The Growler: Issue 57 – July 2018 – Animals

Animals are capable of truly amazing things.

One need only watch an episode of “Planet Earth” to marvel at the remarkable attributes they’ve developed through mil- lions of years of evolution, and to grasp the importance that even the smallest and most seemingly insignificant animals have in the stability of our ecosystem.

Domesticated animals, too, affect our lives in simple and profound ways. From the comfort and companionship pets offer to their humans to the high-quality milk produced by grass-fed goats of Capra Nera Creamery, which is then made into fine artisan cheese, humans and animals can forge strong bonds.

Of course the relationship can be exploitative as well. The story of Dan Patch is at first the surprising tale of a crippled horse that became a famous champion harness racer; but all those years of racing, which brought wealth to his owners, came at the expense of shortening the horse’s lifes- pan. Likewise, industrialized farming often puts the welfare of animals secondary to productivity. Sanctuary farms like SoulSpace offer a forever home to rescued farm animals that suffered abuse or neglect, while regenerative farmers are changing the agricultural system from the ground up in a way that benefits the land, the animals, and human- kind.

It’s easy to forget that we, too, are animals. But, unlike other mammals, we are capable of understanding our impact on the ecosystems supporting the animal life around us. Thus, we have a moral imperative to be the best possible stewards. We can either shirk this responsibility to the detriment of endangered wildlife, farm animals, pets, and the Earth at large, or we can shoulder it and work to strengthen ecosystems, including the one in which we live, to forge lasting, symbiotic relation- ships with the animals around us. I, for one, hope we choose the latter.