Week 2: All About Animals!

A little bit about my perspective and experiences with animals, as well as an introduction to Safina's Prologue: Into the Minefields!

Animals have always been a big part of my life. I have had two bunnies, two dogs (one that is currently still with me), and fish. My relationship with animals and how I interact with them have developed because of these pets I've had over the course of my life. Currently I have a German Shepherd and Golden Retriever mixed dog named Riley. I interact with Riley very similar to how I would interact with my child. I am constantly talking to her, playing with her, and taking care of her the best I can. This goes hand in hand with what Zimmer says in his article "Friendships" and how "dogs probably view [...] humans more as caretakers" (48). Additionally, I have always thought about the level of intelligence animals have and their ability to feel emotion while around Riley. Oftentimes I will catch Riley doing something that makes me question how intelligent she really is. For example, I regularly FaceTime Riley while away at college and I can always hear her crying and get excited when she hears my voice. It blows my mind that Riley appears to recognizes me through the phone and shows emotion in response to my voice.

My perceptions of animals have started to advance based off of the research I have done these past two weeks. The TIME articles especially contributed to these enhancements in my perception. For example, reading Kluger's "Communication" article has informed me of the many forms of communication animals partake in, even if we cannot understand them. I have always thought that Riley is constantly trying to communicate with me. For example, Riley scratches at the door when she wants something: being let out or coming back in, wanting food, or wanting water. Kluger addresses how "animals communicate in ways that are suited to their worlds, that keep them fed and safe” which appears to match up with the ways Riley is communicating (78). This lines up with the way Riley communicates to ensure her needs are met, such as going outside for bathroom breaks or letting us know she is hungry and ready to eat.

This is Riley!

Transitioning into Safina's prologue, we continue learning about animals. Safina asks the question "who", something many scientists stray away from. In the prologue the author addresses his interest in wanting to know more about animals and who they are, after watching dolphins swim by and reading about elephants while on a cruise. He displays his need for intimacy between him and the animals and his desire to wander from the typical "it" questions people ask when studying animals: what it eats or what it does. Instead, Safina wants to treat these animals as a "who" to in turn treat us all as animals with us being human animals, and animals being non-human animals. Safina goes on to describe how animals are in fact very similar to humans and he hopes to have a deeper understanding into what they feel and think. Just as we do, they build homes, argue, court, and carry babies. This idea is very similar to the concepts we read about in the TIME articles. Many of the TIME articles compared humans and animals, explaining how animals are actually very similar to humans. In fact, animals form friendships, have social groups, communicate, mourn, and are intelligent. Specifically, in the TIME article "Friendships", Zimmer says how "it's well established that having close friends can contribute to a longer life and a lower incidence of disease [...] humans have always known that it's to get through life without friends, and it appears that animals are wise to that secret too" (42). These human like characteristics all relate back to the main idea that animals are also a "who", not just an"it". We shouldn't look at animals any different than us because in the end we are all animals.

I hope you were able to learn a little bit about my experience with animals and read about Safina's Prologue: Into the Minefield!

All the best,

Pallavi Rajeev