Pet Ownership

Lesson 1: Appreciating Animals

Extraordinary Animals

Cheyenne, Dakota, and Tahoe are three pit bulldogs who participate in the Valley Humane Society Animal Assisted Therapy program. This means that they not only visit patients and offer moral support, but are incorporated into the patients’ physical therapy programs. They regularly work in schools to educate children in a variety of subjects. They are also on call 24/7 as search dogs. When the need arises they help locate missing persons. Their determination, so characteristic of the breed, makes them top search dogs. In rough, dangerous terrain where other dogs and handlers turn back, these dogs keep going. They have struggled through bushes and thorns to the point of needing stitches, to find a missing person.

Humans are not unique in their ability to use tools or in their emotions or in their appreciation for the cultural arts. In 1989, when logging was banned in Thailand and approximately 100 elephants lost their means of support, Mr. Lair established the Thai Elephant Art Academy. He taught them art and music as a way to earn their keep. Tadpole learned to hold a brush with his trunk and create elephant art which, incidentally, doesn’t sell for peanuts. The strong colors and broad, bold strokes he uses appear to express anger, perhaps from his troublesome past. He also learned percussion and harmonica on instruments especially designed for elephants, and became a part of the Thai Elephant Orchestra. When the Disney movie, “Operation Dumbo Drop”, was filmed, Tadpole played the role of an elephant being transported by US soldiers across war-torn Vietnam. His amazing talents have helped to bring in much needed funds to the Elephant Conservation Center, which is operated to safeguard the endangered Asian elephant.

It’s little wonder that so many elephants take so quickly to paintbrushes and drumsticks. Elephants have been observed, voluntarily, using rocks and sticks to doodle in the dirt and to use tree branches to swat flies. Just as with human artists, each elephant has his own distinctive style with an emotional quality as well. For instance, Nom Chak, a young male will paint only if he has a house brush and doesn’t stop until the whole canvas is covered. Pratida, whose name means princess, makes diagonal lines with slow, deliberate strokes and never paints in the top two corners. It has been noted that elephants with pasts of abuse sometimes express themselves in a more boisterous manner, perhaps releasing hostility. Sometimes colors in elephant art seem to reflect the elephant’s surroundings, such as grass or a trainer’s clothing.

In 1999, Richard Lair and David Soldier of Mulatta Records, came up with the idea of a Thai Elephant Orchestra. These same elephants who derive great pleasure from painting, also enjoy banging on drums, xylophones, gongs and swish boards, as well as playing the harmonica.

In the book, “When Elephants Weep”, authors Masson and McCarthy tell a story portraying elephant compassion, where an elephant tried repeatedly to save a baby rhinoceros who was stuck in mud and was not discouraged by the mother rhinoceros’ attacks.

Koko, a 230 pound great ape, has been the constant companion of Dr. Penny Patterson since infancy and the subject of Project Koko, an experiment, begun in 1972, in teaching American Sign Language to lowland gorillas. Koko learned language in much the same way that children do. At age 3, she showed impatience by signing, “you, me, cookie” or “hurry, drink”. By age 10, she was using simple sentences. After nearly three decades Koko uses over 1000 words to express her humor, compassion, imagination and a whole array of human emotions. When Koko’s beloved gorilla companion, Michael, died of cardiovascular disease, she expressed grief by cuddling his blanket and signing, “sorry, cry”. Koko also does artwork, plays dolls and sometimes shapes their hands into signs, and has been known to joke, insult and apologize, tease and argue, and ask questions. Her IQ has been measured at 70-95 on a human scale where 100 is considered normal. In April of 1998, she participated in the first-ever online interspecies chat. September 11th, after seeing clips on TV of the terrorist attacks and sensing the concern of the humans around her, Koko showed signs of distress and would sign, “trouble” at the sound of a siren or low flying plane.

Koko has astonished the world by demonstrating that language is not unique to humans, as previously believed. Perhaps she can lead us to a better understanding of what animals think and feel.

Even animals that are usually not considered smart can be heroes. In 1984, in Texas, a little 22 pound pet pig named Priscilla, saved a drowning boy. The boy’s mother and Priscilla saw him struggling in the water and both started swimming toward him, but Priscilla reached him first. He hung onto her halter and she struggled, with great effort, to pull the boy who weighed nearly four times her weight, back to shore. Years later, Priscilla would still show distress whenever she saw children playing near water.

Something to Think About:
Considering Dr. Schoen's statements in Kindred Spirits on pages 44-45 about opiate receptors, what is your opinion about animal emotions and feelings?

Should animals have certain rights? Why or why not?

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