Success and Future Success in the Animal Welfare Movement

I was surprised to learn that animal control in Philadelphia was relatively recently changed from being run by the municipality to the PSPCA. Rachel said that under city run animal control nearly 100% of the animals taken in were killed, but since ACCT began operations that number is down to approximately 40%. While this is still a large number, and 4-5 million animals killed a year in Philadelphia is astounding, there has been a lot of progress made by the PSPCA and other animal welfare organizations in the city. Rachel’s talk made me think about the difference nonprofits make in the animal welfare movement. Obviously there is still a long way to go before all animals in Philadelphia are able to live out their natural lives comfortably, but there have been successes too. I think it can be easy to feel overwhelmed or depressed by the amount of suffering animals endure, which is why I like to take joy in the day to day successes I see at the PSPCA such as when a particularly sweet ten-year-old pit bull mix get adopted or I meet a cat who is missing a leg but is still a friendly, lively adoptable animal. After listening to Rachel’s talk on the new organizations and shelters cropping up in Philadelphia, some of which are No-Kill, I have to be optimistic that the 4-5 million animals killed each year can and will be greatly reduced in the future. I find people like Rachel who dedicate themselves to animal welfare issues extremely admirable.

I also was surprised that there is a statue memorializing the brown dog from the “Brown Dog Affair” in London. To honor an animal in the same fashion we often use to pay tribute to the heroes of the human species seems very progressive to me. Rarely, if ever, are animals given the same level of respect as humans in the United States. I can’t think of anything like the Brown Dog statue in our country. This made me think of Cavalieri’s argument that animals should not be denied moral rights based on the fact they are not human. Her article prompted me to seriously consider speciesism for the first time. In connection with the Brown Dog statue, I wondered, is there more of a breakdown in speciesist views in Britain than in the US? How would people in the US react to a memorial for an animal? I think many would find it inappropriate or ridiculous. There is quite a way to go before Americans do not view animals as inferior based on their species.