To Creatures Great and Small

Here’s to the dog. And the cat. And the pig and the caribou and the iguana and yellowtail tuna and the squabbling neighborhood crows that will wake me up this morning, as they always do. I’ll even include the horse. My friend Van has remarked, “Nothing that big should be that stupid.”

But today is a day of goodwill, and mine goes to animals this year, horses too.

I am by no means original in advancing the belief that our regard for animals is a measure of our humanity.

Milan Kundera, the Czech writer, put it this way: “Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude toward those who are at its mercy: animals.”

So cheers, creatures. Times are good for animals. But we travel a two-hearted river. Times are bad too.

In his famous and subversive book “Animal Farm,” George Orwell wrote: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Never were his words so pertinent.

On one hand, civilization is becoming decidedly more civilized. Some cultures have advanced the proposition that animals have rights in their dealings with us, beginning with the right to have their suffering recognized and eased. I think it’s safe to say that animals have never had so many eager defenders as they do now.

Germany this year granted animals a constitutional right to respect. Compare that with just over a century ago, when German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche proposed: “Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.”

Almost every member of the U.S. Congress now has a staffer responsible for animal issues. A decade ago you would have seldom heard of such a thing.

With the rise of the anti-hunting movement, we have finally seen the birth of an introspective ethical hunting movement. Five of six pro-animal ballot measures succeeded last month in state elections. Cities across the U.S. are being asked to rewrite municipal codes to strike the word “owner” and replace it with pet “guardian.”

“We have moved from ridicule to serious discussion,” says Wayne Pacelle, the Humane Society executive who is one of the nation’s foremost voices for animals.

And why should it be different? Animals have always given us more than they’ve taken. In being, animals prove their being-ness.

As mysterious as the heavens is the bond that formed long ago between human and dog. The truest friend that some people will have this Christmas is snoozing underfoot. And more curious still are these two cats, Nick and Nora, who share my home for reasons neither they nor I can fully comprehend.

“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them exists in some man, sometimes several at a time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls,” said Victor Hugo. He was mistaken, of course, but we’ve all entertained such thoughts.

When I lived in Africa, I could see myself, my family, friends and colleagues in every passing troop of bickering, bellyaching, joyous baboons. If we allow, animals will keep us humble.

The other part of the story about animals, the ignominy of it, we continue to turn our heads from. Even as it gets worse. There are no meaningful rights, no joy, no pity and no hope in the cramped, dark barnyards of industrial ranching. Oh please, you say, not today, not this day. OK. I know what you mean. I’ll go easy.

But I want to make note of a book I just read. It’s called “Dominion,” and the author is Matthew Scully, who also is a speechwriter for President Bush. It is the bill of particulars and the indictment of our society for the needless and often thoughtless cruelty that we inflict on animals for our food, sport and otherwise. It’s powerful evidence of what happens when people in surprising places start believing in their campaign promises about conservatism with heart.

Animal welfare “is not just a moral problem to be solved in statutes, but a moral opportunity to fill our own lives with acts of compassion,” Scully writes.

In 50 years, we will look back with shame at what “Dominion” catalogs. I say that because the big hamburger chains have set the first marketplace standards to restore some sanity to livestock and poultry agriculture. The corner has been turned, even if there are many miles to go.

So happy holiday to all the beasts, us too. Let’s recall the words of Albert Schweitzer, who wrote a prayer: “for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to death ... and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words.”