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By Olufolajimi "Jimi" Onadipe Thoroughbreds are a breed of horse developed in England solely for the purpose of racing and jumping. Most thoroughbreds have short leg bones, delicate heads, wide chests and thin bodies. When they reach two years of age, they are allowed to race and typically they spend their lives on the horse track until they are five years old. On the racetrack, they are whipped violently by jockeys to run faster. Whipping horses in order to have them race faster against other horses for human entertainment is a cruel way to exploit the breathtaking speed they are blessed with.
By Emily Mosher Photographer: C O Do you know what happens on that operating table when a cat gets declawed? I sure didn’t until I sat back and thought about it. About how it would feel I were a non-human animal being brought into a cold, bright, and scary room. Then to have big scary humans poking me with needles and ripping my fingernails out. Well I am letting you know that these next couple of paragraphs will not be for the light-hearted. These next paragraphs will be descriptive, and highly grotesque, just like a declawing procedure is for a cat. Declawing cats is wrong and here is why.
by Krista Wermerskirchen When the Michael Vick’s dog fighting operation was busted in April of 2007, there were 51 pit bulls that were rescued. It was a very controversial case because of how elaborate the operation was. One of the pit bulls, Little, was adopted by a woman who had to be patient with her and work with Little’s trauma that she will have for the rest of her life. Little receives acupuncture to help alleviate some of her stress that she still has from being a fighting dog earlier in her life. This has been a helpful alternative to enhancing her life and helping her in her journey of recoverment. Little is just one of many non-human animals who benefits from alternative therapies used on animals.
By Kallie Wolseth What are vaccines? Vaccines are serums or sprays that are designed to prevent an animal, human or non-human, from falling ill. Vaccines work by exposing the body to a weakened, killed, or synthetic bacteria or virus. The vaccine rouses the body’s immune system to see that there is a foreign bacteria or virus, and then destroys said foreign bacteria or virus. Because the body is already familiar with the bacteria or virus, if it comes into contact with the real deal, the body will be able to fight it off more effectively because it’s already been exposed.
By Margaret Waters “A laboratory mouse with cancer tumors”. By Unknown photographer, released by the National Cancer Institute [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Nonhuman animal testing, sometimes referred to as vivisection, is a subject that, for the average person, is a difficult one to take a side on. Every year, more that 25 million nonhuman animals are used in laboratory experimentation, whether medical, pharmaceutical, or cosmetic research. Most of them are mice, but some are the cats, dogs, and rabbits that we claim to love. Even monkeys and chimpanzees, our closest relatives, are subject to this horror. They are burned, injected, poisoned, kept isolated, and withheld food and companionship, sometimes from the moment of birth (PETA).
By Jenna Thompson An elephant (with a chain on his/her left ankle) before stepping into a deep body of water The beautiful country of Thailand is well known for the nation’s symbol – elephants. Even the old Thai flag used to have an elephant on it until 1917. Many tourists flock to the attraction of riding elephants and taking photos with them since it is considered a once in a lifetime opportunity that is hard to pass up. Imagine feeling each step a massive elephant takes beneath you, one-by-one. Sitting in awe upon a strapped saddle on an amazing creature while trekking through a dense jungle. Who wouldn’t want to experience this? Thailand currently has a population of 3,000 to 4,000 elephants.1 With elephants being readily available, it seems as if riding them is something you must do during your holiday. However, many visitors are unaware of the harmful consequences and continue to support elephant tourism.
By Megan Serratore Venus Williams is a well-recognized name in the world of sports. With seven Grand Slams under her belt, she is a tennis icon known for her power and athleticism on the court. What is not so widely known about Williams is that she consumes only raw vegan foods. In 2011 Williams was diagnosed with Sjögren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease characterized by dry mouth, dry eyes, and fatigue. In order to overcome the disease and keep playing tennis, she adopted a raw vegan diet in 2012 and has noticed significant improvements in her health . Williams is just one of many successful vegan athletes on the world stage. Yet, vegan athletes seem to defy typical food recommendations for highly competitive athletes. Non-human animal based products—animal flesh, chicken eggs, and cow’s milk—are often recommended for athletes to obtain enough protein, calcium, iron, zinc, and other micronutrients. Athletic performance can be significantly affected by diet choices. As I learn more about the inhumane treatment of nonhuman animals used for food in my “Sociology of Animals” course, I have become more curious about the possibilities of adopting a vegan diet to help take a stand against speciesism in our society. However, as a college cross country and track athlete, I also have concerns about obtaining the proper nutrients to maintain peak athletic performance. So let’s explore the importance of protein, iron, calcium, and other micronutrients for athletes in relation to a vegan lifestyle.
By Kaylie Bozell K-9’s are used around the world for helping police officers, the FBI, and even the military. K-9’s are a great addition to all law enforcement agencies. Dogs have been used for hundreds of years in searching for criminals, bombs, and drugs. K-9’s have special qualities us humans don’t have. When seeing a police dog on the force he is rumored as a hero. That’s what they truly are.
By Emily Baker If you are at all conscious of your usage of non-human animals in your daily life and also buy food for a companion dog, then you have probably probed the moral quandaries of feeding your dog mass produced meat products. And for good reason, if you are vegan or vegetarian it would probably be very difficult going to the supermarket and buying a bagged combination of cows, sheep, pigs, turkeys, ducks, chickens, fish and prawns. None of which are a part of the natural evolutionary diet of canines. In addition, the meat in mass produced dog foods are not quality even by USDA standards; much of the meat in dog food is the meat that slaughter houses couldn’t use because they came from either dead, dying, diseased, or disabled animals. But here’s the thing, vegan dog food is not cheap by any means. When you’re struggling just to buy a bargain bag of food for your dog you aren’t going to be able to drop $40-$80 on vegan dog food. So rather than put all of the emphasis on buying plant based dog food it is important to also take a look at the horrendous operation that is the sourcing and manufacturing of the meat in mass produced dog food.
By Chelsea Zblewski Many hunters consider themselves conservationist. This many seem very confusing to some, including myself. How can someone who is killing the non-human animals be helping the non-human animals at the same time? There are many ways hunters believe they contribute to the conservation of non-human animal. All conservationist-hunters say they provide most of the money used towards conservation effort, they control the non-human animals’ populations, and that thanks to hunting more non-human animals are around than ever before. I will be looking at these claims and seeing if this concept of a conservationist-hunter is just a paradox or the truth.
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This is a website about nonhuman animals, written by human animals taking a Society and Animals class at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Archives
April 2024
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