Breed standards are based on flawed concept of ‘owning’ animals

The debate over whether breed societies can set breed standards for animals really is a larger debate about where humans and animals fall in the universal pecking order and whether humans should “own” animals.

So far, humans have claimed a moral right to be higher than animals in this order because humans allegedly are smarter, giving people the right to eat animals and do whatever they please with them, including breed and show them and set breed standards for them. The theory seems to be that animals are better off by humans controlling them.

In reality, it’s been more a case of opportunism. Humans figured out how to catch and kill more efficiently than animals and gained the upper hand in the food chain. They locked up animals and put them to work or shot and ate them, and animals had few ways to object or fight back.

This has driven the concept of “owning” animals. But should people really be allowed to treat animals like property?

Why aren’t animals afforded the same status as people? Why have they been relegated to the position of slave?

George Orwell caused quite a stir in 1945 when he published “Animal Farm” in England. True, the novel really was a satire on corrupt leadership in the Soviet Union, but it accurately depicted the global plight of animals, as well, and animals have gained no ground in their quest for breaking out of indentured servitude to this day.

In 2011, there were more than 78 million dogs, 86.4 million cats, 151.1 million freshwater fish, 8.61 million saltwater fish, 16.2 million birds, 16 million small animals, 13 million reptiles and 7.9 million horses owned by people in the United States alone, according to the American Pet Products Association, so I don’t think pet ownership is going anywhere.

And I don’t think pets living with humans is intrinsically bad. All of the stray animals that have shown up at my door have a choice of whether to stay or go, and most choose to stay. And there’s no shortage of animals that have it a lot better than mine.

But not all animals can count their blessings.

I saw one estimate that said the number of food animals (not counting fish) slaughtered per year in the United States is 10 billion. TEN billion. I can’t get my head around that number.

The ASCPA estimates that 3 million to 4 million companion animals are euthanized every year in the United States.

Many sources estimate that more than 100,000 U.S. horses also wind up homeless and slaughtered each year. I may have the biggest problem with that practice. Treat the horse like it’s your friend, take care of it, love it and then send it to the slaughterhouse when you’re tired of it. Where is the moral high ground in sending a horse on an overfilled van thousands of miles to a death camp that reeks of blood when the horse arrives? And if it’s headed for Mexico, it likely will be stabbed to death as the method of slaughter.

Those 3 million to 4 million companion animals that are euthanized each year get the same bad deal. One day, they’re sleeping on the bed. The next day, they’re facing the gas chamber. And, let’s face it: The lives of many dogs and cats locked up in homes is far from ideal, as well. It’s really the luck of the draw on whom they get as an “owner.”

Proponents of euthanasia cite the need to control animal populations. Yet, the human population, which stood at 1 billion in 1820, has climbed to 7 billion as of April 2012, according to the CIA World Factbook, and no one is suggesting human populations need controlling through euthanasia. People say, “We can’t have all these animals running around.” I suspect the animals are saying, “We can’t have all these people running around.”

Ethicist Elliot D. Cohen, president of the Institute of Critical Thinking and an expert writer for Psychology Today, struggled with the idea of putting down his own 13-year-old dog in April 2011 after she developed metastatic oral melanoma and was suffering. He said his dog easily had the mental capacity of a 2-year-old child, and no one would consider putting down a 2-year-old human, even one who was suffering. He concluded that it was consoling to believe he had ended his animal’s suffering but unsatisfactory, too. He said he felt much remorse and guilt, even given that he had no good alternative.

A recent brouhaha surfaced on the topic of killing animals when PETA took actress Jennifer Lawrence to task for making light of skinning a squirrel in a movie. PETA admonished Lawrence, saying she is young, and the plight of animals somehow hasn’t yet touched her heart. The group went on to quote Henry David Thoreau in saying: “The squirrel you kill in jest dies in earnest.”

Since 2009 when I launched this site, I’ve tried in vein to make Connemara officials and animal breeders in general see that their casual actions have serious and often fatal consequences. Animal breeding and showing often is an ego boost for the humans involved, especially if they are in the upper echelons of breed societies. These officials get to schmooze with their friends, travel to horse shows and inspections, make decisions and essentially “be somebody.”

But every little decision they make along the way by setting arbitrary breed standards — whether they’re trying to please their breed society friends, promote their own breed lines or take a shot at old enemies — negatively affects the animals. These animals are cast aside or killed after they don’t get approved by the breed.

The blood of all the animals dumped because they didn’t meet breed standards is on the hands of these officials. And the breed standards are just made-up lists of stupid rules, not unlike the rules bullies make on playgrounds to try to pick on certain kids. These animals are dying for nothing. They are the victims of bullying, and nobody is stopping the practice.

Philosopher Mahatma Gandhi is often credited with saying, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Sadly, all nations, and certainly breed societies, score low if you really consider the classless position of animals today. Animals have no say at all in their plight. Breed standards perpetuate this slave status and often are a death sentence.