Human Animal Studies Quotes

“What the new science of anthrozoology reveals is that our attitudes, behaviors, and relationships with the animals in our lives- the ones we love, the ones we hate, and the ones we eat- are, likewise, more complicated than we thought.”
― Hal Herzog, Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals

“Dolphins wearing oversized spectacles, dolphins having their teeth cleaned with a toilet brush, dolphins singing a squeaky rendition of “Happy Birthday” — this, the most ubiquitous style of dolphin dressage — probably reveals more about the ailing human spirit and its self-imposed divorce from Mother Nature, than anything about the true nature of cetaceans.”
― William Johnson, The Rose-Tinted Menagerie

“People also tend to refer to nonhuman animals as “it” or sometimes “he,” regardless of the individual’s sex. This one-sex-fits-all approach objectifies and denies individuality. In fact, nonhuman animals who are exploited for food industries are usually females. Such unfortunate nonhumans are not only exploited for their flesh, but also for their nursing milk, reproductive eggs, and ability to produce young. When guessing the gender of a nonhuman animal forced through slaughterhouse gates, we would greatly increase odds of being correct if we referred to such unfortunate individuals as 'she'.”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice

“The notion that talking-animal narratives are not really about animals—that the worthwhile ones, at least, must surely be about something more than mere animals—is quite consistent with the far wider cultural trivialization and marginalization of the animal. The animal content of literary, artistic and other cultural productions is seldom regarded as a serious or proper field of inquiry.”
― Stacy Hoult-Saros, The Mythology of the Animal Farm in Children's Literature: Over the Fence

“But are the animals trained or brainwashed to become killers? Ironically, it was the neurophysiologist and “New Age Guru” Dr John Lilly who first perfected a technique of implanting electrodes into the brains of unanaesthetised animals to stimulate the “pain and pleasure sectors” of the mind. After butchering monkeys by the dozen at the National Institute of Mental Health, Lilly concluded that judicious manipulation of these brain areas could inspire joy and well-being, or pain, anger and fear. Indeed, by using the electrodes to deliver reward or punishment stimuli the animal could be entirely subordinated to human will. The ingenious Lilly then turned his attention to dolphins, under the pretext of wishing to “communicate” with these intelligent and highly perceptive creatures. To insert electrodes into the brains of the fully-conscious animals, holes were made in the skull with a sharp instrument and a carpenter’s hammer. According to Prof. Giorgio Pilleri, “the dolphin was held down but tried to jump up at every blow — not because of the pain, but because of the unbearable noise produced by the hammering."
Indeed, many of Lilly’s dolphins suffered an agonising death. “Despite disappointment and sadness,” he announced, “we had to go on with our research: our responsibilities lie with finding the truth.” It was not until years later however that a repentant Lilly finally stumbled across that apparently elusive truth. After suffering drug addiction and a mental breakdown, he characterised his research in an entirely different light: “I was running a concentration camp for my friends.”
― William Johnson

“Even if we accept their claims for the educational potential of zoos at face value, study after study has shown that zoos fail miserably at this task. As one author notes, 'A study of observation periods at Regent’s Park in 1985 revealed that spectators stood in front of the monkey enclosure for an average of 46 seconds, and spent 32 minutes in a pavilion containing a hundred cages. Rather than indicating thorough examination, this is reminiscent of the speed at which television programmes, and even works of art in museums, are consumed.' This 46 seconds includes time spent reading—or rather skimming—the information posted about the animals. Further, while 80 percent of zoo visitors claim to have learned something at the zoo, studies have shown that even after their visit patrons remain ‘less sensitive to the need to respect nature' than hikers. Further still, inquiry after inquiry has revealed that even while patrons are in the zoo, standing directly in front of the animals in question, they consistently fail even rudimentary nomenclature questions: they still call gibbons and orangutans monkeys; vultures buzzards; cassowaries peacocks; toucans fruitloop birds; tigers lions; otters beavers; and so on.”
― Derrick Jensen, Thought to Exist in the Wild: Awakening from the Nightmare of Zoos