Brett the Vet - Random Axe of Kindness

Recently two sisters from Gauteng visited Prince Albert. They stayed in the caravan park and met a delightful feral cat who befriended them. Two weeks later, as promised, they returned to collect her. Meanwhile she had given birth to three kittens, who all had a viral respiratory tract infection, endemic in the local feral cat population.

The women were prepared to nurse the kittens back to health and provide a home for them despite putting their own cats at risk of infection. This will also mean four less spays to be done here when the municipality introduce their TNR (Trap Neuter Release) program. Demonstrated to be the most effective way of stabilizing the number of feral cats in a given area.

A caring, young farmer rescued a herd of infant male calves at a seaside dairy from the fate of veal crates. The first unseen tragedy occurred earlier when one of their mothers, a cow who had already given birth to four calves, each forcibly removed from her shortly after birth every year, became impaled on a razor wire fence and bled to death while trying to get to her baby.

Although the calves were kept together and fed milk substitute, they soon contracted fatal infections because of the shock of separation and change. The calves were susceptible to disease because they did not remain with their mothers after birth for long enough to suckle. The first milk or colostrum contains antibodies that are absorbed through the stomach to constitute their natural immunity.

At the peak of local drought, on the hottest day in March a particularly bleak patch of earth was packed with ostriches baking in the sun. To cool them down, irrigation sprinklers had been assembled, and rotated, drenching the gasping, bedraggled birds. Saturated circles of previously parched ground covered with layers of accumulated faeces formed a putrid slime that squelched between their toes and caked feathers to their thighs as they waited for the sun to set.

It is commendable that the local municipality has agreed to expand the piece of land allocated to local small pig farmers on the outskirts of town. They have also provided a tap, bringing water to the area, as the new borehole still needs to be fitted with a solar pump. The farmers want to raise their standard of husbandry by supplying more space, adequate shade, a continuous supply of water, and improving security to prevent children, who have been stoning vulnerable piglets to death, from entering the area.

Signs of growing awareness about the sentience of animals also demonstrate the limitations of our understanding. True compassion evolves through empathy, curiosity, and striving to recognize and reduce the extent of the suffering we have imposed on our domestic animals.

Brett the Vet - Multiple Choices

Consumers are more aware than ever about knowing the origins of their food. Sheep are thought to be a healthy option because they are presumed to be free-range. For most people it is difficult enough to tell different sheep apart in the fields. The secret histories of half a dozen legs of lamb in a display fridge still remain a mystery. Supporting ethical farming practice is something every caring person wants to do especially when they know the right questions to ask.

Appearance can be deceiving. A thicker layer of fat has accumulated due to lack of exercise. In the confined feedlot space there is no pasture for grazing. The sheep are fed concentrates in troughs. Growth hormones are used to improve weight gain, and the flesh is tender. It is generally accepted that the withdrawal period for hormones has lapsed before the lamb goes to slaughter. Tests can be done to identify traces of potentially harmful hormones in the meat. There are also drugs available that can be used to make the tests invalid.

The piece of meat that is the right size came to no harm during its brief life on the farm. The last remaining leopard that reigned over the mountains beyond the farm was caught in a gin trap and died from septicaemia after an agonising week gnawing at his festering paw. The fatal poison that had been distributed along the paths by the perimeter fence had killed scores of naturally free roaming jackal, raptors, rodents, otters, and also the neighbour’s harmless pet dogs. So the lambs were safe until their throats were cut.

Elastrators (elastic bands/ ‘rekkies’) are commonly used to dock lambs’ tails and for castration. Some farmers have used these on their best friends too!

This method has been revealed to be the most debilitating of all. Constricting bands cause intense pain and suffering, and sometimes death from the gangrene and associated infection. It would be like placing the tightest elastic band imaginable over your ring finger and leaving it there until the finger drops off. But the pain would be worse for a lamb only a few days old because young nonhumans (and humans) feel pain more intensely than adults do.

Good herd management and breed selection have eliminated the need for these procedures that were once considered mandatory. In some instances traditional standard procedures like docking fat-tailed ewes’ tails has recently been proved to actually lower lambing percentages. It is now understood that the tail is important not only for sexual attraction and distribution of pheromones, and it has many other functions as well. And there lies the leg of the lamb that lost its tail and testicles on the vast and violent plains of the Great Karoo.

Sheep survive even better than ostriches when the temperature hits hellish heights in summer. There is no shade from structure or tree in camps for all to see how sheep shelter in each other’s body shadows, panting during the hottest part of the day. So many flocks linger longing for the starry night, enduring the midday inferno with nowhere to go for respite. The fences are strong, the water is deep, the distances are long, and the sun burns no holes in the meat.

We are still left with a dilemma. There are vital questions and selections with consequences. In the past it was not possible to make an informed choice. Details of production may not be standardised and there is no perfect solution. A little discretion will bring us closer to compassion for the sentient creatures of the earth over which we have assumed power. You choose.

Brett the Vet - Gender Matters

A simplistic look at the complicated biology of gender.

Aspects of gender came up controversially in international athletics. Diverging opinions and speculation ensued on this sensitive matter. Extraordinary feats and appearances attract attention not least when ambiguous gender challenges our perceptions and assumptions.

Both sex hormones exist in humans and other animals. Usually females have more oestrogen. In males androgens predominate. There is a unique balance. Either hormone can also be in excess in males or females with predictable outward signs. Intersex or hermaphrodite is characterised by the presence of male and female organs in the same organism. This is typical for earthworms and snails. In other species it is an unusual state although normal for the individual, and constitutes the rare and fantastical third sex.

A relatively common but unfair advantage in competitive sport is the presence of an excessive level of natural or artificial androgens in the body. If equalizing properties of the male hormone responsible for improving physical strength were to be given to all contestants in equal measure it still wouldn’t constitute fair game.

When one looks at the animal world the rules in horse racing are paradoxically more egalitarian. There are age categories for colts and geldings, fillies, and also mixed events. Jockeys, who can be male or female, control and manipulate the races so the best horse may, or may not win. Of all the factors that might influence the outcome of a race, from conformation to doping, gender is the least controversial and often the most surprising. Natural competition among horses would revolve around the realities of food availability, hierarchy, or mates, rather than enforced galloping around a track.

Modified sex hormones to promote muscle mass are used in the meat industry. They are used as growth stimulants in feedlots for bulls and heifers. This is still legal in South Africa, but banned in the EU because of the dangers to human health when meat contains hormones. The advantage in farming this way is that feed conversion is greatly improved. Cattle can be slaughtered at a much younger age. As the carcasses are almost identical, gender becomes irrelevant. The exaggerated muscles are all soft and tender from fast growth and lack of exercise.

Involuntary removal of parts of the reproductive organs has become routine in farm animals and pets. The modifications make them no less male or female. In a bygone era, male singers known as castrati were deprived of their testicles at a young age to preserve their mellifluous soprano voices. Eunuchs were emasculated to reduce libido and prevent procreation. Thankfully such intervention would be unacceptable today. One cannot have a glib answer for such complex territory.

Brett the Vet - When Swine Flew

The PANdemIC of swine flu is infiltrating all areas of the globe. Thousands of new cases go reported and unreported every day. The number of recorded deaths is increasing in compromised individuals and the healthy. Experts have been offering potential epidemiological scenarios, but nobody really knows what will happen as the virus continues to change.

The swine flu virus originally came from birds living close to pigs, infecting them and changing slightly. Intensive factory farming created conditions that allowed the virus to spread rapidly and mutate.

The first cases in humans were contracted from infected pigs. Now the virus has adapted, and altered sufficiently to be transmitted from person to person. Measures to restrict the spread of the disease have been ineffective because it is highly contagious in a world where global and local mobility facilitate transmission. The H1N1 virus has already been introduced into more than 70 countries from people travelling abroad, initially from Mexico where the outbreak began. Specific examples illustrate how rapidly the virus can spread. In hospitals, infected medical staff transferred it to their families, communities and beyond. An infected British medical student on a tour of hospitals in Kenya effectively spread the disease all around the country.

Bizarrely, in Egypt, although only the human population has been affected, all 10 000 of the nation's pigs, that belonged almost exclusively to the Coptic community responsible for cities' waste removal, have been unceremoniously slaughtered. In South Africa the virus has officially been documented in all nine provinces.

The domestic pig has always been closely associated with man and has functioned symbiotically over the centuries in recycling human waste and excess, in return for food. The life cycle of other organisms has adapted to this association, the best example being the human tapeworm where the cyst part of its lifecycle lodges in the muscle meat of swine.

The obvious similarities and differences between man and pig are evident on many levels. The remarkably human like cadavers of pigs hanging in an abattoir eerily evoke the horrors of mass slaughter. With skins removed, humans resemble pigs even more. Anatomically the meat is virtually indistinguishable. The nerves and blood vessels are practically identical. Hearts and livers, lungs and kidneys, stomach, intestines and spleen are the same in form and function. The eyes of a pig are sensitive, delicate, and knowing. Ears, nose, lips, tongue manifest the senses, creating the reality of living in this world.

Then there is the brain. Two human brains may look the same but none is quite alike in function. The brain of a genius looks exactly like that of someone less gifted, and this variance exists amongst pigs as well.

Naturally, pigs are intelligent creatures. Omnivores like us. They form family groups, enjoy communicating and eating, lazing about, and intercourse. They care deeply for their young, nurturing and protecting them. They take pride in their homes, and play games. Once upon a time they could fly, given the freedom to behave normally with right to a life without pain and suffering.

The swine flu virus does not distinguish between man and pig. In isolated, natural populations of pigs or humans the disease would be self-limiting. There is no stigma attached to this virus only because of its passive transmission. Currently there is a debate about the hype created by journalism that is muddying the issue, but an infected person passing through Prince Albert need only sneeze once at the crowded local market to potentially infect the entire town.

Modern farming methods continue to create conditions conducive to the development and spread of disease the likes of which we have never seen before. With the moral and ethical issues aside, human health is threatened on a massive scale by ignoring the threat of the vast breeding grounds for disease.

Brett the Vet - Natural Light

The shabbiness of the human race is becoming more evident as our living planet slips into decline. Global destruction is mirrored in the deteriorating vigour of humanity. Health, elegance and pride have been replaced by growing dis-ease, sloppiness and shame. More people are starting to fully appreciate the natural world unity and recognize the fatal consequences of severing our earthly bond. The animal kingdom remains brimming with the finest examples of inherent human aspirations imaginable.

Vignettes of elegance abound on every level in our environment, some of which will not exist for future generations. A heron poised in a field, leopard draped over a rock, lone owl perched on a fence pole, silhouette of a kudu on a ridge: beacons of natural beauty, arresting allure.

Queens of the notion of cleanliness, cats, slink into the lead as bastions of hygienic zeal: always immaculately groomed and presentable, even when asleep. For swine, there is nothing more appropriate, cleansing, and fun than acquiring a protective mudpack. Geese bathe in water and chickens in dust many times a day to maintain a glistening exterior. Neglected appearance is the first indicator of illness.

Civility is seen in the organization of herds where hundreds, sometimes thousands of animals are synchronized in movement and thought, spaced according to drive and circumstance. Hierarchy and deference mould the shifting group structure of political animals adhering to their innate policies of pragmatic survival.

From anthills to weaver nests, beaver dams and rabbit warrens the architecture of animal dwellings is sustainable and perfectly attuned to the environment where planning permission is wavered with pleasure and universal admiration.

Animals under our control enthusiastically express gratitude at feeding time, either vocally or through body language. In the wild, creatures take what they need unless man has disrupted them by his greed. Deficiencies are rare in nature as animals have the freedom and discernment that allows instinctive selection of nutritionally balanced food.

We are constantly reminded about our lack of regard for instinctive decorum and mutual respect exhibited in animal behaviour, even by our own pets. When we fail to acknowledge or consider them, carelessly tread on their toes or cause injury, the gaze we receive is an expression of absolute incomprehension.

Animals can move with astounding grace: wild horses, cheetah chase, swans on a lake, midges at sunset, jellyfish at sea, even amoeba in a drop of water. Dragging of feet, lethargy, or poor posture are signs of disease.

Finesse in communication is easily observed among starlings occupying a tree in the late afternoon engrossed in mesmerizing group conversation. Whale song saturating the seas tells of transience and tragedy in another world. More obscure still are soft whispers among fishes. Infrasonic vibrations transmitted through elephant feet feeling their friends up to 100km away is a barely tangible concept. We are usually lost in translation of the subtle telepathic tidings that pass between animals using senses beyond our understanding.

We have extinguished the dignity of domestic animals by forcing them into squalid confinement to justify our condescension towards them, thereby creating enduring misery and suffering for them, and changing ourselves. When sentient beings concede the true value of life it rouses a compulsion for empathy. Waste and disease from intensive pig farms, polluting methane gas from cattle feedlots, and the violence of keeping hens in batteries, are merely symptoms of our fall from grace and the ruination of the Garden of earthly Eden.

Brett the Vet - Carnival of the Animals

Celebrations in the animal world unfold as spontaneous or predictable events. For same reasons as the human race they gather at a time and place to entertain their moods and drives enriching their complicated lives: joyous, greedy, savage, and trite: just like festivals in the human plight.

The dawn chorus couldn’t bore us with the daily ode to joy when light succeeds the darkness void. And eerily at dusk in flight the bats and owls regale the night. Symphonies of crickets and frogs ensue until the scene is sparkling with dew.

Autumn equinox is the turning point of daylight length that triggers frenzied avian strength in the skies, seas and canopies of trees. The whole day fills with shrill sounds of jubilation calling birds to preparation forth, the seasonal migration north. No tickets, no reservations, no baggage, no passports, no carbon footprint, just flutter.

Food prevails among good reasons to celebrate spells of abundance. In the bushveld a lion kill provides a sequence of feasts catering way beyond the king of beasts. Vultures circling in the sky wait their turn to drop on by; lurking and laughing on the fringe hyenas tauntingly prepare to binge. Flies and ants clear up the mess, presenting themselves as a round of treats for all the insectivorous beats.

Humans frequently provide irresistible excess, attracting uninvited guests, usually considered pests. Birds flit from fig farm to grape harvest with cunning and jest.

Squawking gulls hovering over trawlers at sea trail the offerings of fish for free. Baboons revel in a banquet of maize or fruit that’s been grown especially for them to loot. Bounteous lambs unprotected by dogs or shepherds make take away meals for jackals and leopards.

Orgies occur naturally in sessions for breeding purposes and otherwise. Antelope herds at time of rutting, solicit for sex engaging in head butting. Among bonobos interactive participants explore together every diversion in sexual pleasure, unencumbered by moral dilemma.

Turning to drink starts so innocently, restricted only by availability. Fermenting maroelas are notoriously linked to elephant slurps for hiccups and burps.

Gatherings purely for fun pervade notions on how the west was won. When dolphin pods converge there’s a surge of enthusiasm to dance and play then surf the waves till break of day. Does this happen just by chance or do they receive invitations in advance?

Sometimes it’s all about the journey despite the lure of destination. At a given cue wanderlust consumes the gnu that collectively decide to drift in spectacular population shift. Lemming suicide elucidates en masse consciousness left hanging on the cliffs of crass popularity.

Intensive farms crammed with resounding cries of frustration cannot be mistaken for celebration. The cacophony of consternation, hysteria and derangement evident in any battery hen house reflects mass misery relished by humans who indulge in the cheap extravagance of omelettes, cakes and soaring cholesterol stakes. Similarly the despairing grunts of sows confined to crates infiltrate the bacon plate. The distressed bellows of feedlot grief saturates the flesh of beef.

The anguish or triumph of every noisy crowd, happy or distressed carries a message to the world. Take heed of all this fuss, there’s something in common with all of us.

Brett the Vet - As You Spike It

The infinitely intricate entities of so-called pests evoke cries of horror and elation: they can mean death or salvation. Our detachment from nature facilitates hostility towards animals that are simply living out their niche. Human attitudes rouse corresponding retaliation or reconciliation from animals. We have the choice to be at one or war with nature. Peaceful coexistence is a rarefied challenge.

The perceived nuisance of useful insects is a warped reality often met with profuse and inappropriate lashings of deadly poison, when fragrant herbal repellants would suffice. Ants invaded nip harmlessly at naked toes only to protect their nests of kin, as they work recycling dead animals to make way for the living, aerate the soil, and provide food for other animals.

There’s savoir faire in freeing the air of pestilential sprays on days of flies and heat while they get on with decomposing meat. Butterflies drenched in colour floating over soft, scented petals epitomizing lightness of being represent another phase of life beyond drudgery chewing greens. Yet flowers and fruit are still produced by plants with leaves latticed by larvae labouring towards transformation.

Making peace with mosquitoes that scheme to extract sanguinary sips slips from combat to admiration for tingling, filigreed resonance in harmonious, fluttering chorus. The flip side of irritation is intrigue.

Nonchalant distribution of noxious substances continues unbounded, regardless of human and other animal health. Every day people casually contaminate themselves, children, pets, livestock, plants, and the environment (including underground water) with poisons powerful enough to kill usually indestructible insects.

No poison is harmless even in small amounts, and many are known to accumulate in human flesh, absorbed through the skin and breath, or ingested with food and water. There are serious deleterious effects of poison on the body in the long-term. An alarming range of attributed illnesses including cancers, blood disorders, and hormonal disruptions has been described through medical research.

Mathematics for pesticide dose rates is easily confused and it’s not unheard of for ten or more times the recommended concentration to be applied. Ticks are tough but die at the suggested dose. Sheep are strong but also die beyond a certain threshold of tolerance.

Blood and the meat contain poison in unpredictable amounts. Just as the remarkably unblemished and no less delicious fruit and vegetables available on sale for the general public are often laced with poison without warnings. There are many safe ways of controlling parasites that do not involve the use of pesticides.

For pets the poison comes conveniently calculated in drops with a booklet of warnings in small print. Now there’s resistance at vast expense while garlic, essential oils and diatomaceous earth remain cheap and effective. Presumably everybody wants companion animals that can be safely petted on the back of the neck.

The growing organic movement demonstrates recognition of the ill effects of poison and renounces its use, while actively embracing sustainable agriculture.

Every living being except man knows its place in the world happily occupied within a functioning ecosystem. Consciousness about the inherent value and sanctity of all forms of life is something only humans need to learn.

Brett the Vet - Hit and Myth

The opposite of anthropomorphism must surely be the attribution of animal or god characteristics to humans. Ideas in arrears frequently steered towards hyperbole, applied in jest at best, or delivered with recklessly negative connotations, reinforce the delusion that animals are somehow inferior. Certain terminology becomes part of cultural consciousness, remaining fixed and unchallenged. Imposing false perceptions can misconstrue intentions. Emphasizing the otherness of animals severs our connection with nature thereby reducing vital contact with the living planet.

Bearing the brunt of a negative stunt, buried in archives distortions of good lives. Everybody knows that pigs are not dirty or fat: they like to wallow in mud exchanging chitchat. Mind tricks while mud sticks like a bad reputation. Snakes in the grass cruising home turf are friendly enough given a wide berth. Reactions of bitches and cows espouse feminist vows, exercising their rights with fairness and fights. Free will is unknown to the bird in a cage and lions on stage suppressing their rage. Creating the mule defiantly stubborn, no bun in the oven; do us a favour - forced manual labour. The point of no return, watching bridges burn, never looking back, we give a little slack. Ass will compromise by telling white lies elevating status, full of pomp and flatus; denigrating creatures that are really our teachers. All playing games of hide and seek, never revealing tongue in cheek. We mask our hidden fears like crocodiles in tears.

Shining qualities in animals raise delusions of grandeur to comical levels when used to rid the demons of human deficiency. The fanciful wish to swim like a fish; breathe under water, like lamb to the slaughter. While lovers envy ardent virility citing habits of rabbits, the slow satisfaction of tortoises in action opens wide the divide between humility and pride. Mr. Fox ever wry at being so sly loses his brains on computer games, but excels outwitting hares clocking sins for his dares. A symbol so strong the ox goes along; par for the course his elegant restraint of force. To be reckoned with arenas of laughing hyenas, an outrageous sense of humour’s worth starting a rumour. A mouse is only quiet because our world is a riot; with its relative size there is no surprise. Elephants at night parading their might are known to set pace with delicacy and grace. A clown is no fool and some geese are as wise taking owls by surprise. The most faithful friend is no match for Patch or Rover. The party is over. Smell the roses on waking; life isn’t worth faking. Individual merit is what we inherit, while collective banality leads to insanity.

Clichéd characteristics observed in animals highlight for us relative similarities, feelings and ways of being that also limit our understanding. Traits and states of mind observed in mankind are laid bare in the lair of bestial laisser-faire. Accusations of anthropomorphism are often invoked when people are choked by misguided notions passed as emotions. By avoiding projection we can openly experience animal emotions imagining with empathy. Broadening our concepts of communication opens the channels to fully appreciate the marvel of animals.

Brett the Vet - Once Upon a Crime

On a beautiful midsummer’s night when the crescent moon was aligned in a triangle with glowing planets, my little dog, Max vanished on my farm just after dark. I searched along the river, in the forest, up the koppie and around the house but he was gone. The following evening I retraced our steps for the umpteenth time with Beauty, the other dog living with us on the farm.

There were no clues explaining his disappearance, until we reached the house. Beauty started twitching uncontrollably; within minutes she was suffering excruciating convulsions. Immediately, I knew she had swallowed poison; I needed to act quickly to save her life. A teaspoon of salt poured into the back of her throat induced vomiting instantly. After administering antidote intravenously, she calmed down, and recovered fully after a few days.

A week later I found Max where he’d crawled away and died in fits of agony. He was riddled with maggots, some of which had died around his stomach, indicating evidence of the poison that killed him. He was the sweetest creature I’ve known, whom everyone adored. It breaks my heart to know that he was indiscriminately murdered. My dogs are my family and his death has been a devastating personal loss.

The horrific realization that animals are not safe even on my remote, organic farm highlights their vulnerability and the fate of so many innocent creatures. The disappearance of carnivores in the area, like the otters (not seen for two years), raptors, birds, mongooses, polecats, jackals, and many more, fills me with sadness and despair.

The gratuitous violence committed against life wild and free is thoughtlessly condoned among certain people. Lethal poisons are freely available. Poisoned bait is widely distributed, can be placed anywhere, and is evidently easily shifted to other locations: Poison will kill every living thing that ingests it - so even a child could find poison, eat it and die.

People ask me for advice on how to protect their pet dogs. Watching them 24 hours a day is no guarantee. Muzzling them may work. Training a scavenger to not eat carrion is difficult. The prohibition of poison, discouraging and scandalizing its use is the only practical solution in the long term. Cruelty to animals is a criminal offence. It is unacceptable that farmers are tacitly exempt from barbaric behaviour where they are custodians of land that should be abundant with life.

Everyone who cares can make a difference through positive action. Concerned members of the public should appeal to farmers, retailers, restaurateurs, and government to stop encouraging the routine use of poison in farming. Consumer demand for ethically produced food is increasing rapidly. All the major supermarket outlets are responding, providing essential information about food origins.

Some modern, informed farmers understand the complexities of predator control. They no longer use cruel and antiquated lethal methods because they try to maintain the vital ecological balance of the environment. There are many proven methods to protect sheep legally that don’t threaten the community or the natural balance of life. Only when farmers proudly insist on farming humanely with genuine compassion,weto see real progress in agriculture.

I urge farmers to stop using poison (and gin traps), and to adopt the non-lethal options open to them. Information describing effective, proven alternatives is available from many sources, including the Landmark Foundation (tel 083 324 3344) which has published a book, Predators on Livestock Farms.

Cape Nature Conservationconjunction with The Endangered Wildlife Trust (tel 011 486 1102) has issued a manual on holistic management with details of non-lethal predator control, created specificallyguide.

Dr Brett Bard BVSc MRCVS

Brett the Vet - Chimes of Passion

Wild animals wild evoke an enviable yoke of freedom and beauty, where sacred duty and wisdom reside with pride. Man’s love for wildlife turns to hate when he alters their fate, aims to maim and captivate their spirit innate. The domestic animal no longer functions alone in the natural world, but needs our proximity, aware of humans who care. Their attachment to us is love. Actually demonstrated by soulful glances to glaring advances love dances, and it’s not always a tango!

Adoring and devoted is the canine nation without explanation, beyond imagination in every situation of misuse there is no excuse: to abuse a dog’s trust will summon disgust.

To caution a mention the capricious attention of all knowing cats distracted in acts all that nonsense, hence fire is better known as cool. Let slip the drool: kindness can be so cruel.
For all favour friendship and fondness from donkeys and horses enduring the forces of gravity midst greed and depravity. Strapped and whipped yet equipped with means for extremes of nightmarish scenes.

Behind desiring and jealousy bull, lies ardour outside the parlour.
Gracious generosity displayed by cows without appeal, abducted babies for veal; and then squeezed to make cheese and custard with ease.

Group sects express tenderness and sensitivity of sheep so meek; send lamb to the slaughter, both son and daughter.
Water tight sheer delight ducks taking flight to pond fondly fluffing their signs with laughter in lines.

Refined in a fashion the purple-eyed passion of peacocks parading, evading mundanity, framed for posterity before a kaleidoscopic fan.

Thwarted motherly instincts haunt hapless hens enduring perpetual daily labour over an egg.
Gregarious pigs rigged by crates and gates, awaiting their mates, trying to relate warmth and affection.

Warm-hearted banter proffered by geese used for feathers and grease even spoke as they choke on feeding pipes no gripes plucking down stripes.
Cherishing habits of rabbits in fences losing touch with their senses, cosmetic expenses.

In living memory was an age where people engaged with creatures caged and free, never to be blamed for shamed husbandry. Now factories abound with the sight and the sound of animals in distress living bound and blighted with love unrequited.

The mindless mechanizing of our domestic animals in recent years amounts to maltreatment which is done out of a lack of love, indifference towards them, and trivialisation of their lives. The alienation from their natural instincts becomes the real source of ailments and disease in animals, which in turn affects mankind.

Brett the Vet: The Colour of Monkey

Somewhere over the restricted rainbow notion of divided white light is a palate of visual splendour beyond our most psychedelic imaginings.

Variations in texture, sheen, shape, volume, temperature, mood and motive influence the tints and shades of hues to peruse. Every living thing responds to colour because life depends on it. Nothing is plain when it contains jumbled spectrum remains, intertwined with inaccessible dimensions.

Blue sky is a lie and must die at night when the light drains the heavens, leavens the void, and takes and leaves a waking stimulus. Diurnal rhythms triggered at dawn with a yawn and birdsong belong to the day in a way clearly for everything to be seen.

We do know all humans don’t interpret colours in the same manner and even if most do, individuals experience the effect differently. What animals see is not a complete mystery because their other senses also work in the zones of our own: only the detail must be phenomenal!
Fish and birds have a more complex colour vision than humans, and the rest we can only surmise. Animals hear things we hear, and more that we don’t, they smell odours that bypass our olfactory system, they feel sensations invisible to us, and taste indescribable variations.

But the world animals see can only be dreamt by deduction as hallucinatory by our meagre standards. Not forgetting those other senses that enable chickens to see into the future, cats to predict earthquakes, and elephants to flee the tsunami long before they set eyes on the tide.

Bees swarm for flowers of magenta and gold as manifestations unfold in ultraviolet ways invisible rays to man. Their multiple arthropod vision of buttercups and daisies sends them buzzing with enthusiasm. For the bee colony life is literally a bed of roses. Most pollination depends on bees and without them we would die. No wonder they’ve been blessed with the ultimate protective weapon.

Sex red read sex red, unless you’re a queen that responds to green eyes before thighs, and sighs when the ginger tom glances her way. Every female virgin vervet monkey only has eyes for baby blue, and not just make-up right, but true scrotal delight. Parading peacocks elevate preening to a dazzling state of iridescent allure purely for the pearls. And when those ostrich pegs glow cerise, no peace. The bishop bird turns orange in springtime not just to decorate bulrushes.

Bull rushes the red rag full of rage and torment or is it the movement? A flash eye white gives fright and flight, and surrenders the fight. The black sheep is born to be ostracised; and worse, the curse of the pink dolphin. A mould is more than shape or attitude.

The subtlety of camouflage exists by process of elimination; there are no white lions. Pass the buck in the grass, a snake in the looking glass, the moth on the bark, the lark or the lizard exquisitely blended, defended by revelation of light.

Black night is day for the owl and the pussycat guided elegantly in that we only know as darkness, dominated by fear of what we cannot see: fear of using our imagination in admiration for the wealth of experience in the lives of others.

Brett the Vet - Who’s a Clever Boy?

Asking the wrong questions to evaluate the intelligence of animals often misleads us into assuming predictably unsatisfactory answers.

Usually we take what is known about human mental processes and look for comparable processes in other species, and try to measure how intelligent animals are in the same ways as humans.

This attitude is not very complimentary about the extent and capacity of human understanding or imagination. Animals aren't particularly interested in knowing more about us.

'Intelligence' means the ability to understand, learn, and think things out quickly; 'smart' the ability to adapt; 'clever' the ability to adapt creatively. These days our interpretation of intelligence has expanded into other spheres beyond IQ to embrace many types of intelligence as being equally valid.

With our greater understanding we are also starting to realise almost by surprise, and not without indispensable scientific proof, that animals are intelligent. The prevailing, arrogant assumption that animals are dumb until proven otherwise precludes the common sense approach of accepting their inherent natural intelligence.

It is limiting to impart a reflective interpretation of animal intelligence. From the clever cat painting pictures, to the smart dog walking on two legs, to the piglet playing computer games, people perpetually marvel at the anthropomorphic exploits of animals, and ridicule their ostensible shortcomings. Natural intelligence is often widely misunderstood because it encompasses all the systems of control in biology.

Animals left to their own niche and devices have adapted by 'survival of the fittest'. As long as sheep follow or horses shy, pigs wallow or geese fly, instincts enable exquisite intelligence.

When we intervene and make a mockery of nature by imposing demeaning conditions on animals like batteries for hens or crates for pigs, they are reduced to a commodity. The 'dumbing down' affecting modern civilisation has inadvertently been imparted to the domestic animals. Selective breeding, restrictive living, and manipulated behaviour are draining their resilience.
The consequence is dependence on human intervention such as the reduction of instinctive smothering ability in dairy cows and laying hens, or the inability to breed naturally in some dog breeds.

It is astounding that highly intelligent animals concede to performing humiliating tricks people consider to be clever. An elephant standing on a ball, a dolphin diving through a ring of fire, a parrot saying 'hello' repeatedly every day during its years of solitude. The level of trust displayed by domesticated species towards humans is staggering and begs the unanswerable question.

Retaliation is not a feature in the implicit natural order. The balance is redressed in a closed system. As the ancient human cultures that revered nature slip away and modern humans plunder the planet's resources, destroy natural habitats, churn out carbon, and continue to make the earth less habitable, we are experiencing the effects manifest in a world where everything is connected.

Fighting nature leads to the destruction of life. To salvage what remains requires a creative mind shift into unfamiliar territory: to think from a different perspective.

Brett the Vet - Hello My Friend Hello

In a crowded city like London it is quite normal for people to walk right past thousands of others every day. On buses and trains, in lifts and aeroplanes there is almost no acknowledgement of other human beings at close range. But this also happens in Prince Albert where even familiar folk are sometimes painfully oblivious to intercourse. The universal struggle for individuality is unravelling social cohesion.

In general, human attitudes continue to change in the quest for advancement, while other animals continue to interact in much the same way. Animals encountering one another will always show interest. For reasons ranging from food to sex, attention may be brief or sustained, plain or complex, subtle or unrestrained. Animals also notice and are fascinated by human beings.

Interspecies recognition goes beyond mere greeting, and exists as a kind of mutual verification, a tacit inclusion in the intricate network of life flourishing and dwindling on a shared planet. Many modern humans shun instinctive communication rituals. Not only do we routinely ignore members of our own species, but others too.

Nobody likes to be ignored. And domestic animals in particular are sensitive to exclusion. Even the coolest cat secretly craves attention. The domestic species are mostly social animals like humans, and need company.

Hierarchy maintains the inherent order in a given group of animals. The constant interaction between individuals is an instinctive dynamic of affirmations demonstrated through behaviour, body language, vocalisation, and subtler forms of communication.

This harmony is disrupted when too many animals are crowded together under abnormal circumstances as in feedlots or broiler houses. Chickens can recognise up to 100 individual birds. Broiler farming crams thousands of chickens into confined spaces, so they constantly encounter strangers, causing high levels of stress and fighting because they cannot establish familiarity.

The understanding of gaze and non-verbal recognition is essential to evolve the way we view animals. It is self destructive to remain exclusive. An attitude that embraces every living thing and reveres the inherent value of different life has the miraculous effect of inspiring wonder. In the wildest jungle and the bleakest space, creatures are alerted to every human face. Our response is a measure of courage and conviction to relate and integrate.

We see the world in bold brush strokes that obliterate marvellous and mesmerising intricacies. We simplify the landscapes and the skies, and cast a murky veil of lies to hide fears and flaunt pride.

Animals are immersed in the detail of their immediate worlds and the fullness of life. Like swimming, riding a bicycle, or keeping the peace, perhaps humans also need to learn to respect life.

Brett the Vet

Behind Closed Mores

Random acts of kindness juxtaposed with cruelty impose a chaotic tryst of twisted loyalties on our society. Guilt and loathing can emerge as macabre vaunting, haunting defenceless victims in their own homes, public places, and even desecrating open spaces with traces of malice.

In our town a dog was bound and strung up in a thorn tree, beaten and stoned until it died while decent people took tea and biscuits under a fading cerise sky. Cries and laughter, sighs and after sundown, come down, sink to earth and search for selfless hints of honour in this wilderness, waterless, tearless, full of rage and hate.

Orphaned calves bellow below a seething sun, pleading, and needing care. A pair of helping hands not in pockets free to feed, water, slaughter. Mercy killing is quick and blameless, no evidence from mute victims of shameless neglects by savagery behind a beer and braai veneer.

Five fast cats in a week were crushed on our quiet village streets. Screaming motors, steaming rotor blades chopping and grinding, winding out life on our roadways where people meet and children play as before. In the way, out of the way, shift swift. Wait, too late. Stop. Rushing, crushing features, creatures delicate and true.

What dogs cower in human company? Obedience training through fear is clearly the dastardly tactics practised under a suppressive regime. Praise and reward for good behaviour is nonsense when violence is anticipated in a stroke. Consider a London Park teaming with proud and playful hounds bounding boldly past cyclists, joggers, toddlers, and bloggers. Well socialised, responsive, obedient, trusting: never struck. There are no short cuts. But through knowledge and admiration something understood about the good nature of man's best friend commands reverence for these guardians of humanity.

Money for airtime, quad bikes, speeding fines, and labour strikes, saved by using ropes to cast and castrate the epitome of freedom that is a stallion in spite of the light offered by anaesthesia and medicinal pain relief for slashed flesh.

Men hunt to kill for pleasure and thrills, the beautiful treasure roaming our hills, yet savour the bliss of a kiss, filled with fear and cowardice.

Floating around town the disarming sounds of sweetly singing birds escaping bloodshed elsewhere convey innocence revealed through nature, unravelling our limited view of the world.

Brett the Vet - Flies and Fat Tails

A drive through the Karoo is not for the faint-hearted. Even if you can afford the fuel, burning it helps to destroy what remains of the beauty.

The herds of wild animals have already been decimated. Many plant species have disappeared due to overgrazing. Dust bowls of broken ostrich souls unfold. Untold misery lurks in the muted depths of multicoloured battery hen houses: not safe, no mates. Normal looking sheep that have not had their tails hacked off in lambhood are considered odd.

Growing awareness of injustices towards animals is being driven forward by consumer demand for humane treatment of farm animals. The world is moving towards ethical production. International Organic standards forbid mutilation of animals on humane grounds. Unfortunately, farmers, who must deal with the practicalities, are often the last to develop alternatives to institutionalized cruelty. When problems occur with animals in our care, ‘quick’ solutions are found that often inflict pain and suffering.

The archaic management procedures that replace good animal husbandry of herds and birds include routine dehorning cattle, teeth clipping and tail docking of pigs, debeaking and declawing of laying hens, and tail docking and mulesing (cutting away skin around the breech to prevent wool growth which reduces the risk of blowfly strike) of sheep: All done routinely en masse without anaesthesia or pain relief. These illegal practices are condoned by profit driven organisations where mutilations are deemed necessary.

If acts of violence on farms are to be eliminated in favour of good agricultural practice (GAP), it helps to first understand that animals who are not usually pets, like sheep in a flock, are individuals with distinct personalities no less sensitive or intelligent than man’s best friend.

Research has demonstrated that sheep separated from their original herd will recognise photographs of other members of that herd years later! Sheep are as expressive as other mammals to the perceptive audience. They are able to recognise (and demonstrate) emotion in their own and other species. They feel pleasure and pain.

Advances in law present chances for changes in attitude and action. An interesting example is the decision taken by the Australian government to ban tail docking and mulesing in sheep after 2010.

These mutilations were suggested in a bygone era to decrease the risk of blowfly strike, a painful condition caused by the invasion of flesh eating maggots in wool sheep. Flies are attracted to the breech area especially when the wool is contaminated with diarrhoea or urine.

Now there is a drive to find humane solutions to prevent the blowfly problem. Optimal health and perfect management seem difficult to achieve. Painless mutilations are too costly. But selective breeding programs have been shown to alter anatomical conformation, significantly reducing fly strike, and improving immunological resistance to internal parasites, and blowflies. This highlights the trail of tragic consequences encountered when selectively breeding animals for single traits, like maximizing wool production in merino sheep.

Winter woollies conjure creature comforts and warmth from less than cosy sheep when the mercury dives. A lift from luscious lamb loin stew Karoo style will do for a few who knew what to cook by the book. Yet regret the best flesh is set on a carcass with a long tail and bewail the glib necessity to have lopped the link.

Brett the Vet - Speaking of Tongues

Speaking of Tongues

Our gradual devolution of taste sensibility has been accelerated by modern trends of artificial additives and preservatives in pre-packaged food. Freedom to choose from a full flavour spectrum enhances the quality of life. Understanding the capacity and scope of this faculty in the animal kingdom gives insight into its fundamental influence.

Tongues come in a variety of forms ranging from delicate membranes to muscular models of taste. They function as organs of predation, apprehension, navigation, grooming, communication and recreation. Shape is determined by finely tuned adaptation. A fascinating example is the chameleon whose particularly dramatic organ can fling out twice the length of its body to retrieve prey. Cows curl theirs around tufts of carefully chosen grass, breaking it free with the weight of their heads. The forked tongues of snakes softly lick the air providing information and destiny. A crocodile’s tongue forms a thick throat bung so it can chew under water.

Human tongues can discern the bitter as well as the sweet, sour, salt, and umami. Less simplified when considering our ability to discern over 10 000 odours. Closely linked to the complex perception of what enters our mouths are senses of sight, smell, touch and hearing. Tastes develop with age, appreciation and understanding.

Cherished childhood delights mature towards sophisticated culinary distinction. The same is true of animals with their incredible range of tongue twisting manifestations. Some have vastly superior abilities to detect subtle flavours – reflected in their number of taste buds: pigs have 15 000, rabbits 17 000, while we have only 9000. Sharks can detect fish extracts in concentrations lower than one part in 10 billion. Many animals exceed our meagre range of taste sensations.

The laws of desire fire up flirtations of palate in every shrew and gannet. It is not uncommon for cats to crave strange flavours that make little sense, like olives, melons or pearls on a fence, although cocoa is perfectly understandable! Their mindful choice of ingredients can become a tool of manipulation leaving every provider perplexed by the capricious feline appetite.

On closer observation, most animals relish variety and carefully select food when given the choice. On occasion dogs would dine at the Ritz; cats canoodle for smoked salmon; pigs root out truffles, horses succumb to sugar cane, and elephants maraud on maroela windfall. Every grain and bug on a hen’s menu is far from random pecking. Gathering select harvest is a squirrel’s prerogative. Finely tuned needs and desires drive dogs to devour bones, ostriches to swallow stones, and injured goats to seek out healing hopes of arnica on mountain slopes. It’s not by chance that animals prefer tastes of foods that grow readily in their natural environments.

In nature nutrition is linked to flavour and wild animals are generally healthy when there is access to essential food. Inherent instinctive knowledge of correct diet seems lacking in humans.

Our ideas of scientifically formulated food falls short bought and packaged for ease. When we impose in rows a crop that grows in mono clone and that alone for domesticated herbivores, it is not surprising that health gets compromised.

Variety is the vice of strife to standardise and simplify scientifically formulated food. The form, colour, odour, texture, freshness, temperature, sound, and availability of food have a direct impact on health and vitality in all species.

Brett the Vet - The Milky Way

Mammals are warm blooded vertebrates of the class secreting milk to feed the young. The word originates from the Latin mamma meaning breast. This is a phenomenon humans share with all other mammals ranging from shrews to elephants, including whales and dolphins. Instinct drives the newborn straight to the teat, the post umbilical lifeline.

Mother’s milk! There is nothing quite like it for the infant: A perfect blend of all the nutrients required to nurture the growing mammal, presented in the most sensuous manner imaginable. There is something immensely satisfying about babies suckling from their mothers. They convey all the signs of contentment and good health.

Strangely there is a market driven tendency in the western world to feed baby humans artificial substitutes for the sake of la bella figura. Animals must breast feed, unless they are calves born on a dairy farm where they are separated from their mothers soon after birth once they have taken colostrum. They are given milk substitutes in a bucket which inevitably gives rise to digestive problems. Cow’s milk bizarrely becomes part of the so called ‘balanced diet’ of humans where it can ironically also lead to digestive upsets and other health issues in some people.

The profit driven modern dairy industry is concerned with size and quantity. This comes at a price for cows that are treated like machines in a factory. The calves, particularly the males, are often grossly neglected or sold to inappropriate ‘farmers’ where they suffer and die. Or worse still, they endure brief and miserable lives as part of the veal industry: This so called delicacy is derived from the most indelicate process. Connoisseurs of veal demand soft, pale meat. To achieve this calves are raised inside dark barns, in cramped crates and fed nutritionally deficient rations. This process of deprivation and suffering turns out inferior flesh. It’s a shameful disgrace on the perpetrators and consumers alike.

The level of humanity found in small scale dairies becomes a serious consideration if we are to encourage and support good animal husbandry from farmers who truly care for their animals. When we choose a product of known origin we can make an informed decision about ethically sound agricultural practice.

In Prince Albert we are fortunate to have Gay’s Dairy where the well being of prize Guernsey cows takes priority. Cows graze on pastures as much as possible. They are even given names, reflecting a tradition of individual consideration and care. Calves, although removed from their mothers after a week, are given space, love and lots of attention. The heifers are raised to join the herd later, and the males are selected for stud. Any surplus calves are homed to carefully screened owners.

Pasteurization feeds into our fear based, insurance bound view of the world. We can indeed contract serious diseases from the milk of unhealthy dairy herds. Our main concerns here are brucellosis and tuberculosis. But if the herd is established free of these diseases by a simple test, and they are kept in dry, hygienic conditions, the milk need not be pasteurized, as is the case with Gay’s Dairy. We’ve all observed what happens when heat is applied to the white of an egg. A similar process occurs invisibly to the proteins in heated milk, which some say render it less nutritious and possibly even harmful to drink. Milk certainly tastes better fresh from the cow.

Food of animal origin always comes with a sacrifice the conscientious consumer simply cannot ignore, because he or she has the power to make a difference to the way animals are dealt with behind the screams.

Brett the Vet - The Heat is on

The Heat is On

Summertime and the living is queasy for many a hot dog, cool cat, or ostrich with no sun day hat. Intolerable heat imposed on live animals in cold blood through ignorance, greed, or negligence causes thousands of avoidable deaths every year.

Two years ago nearly 5000 ostriches were reported to have died in the Karoo during a heat wave. The birds baked to death because no shade had been provided. Farmers know that ostriches are well adapted to hot, dry conditions, and tolerate temperature extremes. Their comfort zone, however, is roughly between 4-25 degrees Celsius.

The birds seek shade when the ambient temperature rises too much (late morning in February in the Karoo). The majority of ostriches are kept in crowded, dusty, feedlot camps without a tree in sight. When there is a sliver of shade available it is occupied by the toughest birds - the rest are seen gullar fluttering in the simmering sunshine.

Even in the most publicly visible camps no attempts appear to have been made to alleviate this problem, even though there is a clause relating to provision of shade in the animal protection act. With the impact of global warming experts predict increased likelihood of deaths from heatstroke. Despite the potential economic loss, very little is being done about this animal welfare aspect by the SPCA, the Co-op or the majority of farmers.

Livestock like cattle and sheep with no refuge from the sun in the height of summer seem to be able to survive without shade. But the stress effects of heat influence success and profitability: Reduced feed intake, reduced lactation, reduced fertility levels, reduced activity, shade seeking, increased respiratory rate, increased sweating, and increased mortality. It is not unusual to see a flock of sheep all trying to cool down in the shade of one another when there are no trees.

The benefits of trees are many. Trees provide the most effective cool shade. They are used to create wind barriers. Species, like carob also provide a source of food for livestock. Others whilst giving shade produce crops of nuts or fruit. The flowers of eucalyptus are a major source of pollen and nectar for bees.

Trees recycle carbon and produce oxygen. They create conditions for rain. A different school of thought destroys every living tree that happens to be from another continent, no matter how useful, shady or reproductively inert.

Hot cars turn into ovens after only a few minutes for dogs trapped inside. Symptoms of heat exhaustion ensue quite rapidly starting with panting, followed by hyperthermia, congestion of mucous membranes, diarrhoea, stupor, coma, and death.

The primary therapeutic objective in all cases of heatstroke is to reduce body temperature by immersion in cold water.

Cool cats are the creatures to watch. On a hot summer’s day they would offer their throats to the woof with the red noses if he could find them in the deepest shade splayed. Cats are more likely to gravitate to a comfort zone simply because they can. The more relative freedom a creature has, the more naturally it will be able to cope with temperature fluctuations.

Non-human animals share with humans a capacity to suffer, and this means that they, like us, have interests. Domesticated animals whether they are farm animals, or pets, require us to take care of their interests. If we discount or ignore their interests we are guilty of cruelty, which apart from being morally reprehensible, is against the law.

Brett the Vet - No More Fake Love Affairs

Self-confessed lovers of life-enhancing pursuits sometimes create a puzzling logic as to how this love is distributed.

Dog lover buys a puppy and locks him in the backyard for protection. He never leaves the yard. He grows up without socialising among other people or dogs. He is fed dry ‘dog food’ biscuits ad lib, and barks all day for attention. He is kept chained up later because he attacks anything that moves, including the hand that feeds him. After three years of solitary confinement police are called to shoot the dog.

Dogs are social creatures who would normally live in packs. Dogs thrive on attention. Their senses are highly developed and respond to even the slightest smells, sounds, sights, tastes, and physical contact.

The expression of emotions from happiness to sadness, exhilaration and grief, is obvious. Dogs are friendly to humans and naturally trusting. If the master is threatened they will protect him or her with their lives.

Cat lover afraid to let pussy outdoors has her claws surgically removed to stop furniture scratching. The operation, equivalent of removing fingertips, frequently fails resulting in areas where the bones push through the skin making walking extremely painful.

Cats are highly individualistic territorial felines. Nine interesting lives full of risk and adventure, leisure and exertion are used up. Carpe diem. Sharp nails for hunting and self protection grace the ends of eighteen digits. Stimulation builds character, and communication is vital for understanding another way of thinking.

Lamb lover with elastic bands spends the day with the flock under solitary shade tree. Male lambs are isolated and elastic bands placed tightly over their testicles. They bleat and writhe. Physiological needs urge them to continue suckling. After a few days the testicles become gangrenous and drop off. These sheep shy away from human contact.

This technique gets applied inappropriately to other species with varying results. A sheep dog victim died after necrosis spread from the genitals to extensive surrounding areas.

It cannot be refuted that all male animals feel excruciating pain, like man, when their genitals are mutilated without anaesthetic.

Bird lover keeps a collection of bright and loud exotic birds in small cages. It is legal to do this with birds from another country but not for indigenous species. Captive wild birds plead for freedom. Meals provided are unvaried. Some individuals even pair up and breed.

Chicken lover refuses to slaughter surplus pet roosters that gang rape humble hen flock. Restaurant roast chicken of unquestioned origin may have lived a brief and miserable life in crowded, filthy conditions. No sunlight, poor ventilation, stale fish diet laced with antibiotics and growth hormones, will do.

Nature lover enjoys quad biking, hunting, and fishing.

Food lover feeds Fifi feasts fattening and fatal. At five, four foot ligaments fray as she falls from her favourite feather fantasy. Obesity leads to diabetes and heart failure. She is nursed to death through years of discomfort and suffering.

Lover of life, cultivating a sense of empathy, compassion, and respect for all living beings through non-violence, consciously expands awareness to fully realise common values manifest in the interconnection of all things.

Brett the Vet - Can you feel it

Can you feel the breeze on your face and the wind through your hair? Can you hear birds singing sweetly in trees? Can you see wide open sky confined by horizon? Can you taste salt sea, sweet honey, sour lemons, and bitter almonds? Can you smell a rat, cat, or cow pat? Now imagine what other animals perceive. Sensuous delights are not species specific.

Mammals have similar sense organs as man. In the majority of species at least two senses are more highly developed than ours. Evidence even suggests the existence of additional senses in some. When members of our own species apparently experience the world differently from us it gets difficult to imagine how sensations are felt in other animals. But we know for sure that dogs can smell and hear better; eagles seek prey from great heights; a hint of chlorine in the water will deter cats from drinking it; cows feel individual flies touching any part of their bodies.
Ignorance of animal sentience is convenient, but simple observation reveals the miracle of each individual life. We do not need scientific experiments to illuminate carnal conduct although these have been perpetrated with impunity.

Interpretation of feelings is quizzically subjective. Obvious emotions such as excitement, happiness, sadness, anxiety and anger are easier to detect in animals than in humans because they respond openly and honestly. Other emotions, conveniently relegated to behaviour status can be deciphered avoiding anthropomorphism. The implications of an unrestrained, angry bull need no elaboration. We gain further relative insights mindfully regarding the delight of lambs playing together in a field, the distress of separated cows and calves at weaning, the loneliness and aggression of an isolated dog confined to a backyard barking night and day, or the uninhibited exhilaration of horses copulating in sunshine. Subtleties of animal behaviour go unnoticed by the untrained or disinterested eye. A carefully observed cat flaunts a fully developed personality, displaying intricate emotions not dissimilar to ours. More concentration (and time) is required to interpret nuances of reptilian rapture in a tortoise.

We need constant reminding of pain and suffering in animals. They feel pain as we do, and in certain cases more acutely. Some people have higher pain thresholds than others. Some horses will bolt at the sight of a needle. Pain is there for a reason. It is the natural way of drawing attention to an area that needs care or protection. It heightens our awareness. It makes us cautious. It creates emotional responses to physical suffering. It is necessary to feel pain. Many people are unable to interpret pain correctly in their beloved pets or valued livestock. A broken leg is painful and easy to detect: toothache trickier. The basic emotions that underlie all our actions are fear and love. Love demonstrated needs no explanation. Fear reactions with pain range from aggression and withdrawal to mistrust and anxiety. Can you love someone who causes you pain? When fear and love are intertwined we can convince ourselves that one is the other.