It wasn’t that long-ago science doubted Animals felt pain despite their flesh and blood same-status as humans. When that was disproven it corrected some – underline some – of the most egregious and cruel acts toward Animals. Such as operating without anesthesia.
Animals also know that beyond the physical effects of pain there are also the emotional and mental affects felt by the body as well. They don’t metaphorically lop their heads off their bodies with the erroneous belief that one doesn’t affect the other as we do in the study of psychology and our separation of brain from body. Moreover, they know that not only is heartache felt emotionally it is also felt physically by the body. We’ve just “discovered” that apparently.
Our species is so fixated on the difference between our own variations such as race that perhaps it’s not a surprise we can’t seem to make it to this next logical step that Animals have long embraced. Regardless of physical form structure much less outward color there will be sensation felt by any body of any species to which I’ll include plants. Nothing else really matters except this one fact. Because on planet Earth the body’s one imperative is to feel good and to remain whole and living for as long as possible. That’s the reason why it has notification mechanisms of both pain and pleasure. So that we’ll embrace the pleasure situations and events and reject or move away from the pain situations and events. Marvelously simple, really.
No matter the method of delivery of these notifications the body will respond negatively when placed in what it perceives to be unhealthy environments. Like war. Or famine. Or wide-spread disease. Or most especially in situations that mimic all three when the very pattern of vibrant life-force energy available to all is disrupted.
There have been many recent developments around military working dogs having the same symptoms of PTSD as do their human handlers and counterparts. Listlessness, lack of desire for both food and sleep as well as behavioral patterns outside of what is the norm for dogs is well documented. While you might think this is an isolated incident only reserved for extremes like war, sadly, it is not.
Marine mammals are catastrophically and profoundly affected by the sonar testing continuously done in their habitat by the military. Birds of all species are affected not only by the wind turbines disrupting their flight patterns and murdering hundreds of thousands each year but also by noise pollution. This is generated by yet another source of our species’ attempt to produce energy for our over-populated-by-humans Earth – oil and gas operations.
Big deal, you might be thinking – what’s a little noise? Anything that is outside of what is “of Nature” to other species – sound, light, sensation – severely impacts the way their bodies function and their subsequent fitness. Just as it does in the same way for human bodies. We just don’t know it’s happening until it’s too late because we perceive the very health of our bodies as foreign to us. And better left to another human (aka, a doctor) who isn’t even in our forms with us. Which, when you think about it, is a bit crazy. Why, the Animals ask, would you not be the very best expert of the miraculous living form that serves you so well?
With Earth sliding toward its sixth great extinction the outcome isn’t pleasant to consider. And yet, Animals continue holding space not only for themselves but for us as they know we’re in this Together. Maybe, just maybe, before it’s too late we can also come Together to seek other options based in health and harmony for All rather than humans only and first. As stewards for other species it’s the least we can do.