August
1996
One
Activist, Many Issues
By Susan Kalev
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The day before I was to leave for the World
Congress for Animals an incident occurred that illustrates the
ordinary persons response to animal suffering and points at the
tremendous potential for public education about animal rights.
Down the block from my apartment an excited group of about 15 people
had gathered in the harsh afternoon downpour next to a parked car. A
bushy gray cat was caught with his tail in the car door and squatted,
immobile, on the curb. The gathering of outraged empathetic citizens
would not leave and several attempted to rescue the cat. Some ran to
the doorman to bring pliers, some tried car keys, others suggested a
break-in through the window, while others rushed to call police and the
fire department. People expressed indignation at the car owner, they
cursed him or her, and some cried while stroking the cat. They covered
him in a white T-shirt to shield him from the rain.
Soon the fire men arrived with a long metal hook and unlocked the car
door without a scratch. Cheers went up with as the feline was freed.
I walked away with tears in my eyes for all those millions of innocents
for whom there is no release and no cheers, for whom no firemen come
to unlock prison doors. What if these people knew of animals fates in
labs, in leghold traps, in circuses and race tracks? Could they still
frequent McDonalds once they learned of factory farming and the suffering
of billions? I suspect for many the sight of cruelty and pain would engender
intense response.
I absorbed the three days of the Congress with the image of my neighbors
fury etched into my mind. I watched a video of wolves howling in leghold
traps, the ethereal gaze of monkeys behind bars, a pig being blow-torched
fully conscious, a kosher cow swaying on a hook while bleeding to death.
Where is the outrage, where is the battle cry, the uprising of decent
human beings?!
If they only knew.
I ask myself: why am I gathering more evidence? Why do I continue to
look at the slaughter? Why do I bear witness yet again to animals being
burned, mutilated and axed to death? Dont I know by now? Havent I seen
enough? And yet I cant avert my eyes, I cant shut my heart. Im shattered
again and again by that one pig screaming while he is dragged to his
death, by one more cat gassed for dissection. Because the victim stays
victimized and cannot turn away, because he or she has no choice, I feel
I should have no choice. The least I can do is watch and remember.
With new wounds to sort out, how will life change for me and the animals
after the Conference? When I return to my work with cancer patients at
the hospital, will I feel even more empathy for their dying? I work hand-in-hand
with medical staff who endorse highly toxic chemicals tested on animals
to prolong a patients life. Some will no doubt continue to enjoy their
BBQ meat and fried chicken. How do I feel about all this ?
I am seeing the results of our unbalanced thinking, the physical degeneration
of a race who does not understand.
The day after I got home from the Congress I finally noticed that my
six year-old orange tabby was very ill. He had been hiding and not eating
much the week before, but I had not realized how serious this had become.
The vet determined that due to loose teeth and infected gums he was unable
to eat, and all teeth on one side had to be removed. I spent the next
three days medicating him, feeding him with special enticements, watching,
praying, waiting. He allowed me to rub and stroke his head, his ears,
his neck. I spoke to him softly and reassuringly. I asked his forgiveness
for not knowing sooner. He spent two weeks starving because he was not
able to eat. And I had not noticed. Does not knowing absolve my guilt?
The third day this now bony, matted, wet cat with the melancholy green
eyes, drooling from the site of the surgery, scampered up on the bed
and nuzzled next to me. He cocked his head and stretched his neck to
be stroked and purred like a machine.
He forgave me.
Susan Kalev is a health worker and animal
activist. She lives in Manhattan.
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