The definition of HUMANE is :
1. having or showing compassion or benevolence.
"regulations ensuring the humane treatment of animals"
synonyms: compassionate, kind, considerate, understanding, sympathetic, tolerant; More
2. intended to have a civilizing or refining effect on people.
What I find interesting, is that humane leans toward human empathy, and yet does not include being empathetic to humans. Let me explain.
It is humane to remove the testicles of male animals and the entire reproductive tract of female animals. Not only humane, but considered 'responsible'. There is even a campaign run by Friends of Animals (friends....?) that since 1957 has advocated for and provided for low-cost spaying and altering since it is the most effective means of preventing the births of dogs and cats, and their subsequent abandonment, suffering and mass killing. SOOOO... it is humane to prevent the abandonment, suffering, and mass killing of animals by choosing to medically alter the adults as a preventative.
Interestingly enough, the same is not said for HUMANS. It is not humane to suggest that a human should undergo an irreversible surgery in order to prevent abandonment, suffering, or mass killing of future humans. It IS humane to suggest that women have the ultimate choice over their bodies and anything inside it, including another human being. In fact, we tend to show more compassion for homeless, neglected, and abused animals than we do for homeless, neglected, and abused HUMANS.
Abortion is the latest epidemic. Almost a million abortions are carried out each year. About 1.2 million animals are euthanized every year, but on the contrary about 3 million get adopted out at the same time. HUMANS? Not so lucky. 670,000 children languish away in the foster care system, with little to no hope of returning to their actual parent. Another 100,000 or so are strictly up for adoption. Those numbers GROW, they do not diminish. More children age out of foster care than get adopted. Interesting. Children in the foster systems and adoption systems break hearts. Infertile couples or those struggling to conceive opt out of adoption because it's too lengthy and pricey and stick to the production lines of fertility clinics. Can you imagine that there are plenty of babies needed families HERE IN AMERICA, and there are people running off to Japan and China and Africa and adopting those babies first... because it's easier, because it's cheaper? I wonder why Angelina Jolie choose the country she did. Any way...
Another point for consideration.
Vaccinations. There is a huge debate in the HUMAN world about vaccinating children and if it causes autism to occur. The easy answer is, weigh the risk versus the reward. If your kid gets a pox or pertussis, you could lose your child, to DEATH. If your child ends up on the autism spectrum, you can learn to handle it correctly and your child will most likely go on to live a productive life. Death versus a productive life. The answer seems clear. This argument, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate, is often seen in the animal world as well. But the reasoning for not vaccinating is usually a little less life and death and a little more selfish... it's based on cost. Now, a vaccine for your child might cost $100 but you never see that charge because you have that wonderful thing called health insurance. The vaccine for you dog/cat/horse/etc could cost anywhere from $25- $60. I see more people walk away from vaccines and claiming things like "well he/she never goes outside so he/she is not as exposed as other animals" than I care to. People who claim these things come across as uneducated and selfish.
Most people who say this have an animal that should be going outside, should be socializing with other animals, should be living a better life than this person claims to give it. I'm sorry (not sorry) but if your dog doesn't go outside, and it pees inside on a peepee pad, you are not doing this correctly. If you truly have solo animals and they like that lifestyle, that's great... I truly hope they never come into contact with an affected dog and suffer because you didn't want to spend an extra $100 on them.
Interestingly enough, there is no human vaccine for Lyme's disease, but there is one for dogs. In my area of the country, ticks are a plague and a very real threat. Ticks can be carried inside the house on the human's clothes even if the pet never goes out into the wild blue yonder. HUMANS get Lymes disease by the droves... About 300,000 new cases a year are diagnosed. Lyme's symptoms include flu like symptoms, body aches, swollen joints, rashes, FACIAL PALSY (sudden weakness or paralysis in the muscles on one half of the face). Lyme's is a quality of life altering disease in all species- Horses even get it. Yes, those big, majestic, expensive creatures are not immune to disgusting ticks and their diseases. HUMANS got to infectious disease specialists when they are diagnosed. Animals suffer in silence with their doxycycline, and dogs who suffer in silence do so because $50 a year maintenance fee was too much for their better quality of life. Isn't that interesting?
Rabies can kill animals- a painful death where they lose their freaking minds- and if towns didn't require pet owners get it for their dog and cat licenses, owners would opt out of that too.
Which bring me to my next topic of discussion, the ultimately humane thing to do- EUTHANASIA. It is your job as a pet parent to make the decision they can't make, to send them off to the rainbow bridge when the time has come in a dignified, painless, and peaceful manner. To end their suffering before it is too great. To know when they are asking you to let them go. TEARS ARE WELLING UP IN MY EYES AS I WRITE THIS AND THINK ABOUT THE DAY I WILL HAVE TO DO THIS WITH MY BELOVED DOG. We see approximately one euthanasia visit a day. Within my first day of working at the vet's office, we had a "Quality of Life Check" appointment, which I was briefed is the nice way to say "Probable Euthanasia". The animals that come in range from "Stopped eating a week ago" or "Can't get up for a few days" to "We've been spoon feeding and using a turkey baster to give water, it hasn't gotten up in about 6 months, and it has an open wound on the side it's been laying on, but we aren't ready to put it down."Open wound? You mean a bed sore??? Open wound as in I can see muscles twitching? And open wound so big it can't be stitched? An animal that your vet for 12 years told you it was time to put it down so you came to us for a second opinion because YOU'RE NOT READY TO LET GO? (*Side note, our doctor told these owners that since they were declining his medical opinion and going to act against his recommendation for euthanasia, he could only consult them on wound care and they were not to contact him again until they were ready to schedule an in-home euthanasia appointment*). So where it is humane to allow your animal to deny itself food for a week, or to lay wasting away for days or MONTHS, and then to ultimately use a chemical compound to end it's suffering and it's life... this treatment in humans would be appalling and cause for uproar.
We shove tubes down unconscious or brain-dead peoples throats, we attach machines that keep their hearts beating after their minds are gone. We keep people alive after they've said they are ready... for days, weeks, months. People and animals show they are ready in similar ways. They stop eating. They distance themselves from other people. Animals are known to crawl off on their own and find a peaceful place to lay themselves to rest, so as to not be a burden to the pack or herd or the rest of their society. Euthanasia is considered the ultimate humane gesture for animals who are suffering, who are dying, who are ready to pass away and cross over. But we deny humans the same decency? We deny humans the right to say I want to go now, on my terms, I want to end my suffering? We give family members rights over people who cannot speak for themselves. We allow the prolonging of the inevitable and that is considered humane for HUMANS? I watched my grandmother starve to death after the cancer ravaged her body. I watched her writhe in pain for 3 days, moaning and lamenting and not knowing she was surrounded by the ones who love her most. I watched each painful, labored breath... and I prayed to God that each one would be her last- as she had wished. She had told us months ago when the doctors told her the cancer had spread that it was fine, she was at peace with it and she was ready when God was ready. I guess we will never truly know when God was ready for her, because the technology the hospitals have and the decisions made by her children after she was unresponsive definitely prolonged it. I hope I never have to live with Alzheimer's, to just exist for years and years and years and not know who I am or who my family is. To miss out on weddings and other special events because I am not cognitive enough to take part. To sit in a chair after being dressed by someone else, to live years as a 100 something pound baby... it sounds depressing, but it's considered humane. I've heard that ancient Eskimo like tribes had a ritual where the elder would decide it was time to unburden the rest of their people and would get on an ice chunk and float away. If that is true, it seems like a very selfless, dignified way to go. I think euthanasia of humans should be legalized and regulated but allowed... we allow too many of our own to suffer for too long. Humane should not just be a reference to how we treat the "lesser" creatures... it should reflect the dignity and respect we give ourselves and each other.
I personally like animals better than people, but I think that animals are simpler creatures, more in-tune and 'down to earth', less judgmental, more rational. They are stoic, they elect us to be their Alpha (or not to really) and then they rely on us for whatever we can give them and they appreciate every moment, every treat, every pat. Everything. And they give us their all in return, whatever that may be. Because it's what they feel is right. I wish we could be more natural and animalistic with each other. I wish we held ourselves to the high standards we hold pet owners or child-havers to. I wish we were more humane to people first.
1. having or showing compassion or benevolence.
"regulations ensuring the humane treatment of animals"
synonyms: compassionate, kind, considerate, understanding, sympathetic, tolerant; More
2. intended to have a civilizing or refining effect on people.
What I find interesting, is that humane leans toward human empathy, and yet does not include being empathetic to humans. Let me explain.
It is humane to remove the testicles of male animals and the entire reproductive tract of female animals. Not only humane, but considered 'responsible'. There is even a campaign run by Friends of Animals (friends....?) that since 1957 has advocated for and provided for low-cost spaying and altering since it is the most effective means of preventing the births of dogs and cats, and their subsequent abandonment, suffering and mass killing. SOOOO... it is humane to prevent the abandonment, suffering, and mass killing of animals by choosing to medically alter the adults as a preventative.
Interestingly enough, the same is not said for HUMANS. It is not humane to suggest that a human should undergo an irreversible surgery in order to prevent abandonment, suffering, or mass killing of future humans. It IS humane to suggest that women have the ultimate choice over their bodies and anything inside it, including another human being. In fact, we tend to show more compassion for homeless, neglected, and abused animals than we do for homeless, neglected, and abused HUMANS.
Abortion is the latest epidemic. Almost a million abortions are carried out each year. About 1.2 million animals are euthanized every year, but on the contrary about 3 million get adopted out at the same time. HUMANS? Not so lucky. 670,000 children languish away in the foster care system, with little to no hope of returning to their actual parent. Another 100,000 or so are strictly up for adoption. Those numbers GROW, they do not diminish. More children age out of foster care than get adopted. Interesting. Children in the foster systems and adoption systems break hearts. Infertile couples or those struggling to conceive opt out of adoption because it's too lengthy and pricey and stick to the production lines of fertility clinics. Can you imagine that there are plenty of babies needed families HERE IN AMERICA, and there are people running off to Japan and China and Africa and adopting those babies first... because it's easier, because it's cheaper? I wonder why Angelina Jolie choose the country she did. Any way...
Another point for consideration.
Vaccinations. There is a huge debate in the HUMAN world about vaccinating children and if it causes autism to occur. The easy answer is, weigh the risk versus the reward. If your kid gets a pox or pertussis, you could lose your child, to DEATH. If your child ends up on the autism spectrum, you can learn to handle it correctly and your child will most likely go on to live a productive life. Death versus a productive life. The answer seems clear. This argument, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate, is often seen in the animal world as well. But the reasoning for not vaccinating is usually a little less life and death and a little more selfish... it's based on cost. Now, a vaccine for your child might cost $100 but you never see that charge because you have that wonderful thing called health insurance. The vaccine for you dog/cat/horse/etc could cost anywhere from $25- $60. I see more people walk away from vaccines and claiming things like "well he/she never goes outside so he/she is not as exposed as other animals" than I care to. People who claim these things come across as uneducated and selfish.
Most people who say this have an animal that should be going outside, should be socializing with other animals, should be living a better life than this person claims to give it. I'm sorry (not sorry) but if your dog doesn't go outside, and it pees inside on a peepee pad, you are not doing this correctly. If you truly have solo animals and they like that lifestyle, that's great... I truly hope they never come into contact with an affected dog and suffer because you didn't want to spend an extra $100 on them.
Interestingly enough, there is no human vaccine for Lyme's disease, but there is one for dogs. In my area of the country, ticks are a plague and a very real threat. Ticks can be carried inside the house on the human's clothes even if the pet never goes out into the wild blue yonder. HUMANS get Lymes disease by the droves... About 300,000 new cases a year are diagnosed. Lyme's symptoms include flu like symptoms, body aches, swollen joints, rashes, FACIAL PALSY (sudden weakness or paralysis in the muscles on one half of the face). Lyme's is a quality of life altering disease in all species- Horses even get it. Yes, those big, majestic, expensive creatures are not immune to disgusting ticks and their diseases. HUMANS got to infectious disease specialists when they are diagnosed. Animals suffer in silence with their doxycycline, and dogs who suffer in silence do so because $50 a year maintenance fee was too much for their better quality of life. Isn't that interesting?
Rabies can kill animals- a painful death where they lose their freaking minds- and if towns didn't require pet owners get it for their dog and cat licenses, owners would opt out of that too.
Which bring me to my next topic of discussion, the ultimately humane thing to do- EUTHANASIA. It is your job as a pet parent to make the decision they can't make, to send them off to the rainbow bridge when the time has come in a dignified, painless, and peaceful manner. To end their suffering before it is too great. To know when they are asking you to let them go. TEARS ARE WELLING UP IN MY EYES AS I WRITE THIS AND THINK ABOUT THE DAY I WILL HAVE TO DO THIS WITH MY BELOVED DOG. We see approximately one euthanasia visit a day. Within my first day of working at the vet's office, we had a "Quality of Life Check" appointment, which I was briefed is the nice way to say "Probable Euthanasia". The animals that come in range from "Stopped eating a week ago" or "Can't get up for a few days" to "We've been spoon feeding and using a turkey baster to give water, it hasn't gotten up in about 6 months, and it has an open wound on the side it's been laying on, but we aren't ready to put it down."Open wound? You mean a bed sore??? Open wound as in I can see muscles twitching? And open wound so big it can't be stitched? An animal that your vet for 12 years told you it was time to put it down so you came to us for a second opinion because YOU'RE NOT READY TO LET GO? (*Side note, our doctor told these owners that since they were declining his medical opinion and going to act against his recommendation for euthanasia, he could only consult them on wound care and they were not to contact him again until they were ready to schedule an in-home euthanasia appointment*). So where it is humane to allow your animal to deny itself food for a week, or to lay wasting away for days or MONTHS, and then to ultimately use a chemical compound to end it's suffering and it's life... this treatment in humans would be appalling and cause for uproar.
We shove tubes down unconscious or brain-dead peoples throats, we attach machines that keep their hearts beating after their minds are gone. We keep people alive after they've said they are ready... for days, weeks, months. People and animals show they are ready in similar ways. They stop eating. They distance themselves from other people. Animals are known to crawl off on their own and find a peaceful place to lay themselves to rest, so as to not be a burden to the pack or herd or the rest of their society. Euthanasia is considered the ultimate humane gesture for animals who are suffering, who are dying, who are ready to pass away and cross over. But we deny humans the same decency? We deny humans the right to say I want to go now, on my terms, I want to end my suffering? We give family members rights over people who cannot speak for themselves. We allow the prolonging of the inevitable and that is considered humane for HUMANS? I watched my grandmother starve to death after the cancer ravaged her body. I watched her writhe in pain for 3 days, moaning and lamenting and not knowing she was surrounded by the ones who love her most. I watched each painful, labored breath... and I prayed to God that each one would be her last- as she had wished. She had told us months ago when the doctors told her the cancer had spread that it was fine, she was at peace with it and she was ready when God was ready. I guess we will never truly know when God was ready for her, because the technology the hospitals have and the decisions made by her children after she was unresponsive definitely prolonged it. I hope I never have to live with Alzheimer's, to just exist for years and years and years and not know who I am or who my family is. To miss out on weddings and other special events because I am not cognitive enough to take part. To sit in a chair after being dressed by someone else, to live years as a 100 something pound baby... it sounds depressing, but it's considered humane. I've heard that ancient Eskimo like tribes had a ritual where the elder would decide it was time to unburden the rest of their people and would get on an ice chunk and float away. If that is true, it seems like a very selfless, dignified way to go. I think euthanasia of humans should be legalized and regulated but allowed... we allow too many of our own to suffer for too long. Humane should not just be a reference to how we treat the "lesser" creatures... it should reflect the dignity and respect we give ourselves and each other.
I personally like animals better than people, but I think that animals are simpler creatures, more in-tune and 'down to earth', less judgmental, more rational. They are stoic, they elect us to be their Alpha (or not to really) and then they rely on us for whatever we can give them and they appreciate every moment, every treat, every pat. Everything. And they give us their all in return, whatever that may be. Because it's what they feel is right. I wish we could be more natural and animalistic with each other. I wish we held ourselves to the high standards we hold pet owners or child-havers to. I wish we were more humane to people first.
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