Emotion, Compassion, the Ethics of Care

I found the readings about people with an absence of emotion fascinating. I have always wondered why it is possible for people to commit such horrible crimes and have no remorse. "This inability to feel their victims' pain allows them to tell themselves lies that encourage their crime" (pg. 413). This quote in the anthology explains how this is possible. Molestors, rapists, and other criminals tell themselves lies in order to condone their actions. The absence of compassion and sympathy is something that most people have a hard time understanding. Compassion is described as, "The feeling or emotion, when a person is moved by the suffering or distress of another, and by the desire to relieve it; pity that inclines one to spare or to succour" (399). Most of us experience compassion quite often in our daily life. Watching a movie, reading a book or even hearing someone retell a story of a tragic event can all stir up compassion in our hearts. I was also interested in the readings about alexithymia, the inability to feel emotions. People with alexithymia, "lack words for their feelings. Indeed, they seem to lack feelings all together, although this may be from their inability to express emotion rather than from an absence of emotion altogether" (409). All I could think about while reading this is how frustrating that must be. Not only for the person with the disorder but for their friends and family as well. We can see this through the story of Gary and Ellen. She was so frustrated with him that she had to send him to therapy. In therapy he tried to express his emotions but found he was confused by them and could not put them into words. Emotion is such an important thing in our world. However, there are people with the inability to express emotion properly and even people, some criminals, who feel no remorse or compassion at all.

Natural Sciences Museum

Giant Sea turtle 

Dragonfly Fossil 

The dinosaur footprints, bones and the Saber toothed tiger all have one main thing in common. They are extinct. Also, all three animals are huge in comparison to us. My feet are miniature compared to the dinosaur's! All three things are meant to be studied; we are meant to learn something from them. They
all seem to have a scientific purpose. Upon analyzing the objects I realized that they displayed a very science orientated relationship between homo sapiens and the animals in the Natural Science Museum. All of the objects outside of the museum were things that we don't know much about; therefore they fascinate us. Likewise, the objects inside the museum evoke this human fascination with things of the past. On the first floor I observed the giant sea turtle. It was a partial skeleton from the cretaceous period. On the third floor I observed the Prehistoric and modern day dragonflies. I learned that the older dragonflies had a large wingspan due to the difference in respiratory biology between the older and modern day dragonflies. When I climbed the steps to the fourth floor the whale skeletons caught my eye. I took notes on the skull of Rodhocetus which was from a 47.5 million year old whale. After looking at all of these things I began to consider what my spirit animal would think if I had embodied the turtle at that moment. I assumed it would feel the same way I would if I was looking in on human remains in glass cases. The animal specimens are depicted on in an objective, scientific manner. This can tell us something about the relationship between animals and homosapiens. To many people animals are just another scientific thing to study. In the future I expect that we will continue to be fascinated with things from the past. I only hope that in the future we will still have the animal species that we have today. I hope we will not have destroyed them causing us to be searching and attempting to explain the remaining specimens as scientists have done in the Natural Science Museum.

Pictures of the Rodhocetus (whale skull) 

Craigslist ads for APA

Craigslist ads for Jeremiah: 

Quick! Look here! Chow dog put on kill list!

Due to recent hospitalization of his owner, Jeremiah was placed at the town lake animal shelter...but he is running out of time! Jeremiah is incredibly gentle and sweet! He is great with adults, kids, and other dogs, but not so friendly with cats. He passed all of the shelters evaluations and we have witnessed for ourselves his sweet disposition! Poor Jeremiah has been put on the kill list due to circumstances that he cannot control! Jeremiah is a gorgeous dog and he is just in need of a little grooming! No one took the time to take care of his fur so he has very painful looking mats in it. Someone needs to come rescue this poor dog! Only one year old, he is an awesome dog and doesn't deserve to die because of his owner's hospitalization!

If you want to adopt Jeremiah you MUST come to Town Lake Animal Center by 6:30pm Wednesday! He is in Kennel 243 A585166. There will be a medical eval done before adoption can be confirmed. Town Lake is open 11:30-7 weekdays and 11:30-5 weekends.

Video of Jeremiah

Revision:

 Help! Chow dog in need of adoption! Put on kill list!

Due to recent hospitalization of his owner, Jeremiah was placed at the town lake animal shelter...but he is running out of time! Jeremiah is incredibly gentle and sweet! He is great with adults, kids, and other dogs, but not so friendly with cats. He passed all of the shelters evaluations and we have witnessed for ourselves his sweet disposition! Poor Jeremiah has been put on the kill list due to circumstances that he cannot control! Jeremiah is a gorgeous dog and he is just in need of a little grooming! No one took the time to take care of his fur so he has very painful looking mats in it. Someone needs to come rescue this poor dog! Only one year old, he is an awesome dog and doesn't deserve to die because of his owner's hospitalization!

If you want to adopt Jeremiah you MUST come to Town Lake Animal Center by 6:30pm Wednesday! He is in Kennel 243 A585166. There will be a medical eval done before adoption can be confirmed. Town Lake is open 11:30-7 weekdays and 11:30-5 weekends.

Craigslist ads for Dante the lab: 

Urgent! Lab in need of a good home!

This beautiful lab dog was surrendered by his owner due to financial difficulties and needs a new home! It is so unfair for him to suffer because his owner could no longer take care of him! He is a gorgeous dog with a very calm and tender disposition. He is gentle and sweet with all people and dogs but not always so great with cats. This adorable 7 year old lab is missing his family! He is whining and crying all of the time and looking towards the parking lot because he wants to be taken away from the shelter. He is constantly looking for his old family, wanting them to come back...how sad! He is in need of a new loving family! Won't you come adopt him?

If you want to adopt this sweet dog you must come to Town lake by no later

than 6:30pm on Wednesday! He is in Kennel 119 A477918. A medical eval will

be done before adoption can be confirmed. Town Lake is open from 11:30-7

weekdays and 11:30-5 weekends.

Quick! Look here! Lab needs to be adopted!

A gorgeous and lovable lab dog was surrendered by his owner due to financial difficulties! How unfair for him to suffer because of circumstances beyond his control! He is very sweet and gentle and gets along well with people and dogs alike. However, he does not get along well with other cats. This incredibly sweet 7 year old male lab is missing his family so much! He is constantly seen whining and looking towards the parking lot searching for his previous owner. How sad! He really needs a wonderful new family to adopt him. Won’t you come adopt him??

If you want to adopt this sweet dog you must come to Town lake by no later

than 6:30pm on Wednesday! He is in Kennel 119 A477918. A medical eval will

be done before adoption can be confirmed. Town Lake is open from 11:30-7

weekdays and 11:30-5 weekends.

APA Reflection:

When I first started this project, I had no idea that the dogs whose lives I would attempt to save would have such a huge impact on me. When I first walked in to Town Lake Animal Shelter I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know very much about what Patty Alexander, an APA employee and Town Lake Animal Center volunteer, did nor did I know much about the dogs that she worked with. Upon entering the shelter I was taken back at the amount of animals they keep there. There are rows and rows of kennels filled with dogs of all different kinds. Patty led me to one cage in particular and pointed out a dog that she said we were going to try and save. I expected the dogs that were put on the kill list to be savage. I expected them to have horrible behavioral problems and be uncared for or mean. However, this was not the case. I learned that a large majority of the dogs that have to be put down are actually good dogs, they just don’t get adopted. I also learned that the majority of the animals at the shelter are owner surrender. That means that their owners gave them up either because they could not care for them or because they no longer wanted the animals. Patty told me that most people do not know that Town Lake Animal Shelter is not a no kill shelter, therefore they leave their dogs there assuming they will be taken care of and adopted. After I was introduced to Jeremiah, a gorgeous one-year-old chow, we lead him to a grassy area where we played fetch and assessed his behavior. Jeremiah’s story was especially heart wrenching for me because his owner was hospitalized leaving no one to take care of Jeremiah. The unfair circumstances that caused Jeremiah to end up in the shelter made such an impact on me that I rushed home that night to write my first craigslist ad. I got no response after my first posting that night but after reposting the ad the next morning I got an email from someone interested in adopting the dog. Later that day Patty emailed me saying I could take off my craigslist ad because, thankfully, Jeremiah had been adopted. I was ecstatic. I was so happy that I was able to make a difference, even if it was only in the life of one dog.

After such a success I am always excited to go back to the shelter and receive my next assignment. I view each dog as a challenge and my goal is to get him or her adopted. Looking back to the beginning of this project I did not expect to be as involved as I am now. I expected to go visit a dog or two, write my blogs, turn them in and that would be the end of it. Instead, I have become a part of a rescue effort to save animals from undeserved death. Every time I walk into the shelter and greet the members of the Austin Pets Alive team I develop even more respect for what they do. It is not an easy task to walk by and interact with dogs that you know might not be there tomorrow. It is especially difficult when you get to know one animal, try to save their life and fail. Not all of my ads have had the success that Jeremiah’s did, but every adoption is such a blessing that it motivates me to keep trying. I believe that there is no better way to learn something than to get out and experience it yourself. No matter how much we talked about APA or animal cruelty in class, the lasting affect comes from getting involved and experiencing those things for your self. I am so glad that this class gave me the opportunity to be a part of an organization that works for such a noble cause. Most people don’t realize what is going on in animal shelters today and they unknowingly drop their dogs off at their doors. The conditions that the animals have to live in are horrible and unfair. These animals cannot speak for themselves and if we don’t help them, who will? 

Word Count: 

Blogs for Jeremiah: 364

Blogs for Dante: 339

Craigslist Blog total: 703

Reflection: 721

Totat P2 project: 1,426

Buffalo on the Platte River by Worthington Wittredge 1886

Wittredge's oil painting on canvas depicts a scene of a herd of buffalo. The landscape focuses on the Platte river valley with a mountainous terrain in the background. The skies are stormy but not foreboding and a few wild flowers and trees scatter the landscape. The landscape is beautiful, detailed, and realistic. His dramatic use of color helps paint the scene of peacefulness. There is nothing too bright or too harsh about the colors and they are mostly muted and neutral tones. The buffalo are grazing and drinking from the Platte River. They are very realistic looking, especially the ones drinking from the River because we have a closer view. We see the buffalo in their natural habitat, undisturbed and peaceful. They seem to be unaware that they are being watched and they just go about their business. Wittredge depicts the wild buffalo as a thing of beauty. They are peaceful, beautiful and serene without the interference from man.  His use of color, realistic landscape, and detail all contribute to the relaxed feeling of beauty you experience when you look at the painting. By depicting the wild buffalo this way; Wittredge is trying to relay the message that wild, untouched animals are a thing of beauty. 

Whale Wars: The Fight to end Whaling in Japan

Many think that whaling is a thing of the past; a practice no longer adhered to in our society, but this assumption is incorrect. The practice of whaling and all of the cruelty that it involves is very much a part of our society today. People are led to believe whale myths concocted by the governments of communities participating in whaling. These myths lead us to believe that the whale population is actually growing, but this is not the case at all. For example, according to Greenpeace, “The Japanese government continues to cite an outdated estimate of 760,000 minke whales in the Southern Hemisphere.”[i] My focus is going to be on stopping whaling off the coast of Japan. Whaling is definitely a problem in our society today and it is something that other college students should have more interest in. My overall goal would be to stop commercial whaling off the coast of Japan, but I will start with creating an organization on the University of Texas campus to raise awareness about this issue. The inhumane killing of whales for commercial profit is a problem that still haunts our oceans today, in order to solve this problem we must become educated about the whaling controversy that exists in our society today, we must raise awareness, and we must support those who are currently working hard to defend our oceans.

            First and foremost we must become educated about this issue, as well as encourage others to learn about whaling. We must know that despite the International Whaling Commission’s Moratorium on Commercial Whaling, Japan has continued to kill whales. Japan gets away with it by calling it “Scientific Whaling” even though the whale meat still ends up in high-end Japanese restaurants.[ii] Also, “Most Japanese ‘research’ objectives are directed towards finding data to support a return to commercial whaling, and/or studies on how to make whaling more efficient.”[iii]Another important factor to know and understand is the consequences of whaling. Blue Whales and Minke whales seem to be suffering the most. Blue whale numbers have been reduced from 220,00 to now a measly 500 while recent reports show that there could be fewer than 250,000 Minke whales in the Southern Oceans.[iv] Besides becoming educated about the topic of whaling today, we must attempt to raise awareness and draw attention to the issue that our oceans face. By creating a group on campus to raise awareness and educate people about this problem, we will be taking one step closer to saving the whale population in the oceans off the coast of Japan.

            Increasing education about the issue and raising awareness will be a huge help in stopping whaling, but there are people who are currently working hard in the field everyday to stop whaling and they need our support. Supporting those who are trying to put a stop to this cruel practice is probably the biggest way we can help. One organization that is attempting to stop whaling is Greenpeace. Greenpeace has been working against environmental destruction since 1971 and is currently working to put a stop to the whaling crisis. They accept donations from individuals and they also have a campaign allowing you to write to the Japanese government expressing your feelings about whaling. Another more radical approach to whaling can be found by watching the show “Whale Wars” on Animal planet. The Sea Shepherd and its crew go out into the middle of the “whale war” taking place off the coast of Japan. They try to end whaling for themselves by ramming the Japanese ships, spraying the ships with water canons, and throwing stink bombs aboard in order to get them off the trail of the whales. Although this is a much more radical approach, they have succeeded in saving the lives of multiple whales and could use our help. The University of Texas group focused on whaling would also work to raise money to support these two causes in order to assist them in saving the oceans.

            The fact that whaling has serious consequences cannot be ignored. Therefore, the importance of becoming educated about the situation in Japan and raising awareness cannot be stressed enough. By creating an on campus group dedicated to stopping the practice of whaling, we will be able to spread the news about whaling and raise money to support those who are working in the field. Taking this class on leadership and ethics is giving me the tools needed to start such a group on campus. Over the next four years of my college experience I hope to create and manage this group so that it can grow and develop into something that can actually make a difference.

Notes:

1.     Greenpeace. Whaling. 2010. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/whaling/ (accessed October 17, 2010).

2.     Muller, C. George. Whaling Facts Summary . http://www.cgeorgemuller.com/summary.htm (accessed October 17 , 2010).

3.     Muller, C. George. Whaling Facts Summary . http://www.cgeorgemuller.com/summary.htm (accessed October 17 , 2010)

4.     Greenpeace. Whaling. 2010. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/whaling/ (accessed October 17, 2010).

Bibliography

Greenpeace. Whaling. 2010. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/whaling/ (accessed October 17, 2010).

International Whaling Commission . IWC Information . April 4, 2010. http://iwcoffice.org/commission/iwcmain.htm#history (accessed October 17, 2010).

Muller, C. George. Whaling Facts Summary . http://www.cgeorgemuller.com/summary.htm (accessed October 17 , 2010).

Sea Shepered Conservation Society . Defending Whales. http://www.seashepered.org/whales/ (accessed October 17, 2010).

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Animal Abuse

After finishing the readings for this Thursday I felt sick to my stomach. The stories and accounts about vivisection made my stomach churn. The very thought that people can inflict such immense pain on another living creature and have no afterthought is terrible. A quote from Lewis Carrol's letter to the editor of the "Pall Mall Gazette" sums up most scientists view on vivisection, "You shall suffer that I may know" (384). We make the assumption that we have the right to inflict pain on animals just because we are considered "superior". They are inferior therefore the pain they go through is not important. This assumption of superiority of our own species is called speciesism. Earthlings defines this term as, "a prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of member of one's own species and against those of members of other species" (366). Everyone practices speciesism. We all assume we are more intelligent than animals therefore causing us to be superior. "Humans view themselves as the elite species on the planet. Throughout history, humans distinguished themselves from animals by claiming the ability to reason as a specifically human characteristic" (387). The vivisection of animals is a practiced that should be stopped. Inflicting pain on underserving and unknowing animals is unfair and inhumane. It is not morally right to inflict pain on others just so we can try and learn, especially since there is no garuntee that the research will produce the desired results.