Sociologists and the kindred folks tend to perceive social class from the perspective of the human-constructed reality, hidden narrative, and ideology, differentiating human beings into different categories or social positions. Each position/category defines and/or refines, constrains everyone’s life chances and opportunities with different degrees of abundant, enough, minimal, and deprived cultural, social, financial and emotional capitals.
These valuable or unfortunate, visible or invisible capitals are passed on within the family, from generation to generation, institution to institution, and society to society. But, why are most human societies constructed in the way? Why is the classless society such a Utopian attraction which has cost millions of lives? Biology, Philosophy, and Sociology/Social Psychology along with the long history, attempt to provide some explanations from the perspectives of evolution, human nature of self-preservation, competition, exchange, corporation, conflict, coercion, utilitarianism, ethics, and functional/dysfunctional stratification theories.
Through the enlightened thoughts and deeds of the few by collective actions (i.e., by various types of policy reforms via social movements, even revolutions) the improvement/progress, whereas, goes hand by hand with the detriments generated by the unawakened masses, slowly evolving over time till today. Most of the human sentient beings have the potential and capacity to self-awaken. What about the non-human sentient beings who turn into the voiceless, helpless masses? They co-exist with us on this planet, but are not equipped with the concept of self or consciousness, and the idea of morality?
Having said so, researchers did find some pan troglodytes species of Hominidae family, like chimpanzees, having the cognitive capacity, such as appreciation of nature (there are videos available online). Koko the gorilla is a unique case. She learned more than 1000 signs of language to communicate with human beings with love, sympathies, and other emotional capacities.
But, is KoKo the only one who could do so? Are there other KoKos existing for this type of ability? I bet you. As the cliche goes that it takes a whole village to raise a human child, it might need a whole nation, the whole world to cultivate KoKos!
(She passed away on June 19, 2018, at the age of 46). A brief clip of her life, see attached:
When research budget or funding is available, supporting researchers to pay attention to non-human sentient beings’ behavioral, cognitive conditions and wellbeing is becoming possible. Here is another well-reviewed study on Capuchin monkeys' reaction to the unfair treatments:
Turning back to my points, this time, I would like to focus on a couple of the most beloved non-human sentient beings among all: cats and dogs (94.2 million, and 89.7 million respectively) in American society. See the data below.
The bio-genetic fact is, if born in the wilderness, the animal's destiny is almost fixed (in sociology jargon - an "ascribed" status that predetermines all the life opportunities and chances, like fate). But, through domestication, the phenomenon is altered - for better or worse. Animal social mobility (yes, vertical, horizontal, inter/intro generational, even structural social mobility) does happen, but not much with "personal" endeavors or individual's "will", not to mention through collective actions to change the species' destiny, like Orwell's Animal Farm. Ironically, in the Farm, both previously rebellious-Napoleon-the-pig and Mr. Pilkington-the-man ( one of the farmers), play the Ace of Spades at the same time and both sides begin fighting ferociously over who cheated first. The rest of the animals stare at the pigs and men, without knowing whether the 4-leg or the 2-leg is good.
With the above ideas in mind, what directly triggered me to write this article was my subscription of a magazine about house “pets”, which is a pleasant and informative reading material except for the end of it advertised with tons of puppy and kitty Mills’ messages, provided by the mill's owners or companies.
It is hard to unsubscribe it because of issues that I don’t agree with. People support their life in a variety of ways. Different social stripes are products of genetics-n-environment or nature-n-culture. Making money by breeding pets and gathering animals to manufacture pet food, (or raising livestock; slaughtering other animals to feed animals, as well as keeping animals for their fins, horn, fur, skin, intestines and so on so forth) are parts of the enduring economic activities.
My way of making a living is not nobler nor better than anyone else’s. Everyone's circumstance is unique which I respect, though not without patterns, which is sociological eyes coming into play. I cannot help but voice some of my personal opinions and my share of biases. Your input and comments are much appreciated.
First of all, in the magazine, I read about Harley the Chihuahua of a puppy mill, who suffered the first 10 years of his life living in a cage and lost one of his eyes due to the power wash. Later he was rescued and died at the age of 15 in the arms of people who cared for him. Harley had been named American Humane Association's 2015 American Hero Dog because of the huge impact he had for other dogs like himself.
Harley's long-term predetermined puppy-mill-membership was changed for better (a straight vertical upward social mobility :)!) through the kindness and endeavors of human beings, not on his own. The luck of Harley and the efforts of humans (constructing reality too) played a necessary and sufficient role in this event. The discovery and rescued event based on an individual dog's suffering aroused awareness of humans that put into action to change the group's destiny. But who knows if Harley had also had the capacity to think, voice, educate, reflect, organize and act to campaign for his folks' wellbeing?
Here was a rescuing action at a Puppy Mill in Arkansas! More than 100 animals were rescued:
In the current issue of the magazine, I am glad to read that Colorado City bans puppy and kitten sales, who come from those commercial mills. As we know, how a humane culture or civilization can be is judged by how they treat their children and animals. Only the genuinely caring deeds to the voiceless, helpless and powerless without expecting any kind of returns (emotional satisfaction, accolade, fame…etc.) are the pure acts of divinity.
Like in the above rescuing video, not all the dogs have their days, like Harley's. There are 94.2 million cats, and 89.7 million dogs in the US according to the current survey, approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, about 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats. Roughly twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that is relinquished by their owners.
The good news is that about 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted each year (1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats). Around 710,000 animals who enter shelters as strays are returned to their owners. Of those, 620,000 are dogs and only 90,000 are cats.
The sad news is that each year, about 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats). Fortunately, the number of dogs and cats euthanized in U.S. shelters annually has declined from near 2.6 million in 2011. (Refer to ASPCA - American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics.)
As mentioned above, this writing mainly is focused on dogs and cats. Other animals are not yet, included in this article.
Like MOST of the human sentient beings, animals come to this world through Natural Calling, genetically predetermined command (or avidya/無明 mentioned in my previous writing – the unknown obscurance), or by human manipulations (such as breeding, artificial insemination…etc. reproductive devices and technologies). I would not like to mention the idea of reincarnation in this writing, which I just posted two days ago. It could be cruel or unexplainable to think of why some life forms are born to this world in animal forms, so as to how many innocent human babies are born into poverty, diseases, and misery.
Many of the domesticated animals are meticulously bred/farmed to be slaughtered for human consumption while, even in the 21st century, how many human beings are kept in the dire conditions (war, conflicts, poverty, prejudice, and discrimination...etc.)?
Note: Here is a sidebar story -
More Than 150 billion animals are slaughtered Every Year. About 200 million animals are killed for food around the world Every Day – just on land: not including wild-caught and farmed.
Furthermore, if you read carefully on the numbers of pet chart shown above, the number one is not the cats or dogs, but fishes. So, here is another sidebar story:
In short, the following pie chart shows the commercial meat produced in 2017:
Instead of enjoying a plate of meat, made of fear, pain, sorrow, and agony, are there humane or better solutions available in treating meat-sentient beings?
Fortunately, yes. for example, Last month (Oct 2019), DuBreton, a farming operation providing Certified Humane and organic pork to millions of people around the world, invested $40 million into establishing more humane farming practices since 2015. The network of more than 300 family farms has now raised 340,000 pigs without the use of crates. DuBreton’s welfare initiative represents one of the largest goals ever set by the animal agriculture industry).
Coming to the point, though the worst is to be killed and consumed, others might not be lucky enough (Harley's case is inspirational), or as those pets who are bred to be “Noble”, as if a Brahmin, a blue blood upper class, a status symbol of their owners. They are cared, even better than many human sentient beings who live in disease-infested areas and poverty-stricken conditions. Excepting those lucky few, most animals' suffering is silent, helpless and hopeless!!
Thus, the concept of social class can be seen both in animal jungles and human societies. The only difference is that in human societies, social class is mainly, an ideological construct, though without some skepticism from the bio-genetic-psychological determinant as Social Darwinism proclaims. On the contrast, in the animal kingdom, ranking/pecking order is much depending on the Natural Law which determines the social hierarchy sorely by the “ascribed status”, such as born to be a lion, a cheetah, a hyena, an elephant, Bambi the deer, a lizard, and a butterfly. This phenomenon is the same as in the long human history in practicing the hereditary tradition of monarchy, aristocracy, classified-casted-gendered-racialized, and religionized societies. There is no way for animals to turn around in raising a zebra’s social status into a tiger through an individual’s endeavors/talents, or luck. There is no such thing called the “achieved status” of the human societies in the animal kingdom.
The "achieved" status, defying the preordained ascribed, allows various types of social mobility to happen, based on the ascribed (born with, for better or worse). The individual's endeavors (for better or worse) in the human societies, potentially enable one to change destiny (upward or downward social mobility), no matter how narrow the gate and how tight the gatekeepers’ scrutiny is. Thus, social change becomes not only necessary but also constantly happening.
Can we say that “As the Almighty sows, so as the Almighty reaps?” This hierarchical system keeps Darwinism rolling for eons of years, mostly in the animal kingdom, and sometimes, in the human societies (as the Social Darwinists believe).
In the past of human societies, race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, physicality, religions, nationalities…etc. diverse conditions endured long term struggle against man-made inequality and inequity. Those man-made false consciousness and ideologies locked more than 95% of the population in the dark in human history, no better than those of unfortunate animals' misery. The biogenetic attributes of humans were sorely constructed as permanently unchangeable, as in the old Hindu Caste system, purely based on birth. So as since the 16th century, skin color was Casted in many cultures after gender, not to mention the class system.
Because of being humans, change in every aspect of life is possible – for better and/or worse, due to the capacity of learning, reflection, and the potential of being conscious and enlightened. But these phenomena do not exist in the animal kingdom. In the slaughtering house, the fearfully waiting to be slaughtered into meat- cattle, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks cannot do any “revolutionary” acts, which may be the main reason why Animal Farm is such a fascinating and thought-provoking fiction.
Pet animals, meticulously bred from the Mills, are attractive to many buyers, particularly, children and lovers. Commercialized “objects”, like Casted products, (not classed, for in the class system, social mobility is possible), labeled with high prices, are valuable and desirable than those of low prices (into different sub-castes), not to mention many strayed, abandoned and relinquished ones (the Untouchable and the worst of all - the Outcast) staying in the humane societies without the noble business tags, according to our capitalistically conditioned thoughts.
If fortunately, the purchasers are responsible and well trained before taking on the responsibility of another life, such as the knowledge of caring, health issues, bank accounts deposited for medical treatments and so on. Then, those voiceless can rise up to a better social class, enjoying a good life even better than that of many human beings. The phenomenon is similar to some people born into silver-spooned conditions. But, if unfortunately, the non-NSA (Neutered-Spayed-Adopted) and the abandoned, strayed, and relinquished (some with legitimate reasons), then, are crowded in animal shelters across the US. (some of them could look like human ghettos), not to mention in the less affluent countries ( or in terms of the Feline Global Stratification!) So, the animal’s destiny (particularly, the "upward" social mobility) is much hinged on human beings. Furthermore, some of them are euthanized (imaging the Pet Holocaust!) in cages because they cannot compete with the money valued ones in the Pet stores supplied by the Mills. Some are captured to be slaughter for meat; others are forced born and fed for human consumption; while some are discarded like a piece of rubbish, and the rest are let strayed, abandoned in the weak and sick conditions (the Pet Homeless) and die with long term pain, sorrow, and agony.
(Note: we also know that in the hardest time, such as the severe famine, or dire conditions recorded in history, such as Donner Party, in the winter of 1846–47, snowbound in the Sierra Nevada where human beings were forced into cannibalism).
Human rights are imperative, precious and worthy of fighting for. But animal rights, who would fight for them when they cannot voice, nor are capable to fight for themselves? Fortunately, many human rights, animal rights in the US society through many enlightened and awakened people who are working, protecting and fighting for the voiceless, helpless and powerless animals on the lands, in the air, and over the oceans.
Here is a list of animal welfare organizations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_welfare_organizations.
and ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals): https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics provides me invaluable and pro-active information.
Now, another message from the magazine reminds one of my cats (feline majesties, see a photo regarding my piety, attached below. I also shared it on my facebook).
The message is about another great indicator of an advanced civilization – New York becomes the first state to prohibit declawing:
This bill reminds me of a vivid pain when we adopted Ying-ying (or Mumy.)
When I started my teaching at a college, I was the first foreign-born non-white full-time faculty ever hired since this school was established a century ago. A mentor was assigned to me, like other newly hired. After several encountering, we got to know each other a little bit. Since she was a paid mentor and would report my progress as a mentee, I tried very very hard to corporate with her as best as I could.
One day she brought in a cat on a cold winter night. I had a night class at that time. She emailed me if I would like to adopt her. Then, I had already had 3 cats. Due to being ready for my classroom, I didn't respond to her right away. Later, I replied, and she told me that if I did not want to adopt, it was O.K. There were others who would DO. I then decided to adopt her. She asked me to meet her in the parking lot. I arrived and shocked to see that she would put the cat in a tiny cage staying in the freezing car.
I took her to my office. What a skinny and poor little cat! After returning home, I found this kitty was trembling and declawed. Then I asked the mentor about her condition and other potential medical issues. The mentor said, “Isn’t she a pretty thing? I found her in my barn. I don’t know how long she stayed there in such cold wintertime. She was lucky, otherwise, coldness and starvation would have killed her. So, I called her “Lucky”. I tried to keep her, but she always hissed at me and scratched me. So, putting her for adoption is a good solution, I think.”
Then I looked at Lucky gingerly. Indeed, she was beautiful, but which cat was not? Then I also found both the tips of her ears were “crisply withering”. After visiting the vet, the doctor told me that they would fall off after healed due to being exposed to extreme cold conditions without protection.
A couple of days later, the mentor emailed me a bill with a statement, “Since you adopted the cat, I hope you help to pay the declawed bill - $120 dollars.”
Well, what else could I do? I was still under her ginger “guidance” as a mentee.
In the beginning, the little, skinny Lucky seemed not trusting human beings, particularly, my other 3 cats, and then escaped when one of them (could be NaNa, the smartest one. They all were adopted from different places and were spayed and neutered) found a way to open the screen door. After the horrific searching and praying, a few days later Lucky came back. Thanks, gods! But a little bit too early...
And then we found her tummy was getting bigger and bigger. Her tiny paws, legs, and small body structure seemed not able to support her big belly.
(Note: This was quite like an early childhood image of mine. My older siblings told me that I had worms in my intestines that made my belly big, and my four limbs, in contrast, were too small! Children having worms in stomach and lice in the head was quite a popular reality in the society struggling to upgrade herself into a developing country before the economic and educational practices taking off.)
But Lucky was dewormed at the vet’s clinic a while ago.
A few weeks later, the vet declared that Lucky was pregnant!
“You are too young to be a mother…, and I am not ready to be a perfect kitty-nanny!!”,
I worrisomely and angrily questioned her “Who is he?" Well, that pair of seductive eyes, even Egyptian queen Cleopatra would accentuate her eyelines like that, and the Helen-like Greek nose with wet, pinky tip matching with the cute cheeks and the elongated whiskers, which male cat would not fall in love with her at the first sight? Then, I corrected my grammar, "Tell, me!! Who are they?”
She just kept her ears shut, rolling her charming eyes innocently away from my stern stare.
Anyway, if I found the boy or the boys, what could I do? What if it was through consent? What if by forced penetration(s) but no evidence, no witnesses..., furthermore, there was no Feline Court House to file a lawsuit for the kitten-support from him/them or their caregivers !!!
Then, recalling that email from my mentor, “Though, $120 of a declawed fee was not a big deal, since I am a full-time faculty, no more a poor adjunct… Compared to three majesties' dental checking and cleaning bills, Maymay's breast surgery, and Sun-sun's cardio-diseases treated by the St. Paul animal hospital of U of M. Those bills were really something... ” But I still wished if the mentor had spent just a portion of that amount of the bill on spaying Lucky, whether with her own consent or not…
"I am just beginning a full-time career, and then within a couple of months, I realize this is a no easy job!!! I am not sure if I will stay to get enough paychecks…”, I questioned myself.
Later, including Sir GaGa, he wandered (wondered) in the backyard from nowhere when he was a teen. After no one claimed him, he joined this big family with the rest of 8. Four of them were from Lucky whom I changed the name into Ying, or Mumy – the loving mommy of 4 adorable children.
She is quite indulging in a carefree and Queenesque lifestyle. She convinces herself that Crystal's full-time paychecks are good enough to pay for all the food, toys, and medical bills of the whole feline family!
Now, here is a short conclusion about Mumy. Her feline social class would have been a homeless cat, wandering from barn to barn, or starved, frozen to death in this renowned Wisconsin tundra. With the mentor’s sharp eyes, capturing her beauty, and then her life chances and opportunities turned around.
Beauty and handsomeness are unique, and desirable qualities bestowed by the Almighty only to a few, both in animals and human beings. Indeed, Mumy does possess an “ascribed”, or inherited from nowhere’s elegant face, like many pretty women in human societies. Beautiful women and men are endowed with more life chances and opportunities than others, offered by those who purchase them. But, before the “upward social mobility” from a homeless cat to a Queen of my household, Mumy endured the unbearable suffering before her life turned around if you look deep into her missing-tip ears carved by the malicious snow, wandering in the vast icy field, and scratching the unavailable food in the frozen tundra and managing to be alive, and then, suffering from the declawed agony. Whenever I imagine those pains and sorrow of her early stage of life, my respect to Mumy transcends into a deep spiritual admiration.
Extra info: Here, I have no intention to be impolite to all the feline majesties on this planet. Just a chart to show how wealth is distributed to felines in the different social class of the US.:
Finally, though I wrote about Mumy with a little bit of less cheerful tone, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to express thanks to my mentor who brings Mumy into my long sojourning in the US. With my privilege to be owned by Mumy (yes, she is the real commander-in-chief), all the challenges turn into beauty, joy, and blessings.
A couple of her pictures were attached below.
