Calling on the love for animals in the black community

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African Americans, animal abuse, animal activism, animal advocacy, animal cruelty, black violence, human-animal bond, human-animal relationships

I just received this through twitter: Memphis woman charged with aggravated animal cruelty.  Memphis is my home town, and the animal cruelty immediately caught my eye.  This is nothing new for Memphis.  In fact, some months ago, I wrote a post on a series of animal cruelty charges, majority in Memphis, all involving black men.  This time it’s a black woman. 

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Dr. Herzog Tells a Story on the Human Condition

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animal abuse, animal cruelty, human condition, meat, vegetarianism

Another expert has been proclaimed in order to reinforce the ultimate story that has given European civilized humans purpose and value since the dawn of their existence!  This time, it is Dr. Hal Herzog, a psychologist at Western Carolina University and an expert on “human-animal interactions,” who presents us with segmented regiments of the human condition as it interacts with animals.  “We” are put into perspective using the ancient rational knowledge of utilitarian ethics and reductionist science; of course, “we” are the average white human in western civilization extrapolated to humans everywhere.  Here is what he had to say.

Violence against animals in the black community

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African Americans, animal abuse, animal cruelty, animals as property, black folks, black violence, dog abuse, ethnic animal relations, pit bulls, Susie's Law, violence

Back in November 2009, a young black man was arrested in North Carolina for “maliciously” torturing a dog named Susie.  As a result, the state responded to this “animal cruelty” by making the current law “tougher.” That means, rather than receive probation for torturing and killing a dog or cat, you can receive up to ten months in jail, which from an animal welfare standpoint is a vast improvement.   The North Carolina house bill (otherwise known as Susie’s Law) is named after the puppy who was tortured almost to death.  The torturer, named LaShawn Whitehead of Greensboro, burned and beat her to near death.  Fortunately, she managed to survive but lost her ears in the process and suffers from psychological trauma.  Rather than receive jail time (like he certainly would for attempted murder if Susie was a human), he initially received probation until the new law was passed.  Now he’s another black man in jail.  This is because he pleaded guilty to “burning personal property and felony animal cruelty.”  Apparently, he was worried that the puppy would “jump on his newborn.”

On Controlling Others

Tags

abuse, animal cruelty, Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, ASPCA, control, power, Randall Lockwood, violence

From DogBasics Obedience Course in the UK

In an article titled “The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome”, New York Times author Charles Siebert quotes Randall Lockwood, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) senior vice president for forensic sciences and anti-cruelty projects, on what he feels is a positive solution to counter the desire for control and power that often drives abuse against animals and children:

“When you get an 80-pound kid controlling a 1,000-pound horse or a kid teaching a dog to obey you and to do tricks, that’s getting a sense of power and control in a positive way. We all have within us the agents of entropy, especially as kids. It’s easier to delight in knocking things down and blowing stuff up. Watch kids in a park and you see them throw rocks at birds to get a whole cloud of them to scatter. But to lure animals in and teach them to take food from your hand or to obey commands, that’s a slower process. Part of the whole enculturation and socialization process is learning that it’s also cool and empowering to build something. To do something constructive.”

I find this statement from the ASPCA senior vice president deeply disturbing but not surprising. Apparently, when it comes to exercising control and dominion over others, it’s perfectly “positive” for a child to practice this with a horse or a dog, so far as to expect it as common place.  Does that mean it’s acceptable for this kind of power-control dynamic between two children, thereby teaching one child to accept his place in submission and “obey” while nurturing the other child to expect to have control and “command” allegiance from another, so long as he follows the rules of being nice and civilized rather than being mean and “cruel”?