also have bins outside the check out counters{where your goods are scanned and paid for] for people who want to buy cans of or packets of animal/bird food and products and donate them instead of/as well as money. As someone pointed out in class, animals are part of the complete cycle of nature - their protection is seen as necessary.
It is also quite common for students from Primary schools up to University levels, and for unemployed people, to do volunteer work at RSPCA shelters[places where injured, badly treated, or abandoned birds and animals are looked after] or similar places. Without volunteers these places could not operate as the only funding (money) they get is from the public.
The RSPCA is a very powerful organisation and has been responsible for the changing of laws and for introducing laws which make it a crime to treat birds or animals cruelly. People can go to jail, get huge fines or have their businesses closed down for being cruel to animals. If a neighbour reports someone being cruel to their pet the RSPCA or the Police will come and take the animal away and charge the owner. They will also insist that dogs which have been taught to bite people are taken away and destroyed as well. They will treat pets and animals of poor people for free rather than see them suffer.
Another huge organisation which is always in the News is Greenpeace which is now a political party. It didn't start off that way, though. When it started off it was a private group of people - mainly University students - who got together. In the last elections in Australia the Greens - the political arm of Greenpeace - got more votes than ever before and is becoming an increasingly popular political force. It is dedicated to eradicating cruelty to animals, birds and fish, and to restoring the balance between nature and the environment. It wants not just to Save the World, but to Save the Planet!
Added to these huge, worldwide organisations there are the Save the Whales, Save the Panda, Save the Gorilla,Save the Elephant, Save the Tiger and hundreds of other groups dedicated to saving species that are in danger and may die out. When I was in Malaysia I wanted to visit the centre for saving the Orang Utangs (a kind of Malaysian monkey) which is famous world-wide. I had been going to spend one of my holidays when I was at University working there but, at the last minute, was prevented from doing so.
All over the world private citizens set up shelters for the sick or abandoned pets or wild-life in their area and schoolchildren and students are encouraged to give their time after school or in the holidays to help out. In some schools there are even classes on how to do this! Most primary school classes will have a class pet which each kid takes turns in looking after for the weekend. Schools and Universities also have student organisations that deal with animal welfare and I don't think I have ever had any friends anywhere that did not support some kind of animal welfare group.
One of the wonderful things about Thailand (which is quite a poor country) is how dogs and cats are everywhere. No-one "owns" them - they (the animals) seem to own the towns and cities. They are all plump and well-cared for, people feed them and help when they are sick, and they are everywhere: I've never seen one harmed even a little.
I suddenly realised how you guys and I were looking at this subject from different perspectives [ways of thinking] when the idea that human beings are the highest of all creatures was accepted quite naturally by everyone.
This way of thinking, in the West, had led to a lot of cruelty and injustice towards animals. Bears and monkeys, for example, had been captured and dragged from town to town to do tricks for people. People used to bet money on fights where dogs, chickens and other animals tore each other to pieces or injured each other terribly. People who owned working animals like horses, ox, dogs etc. used to beat them and overwork them. Children used to throw stones at dogs or throw fie crackers at cats. While animals that were going to be eaten were killed very cruelly. Animals were used to test products like make up on and horrible experiments were conducted on them in laboratories.
It was decided that this was because people believed that they were superior to animals and that animals did not have feelings. So many more people set out to study animals and their behaviour - both in the wild and in captivity. The famous English scientist Jane Goodall spent years living in the forests of Africa with Mountain gorillas and her example and murder has spurred hundreds of people from all parts of the world to carry on her work with primates [monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, orang utangs, humans].
These people are not veterinary surgeons[animal doctors]. Some of them aren't even scientists but, by giving up everything to go and live in the wild and observe animals in nature we have increased our knowledge of animals and their behaviour incredibly. We now know that animals can not only feel pain but emotions such as sadness, happiness, fear, longing, - even embarrassment some studies believe.
The idea that humans are better than animals is not one that is heard very often these days. In fact, more and more people are concluding that in fact humans are the very worst kinds of animals and that we need to learn more from animals and how they live if we want to improve society. The family structures of whales, dolphins and primates, for example, are very involved and important and co-operation is another lesson we need to learn from them.
My own kids learned a lot about dolphins from being continuously in the sea and it has been proved now, as they always said, that dolphins (and other animals, of course) actually love to play. So many times my boys would come home from early morning surfing with big grins that carried them all through their day at school because the dolphins had been playing with them in the waves. In fact people who are sick or depressed have been taken to interact with dolphins and their condition has improved.
I once saw a whole pod [the collective noun for a group of whales] of whales form a circle in the sea. Every so often one would dive down for a while and come back up after some minutes. The others would move to close up the circle. Finally, in the middle of the circle up popped a baby whale followed by its mother. They had been both protecting her and supporting her while she gave birth and one of the old grannies had kept popping down to make sure she was doing o.k.!
When the little one appeared they were all so happy they crowded round it and its mother and some of them leaped high up into the air to celebrate. I was actually laughing out loud all by myself on the beach just watching them.
One important thing to remember is that animals can feel love. The wonderful thing is that, when an animal loves you it loves the person you are, not the person you are on the outside. It doesn't care if you are fat or thin, ugly, crippled, or that you have no friends. It doesn't want any reward for loving you either - except for being able to spend time with you. We have heard too many incredible and true stories of all kinds of creatures - pigs, bears, foxes, dogs, horses, elephants, lions, - even ducks and hens - and their devotion to their human friends: even giving their lives for them, for us to doubt it now.
I know that, as students, you sometimes feel you are cut off from the world. That's its all out there waiting for you but that you can do nothing to join it. Even if there are no societies you can join at the University to help animals, or you don't see any collection boxes to put money in you CAN do something. The Internet is a truly remarkable and wonderful thing. Each one of you has access to it. Just by going on-line and learning about all the groups that exist, the things that are being done, the things we now know about animals, you are taking the first step.
Just remember what we said, however. You are no longer children. You're adults.
1. Raising consciousness. This is increased when you talk to others - your friends, parents etc.
Then you can find out about thing like which companies are cruel to animals or conduct tests on them. One of the worst ways people use animals is by testing products like make-up or household cleaners etc. on them. There are lists all over the Internet of the companies that do this. There are petitions being made everyday to these places which need your help - all you need to do is press a button on your computer. Now you are learning to
2. Resist. Take no notice of their wonderful advertisements and what they say.
Finally, you can make sure you never buy that product again. Each time you buy some cream for your face for which some poor animal has had to die in screaming agony; or eat a MacDonald's hamburger you are helping to harm animals! Stop buying it: now you have registered your
3.Protest. Many of the world's leading companies have had to stop testing on animals or being cruel to them just because not just you, but thousands of other people protest in the worst possible way: they refuse to buy the product. The company has to change or go broke!
As for the bears in Sichuan? Go Google them. Look at the video on You-Tube. Are WE really the Kings and Queens of all the animals?
Hi, cireena. I’m Ashley.
ReplyDeleteI feel quite ashamed that I know little about animal welfare, and before class, I even don’t pay much attention to animal rights as well as their living situations. But it’s lucky that you told us a lot, and you made us think. After reading the essay, I learned a lot, the organization, the westerners’ thinking, your own experiences, the thing we can do ect. Thank you! I will remember that there are many things remains to do. And we do not need to do big things, but we can start out small.
Ashley - if even one person in the class does something I am glad that we spent time talking about it. Every animal rights group started out in ONE person's mind...and the effects around the planet have been wonderful. No matter how small a contribution each person makes its one step closer to making our own species, humans, a better kind of animal!
ReplyDeleteHi,Cireena.I love animals,so when I saw Monkey on Monday,I was so excited.It reminded me of my fiends,a lovely dog,even my cat.Yeah,I used to raise them.I love animals so much ,for I believe that they have feelings.If we treat them well,we can get along well with each other.To tell the truth,animals can really help us eliminate loneliness.However,I am ashamed that I have known so little about animal protections and even have done nothing to help them.It is just you that tell us we are adults and we can do something.Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSophie,
ReplyDeleteWe should never be ashamed that there was something we didn't know about. The world is full of stuff we don't know about. The only time to be ashamed is if we have knowledge about something and don't do anything with that knowledge.
You know what? Richard Bransen (owner of the Virgin group of companies...and about half the world) was younger than you guys when he made his first million as a successful business person. Of course you are adults: just don';t be surprised if your parents still don't believe it even when you are 40 though! (My mother still used to grab my hand when we crossed a road when I had teenagers myself!)
how lovely Monkey is!!!I have to say```It was my great honor to have touch her with my own fingers. Animals like her really need us whenever or however they feel.Maybe they actually don't have feelings,but they do give us happiness or even something (which we never take seriously )to think over.
ReplyDeleteI'm just an animal-lover before,but will be one of the animal protectors from now```
Garibella
ReplyDeleteWhen Ashur & Alex found her she was just this tiny, filthy - and very smelly - little ball of misery. She was full of fleas and so infested with the worms that, as I mentioned, she almost died. She was in the gutter shivering and crying and people were just walking over her and kicking her out of the way. So we was so scared of everything and everyone!!
Now, everytime I watch her playing madly around the house, or doing one of her tricks (she dances on her back legs!)or she stares into my eyes and licks my nose, it is so easy to see what a difference love makes to animals.
Yes, we should fight for them and their rights. They can't do it for themselves.
Yes,that's true.We should do much for protecting animals and prohibit cruelty to them.But I can hardly accept this ironic reality:some pets in rich countries even live a superior life to men in poor countries!If we have overflowing love and sympathy, why not help our fellowmen first?
ReplyDeleteI agree that such things seem ironic. However, the silly behaviour of a few people does not excuse the bad behaviour of others towards other animals.
ReplyDeleteThere are excessively rich and selfish people in the world too, but that does not stop us doing our best to help the excessively poor ones. Nor is this behaviour confined only to rich countries. Individuals all over the world behave stupidly.
On a personal level: I believe that no love or kindness in the world is ever wasted. If love and kindness really overflows then those feelings are at least better than hatred and violence.
P.S.... (such pets do not live a superior life only to poor "men" but to poor women and children too. And I think it is more important to help our fellow 'humans' than to help only "fellowMEN'!)
Thank you,Cireena. Your reply is very persuasive.
ReplyDeleteAnd "fellow humans" is just the word I need. Sorry for not using the right word that failed to expess myself correctly...
Lucia - don't apologise! You are trying to express yourself in a different language...the very fact that you are able to do so - on whatever level - is a great achievemnt! Of course you cannot (yet) express yourself in the same way as a native English speaker.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this confusion with sexist language is something that I, as your teacher, need to make clearer to everyone. Not just you. In fact it will fit in nicely with next week's class. So thank you for bringing it to my attention.