News
157, Spirituality and Science
"Animals
Have Feelings Too,"
Say Scientists
By
sister-initiate Lefki Pavlidis, Cairns Highlands Center, Australia
(originally in English)
In
many cultures the cow is a vital part of life, providing daily
sustenance from its milk and the great variety of products
derived from it. However, many who rely on the cow’s
selfless service in giving them nourishment are unaware of
this noble creature’s refined sensibilities, and those
of other animals as well.
Studies
conducted by animal welfare researcher John Webster and his
colleagues at Britain’s Bristol University have found
that cows and other farm animals have the capacity to experience
fear, sorrow and happiness and can even respond to intellectual
challenges.
The
experiments were done on pigs, goats, chickens and cattle,
all of which demonstrated these behavior patterns, suggesting
that such animals may be so emotionally akin to humans that
welfare laws need to be revised.
In
support of this view, professor Webster states, "Sentient
animals have the capacity to experience pleasure and are motivated
to seek it. You only have to watch how cows and lambs seek
and enjoy pleasure when they lie with their heads raised to
the sun on a summer's day just like humans."
The
Bristol studies found that cows in a herd form friendship
groups of between two and four animals that spend most of
their time together, and often show affection by grooming
and licking each other. On the other hand they can also show
dislike, bearing grudges for months or even years.
From
my own experience in the rural area where I live and observe
the neighbor’s cows, friendship, affection, bullying
and sorrow are often apparent in the herd. For example, recently
the youngest and smallest of the group, Caramel, was being
bullied, chased away and left out of the group, occasionally
causing him much distress. While the other cows would happily
graze in the paddocks together, lonely Caramel would cry out
in a plea to join them. In most cases, after hearing his cries,
the others would allow him to enter the herd, but not without
bullying him first. However, now that Caramel has grown bigger
he is able to stand up for himself so the others are reluctant
to torment him, and more often the cows now all graze together.
Other
research conducted at Cambridge University involved measuring
cows’ brainwaves with an electroencephalograph (EEG)
machine while the animals had to find a way to open a door
and get food. The test revealed that the cows became excited
at the prospect of finding the food, suggesting that, like
humans, they were stimulated by the problem-solving process.
The
Bristol and Cambridge studies show that farm animals are not
simply passive, unfeeling creatures that roam around in barnyards
and paddocks eating grass or feed all day, but are complex
beings with emotional traits similar to ours. Thus, since
we humans recognize that out of compassion we should avoid
inflicting pain or suffering on our fellow humans, it is only
logical that we should also avoid harming or injuring other
sentient beings that experience human-like emotions. And a
key to this process is the pursuit of a vegetarian diet. As
Supreme Master Ching Hai says, “Because meat
contains hatred and suffering in it while the animal is being
killed, it also represents death and transmigration; [so]
we can’t help but be affected by it. If we want to protect
ourselves, nourish our compassion and keep the enlightenment
state, it’s best to keep the vegetarian diet.”
(Excerpt from Videotape #344 Everything is Possible If
We Believe in God)
For
further information, please refer to:
http://www.all-creatures.org/adow/cam-ff-20050228.html
http://www.sentientbeings.org/science_grudges.htm
http://www.ciwf.org.uk/
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