COETZEE 2

The epic Battle at Kruger, in which buffalos, lions, and crocodiles engage in warfare.

Through all of our discussion on animal cruelty and behavior towards them, we have not yet focused on some other large uses animals hold for us: clothing and entertainment. I will touch upon both, since my argument against their use for food has been exhausted.

This life sure looks better than the one the polar bear had before...

I have never really enjoyed going to zoos; the stench of the cages, coupled with the doe eyed look of the gorillas has always made me more depressed than when I walked in. For a gorilla kept in such a cage, “From seeing only bars, his seeing is exhausted.” (Rilke X763) Imagine being torn from your world of freedom and greenery, and all the nuances of your daily routine, only to sit in a stone cold floor, trying to ignore the people poking at the cage. Surely, this is a life that no one wants to lead.

While I agree that there are endangered animals that benefit from the ideas of zoos, I believe that it would be much better to place them in locations such as Yellowstone, or more authentic land that matches their previous domain. Zoos seem cruel to me, with the confined cages and artificial surroundings. This entertainment is trivial, and the animal is tormented for the brief entertainment it can offer humans.

Couldn't we use pleather to achieve the same look?

The notion that “As in any genuine human-to-human friendship, our relationship is predicated on mutual respect and reciprocity” (Smuts X759), does not completely hold true for all humans. While many pet owners show this sort of love and compassion for their dogs or cats, industries such as fur and leather are completely robbing the animal of its life, and for what? The fur for the coat that we don’t need? The leather for the interior of a car that we could imitate with other materials? Our standard of living has risen to the point of impossibility, and our souls are suffering for it.

I will never forget the image of the animal’s fur being torn from its body as it was still alive, fighting furiously. 

“Every living creature fights for its own, individual life” (Coetzee 99), and I believe that as creatures also fighting for our lives, we should at least try to understand the horrors of such an act. “I do think it is appropriate that those who pioneered the industrialization of animal lives and the commodification of animal flesh should be at the forefront of trying to atone for it.” (Coetzee 107) I agree with this statement: if those who wish to have such commodities claim to care for animals at all, it is partly their responsibility to find another way of attaining their goals. Those who have ripped fur off a minx, or who have torn off a cow’s skin, they are the ones who deserve the task of finding alternative methods.