AGENDA
- Friends or family--some of both?
- Treatment question: should we sterilize our pets?
- Leo Tolstoy, "Strider: The Story of a Horse" (1886) -- Why read a short story?
- Who is Tolstoy?
- The story and what it says about animals
- Is the message "actionable"?
Empathy--getting inside the minds of animals
- Frans De Waal -- by doing careful studies and avoiding anthropodenial/anthropomorphism
- Temple Grandin -- through animal science and based on vantage point of being autistic
- Lori Gruen -- through "entangled empathy" -- says this is the foundation of ethics
- Leo Tolstoy -- through art and imagination
Who is Tolstoy? LINK. (1828-1910)
- many themes in story, but...
- he had a serious interest in the treatment of animals
- visited a slaughterhouse, became a vegetarian
The story teaches about the plight of animals, but what could we do differently? Do any of these make sense?
- don't spay/neuter -- it costs the animals a lot
- but what about overpopulation and homeless animals?
- Dallas animal shelter--80% leave shelter alive)
- note: it's required unless you have a breeding permit
- instead of spay/neuter, opt for vasectomy and ovary-sparing hysterectomy, so animals retain natural hormones
- don't breed animals based on superficial characteristics -- don't be a "looksist" -- Westminster Dog Show
- don't breed animals at all -- "pedigreeism" is bad
- stop treating animals as property