Animals, humans

Pinoy Kasi : Animals, humans

First posted 00:51am (Mla time) May 31, 2006
By Michael L. Tan
Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on Page A13 of the May 31, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WHAT’S your dog trying to tell you as it gives you that adoring look, tail wagging away? Does she really love you for you, or for your doggie treats? Or does she simply accommodate you as an alpha dog, the leader of the pack?

And your cat? As he purrs away, rubbing himself against your leg, is he expressing affection for you, or is he just marking you, telling the world you’re his, or at least part of his territory?

The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously summarized the dilemma, and I paraphrase: If lions could speak, we still wouldn’t be able to understand them.

Now comes an extraordinary animal behaviorist, Temple Grandin, to help translate with a book entitled, well, “Animals in Translation.” She’s so good she makes her living working as a consultant advising governments and private businesses on how to slaughter animals more humanely. Vegetarians and animal rights groups will of course say that “humane slaughter” is an oxymoron, but Grandin says that cows, pigs, sheep and other food animals are there only because we domesticate and bred them to be eaten, so we have to assume the responsibility as well for insuring a “happy death” for them.

Reading minds

Whether you agree with that argument or not, Grandin does present a wealth of information that isn’t limited to humane slaughter.

I read the book initially as a veterinarian, picking up quite a few new lessons on handling animals. Sadly, vet schools offer minimal training around animal behavior. One reason, and Grandin emphasizes this in her book, is that relatively little research has been done in this field compared to studies in human psychology. Many scientists will even question whether there’s anything worth studying in animals, presuming that their behavior is mechanical, driven by software wired into the brain. Many scientists, too, will argue that animals don’t think, or feel and really, they’re just inferior to humans.

Grandin questions these assumptions, and to support her many hypotheses about animals, she cites the growing number of studies -- in laboratories as well as out there in the wild, in nature -- that show animal behavior can be even more complicated than that of humans.

Grandin draws from many insights from her own work and experiences, much of them in slaughterhouses. She says that if we humans are to read animal minds, we have to put ourselves, literally, in their position. She found herself crouching lower to ground level, to understand what animals see at that level, as they’re being led into pens. For example, puddles of water seem to spook many farm animals, making them freeze in their tracks. Frustrated animal handlers will shout at the animals, prod them, all to no avail, and yet totally oblivious to a simple solution: mopping up the water.

Cows also get nervous seeing anything fluttering in the wind, especially if it’s colored yellow. And, closer to our homes, many of us know that if we run into a nervous, hostile dog, the worst thing is to run because abrupt movements trigger them to chase after us -- and possibly attack.

Good dog, bad dog

But animals can be “rewired” so they don’t act on instinct alone. A puppy raised with kittens will coexist peacefully with cats. Some of this is common sense: I’ve written about how dogs raised with constant close and friendly contact with humans will not attack and bite, but they still make good watchdogs because instinctively, they will bark if someone enters their territory. Now if you confine them in a cage or keep them chained, you overemphasize their territoriality and they could attack even their owners.

Grandin emphasizes how animal learning is very much tied to contexts. Dogs learn not to chase after the children at home, even if they run around. But you also have to train them to “respect” other children who visit, and also to behave when they’re out in the streets. It’s a bit like theater, with different settings, different casts.

Grandin describes differences across animal species. Many animal species work mainly on fear, but dogs have co-evolved with us so closely that they’re really almost “social” in a human sense, which is why, when you train them, even verbal praise goes a long way. They don’t really “understand” what “good dog” means but they’re doing their own translation as well, more or less sensing that the tone of your voice in “good dog” means you approve of what they just did ... unlike the “bad dog” you give when they do something bad.

Different?

There’s so much more in Grandin’s book; in fact, if you’re in a hurry, I suggest you go to the last part first, with a concise “Behavior and Training Troubleshooting Guide.” But if you have the time and the interest, do go through the whole book and marvel with the knowledge that Grandin is autistic.

She reminds us constantly about this, and says that it is her autism that makes her so good as an animal behaviorist. Autistics think more often in visual images than in abstract language, and Grandin says this is probably the way animals function as well.

This explains why autistics can become so fixated -- with the electric fan, for example, or particular sounds. A friend of mine told me recently her autistic brother has to have a radio or television on all the time, even if he doesn’t actually listen or watch.

These fixations can work to the advantage of autistics. For example, Grandin suggests that non-autistics working on X-ray machines for security checks of luggage will eventually tire, seeing everything as clutter, while autistics will still be able to see through the mess. It’s a similar principle that works with security dogs. They’re fixated on finding drugs, or weapons, and can do this the whole day.

I’m going to use parts of Grandin’s book for my anthropology students as well because the book tells us as much about humans as about animals. Grandin’s book helps us to come to terms with how much we’re wired, wanting to run when we see a growling dog for example; on the other hand, we also realize how we (and animals) can also work on different “circuits,” how we can be rewired.

Grandin also reminds me of the very common misconception that we’re sitting on the top of the evolutionary scale. We like to think our brains evolved to make us reflective and wise, but this has not been without trade-offs: being “conscious” and “rational” also means we also have to deal with more anxieties and apprehensions. Ironically, it is this rationality that sometimes drives us to lash out in fear or in anger, even as we claim to be civil and civilized. As we learn more about animals and their worlds, we just might realize that what we often contemptuously call the “animal” in us might actually be all too uniquely human.

Vet conference

The Veterinary Practitioners Association of the Philippines (VPAP) will hold its annual convention at the Wack Wack Country Club on June 1 and 2. Call the VPAP office at +632 9266603 and 4103809 for more information, or go directly to Wack Wack for on-site registration.