WE CAN ALL DO SOMETHING
By Dr. Michael W. Fox

Both society and the Earth are in a sorry state. But we are not helpless, since there is much we can do to make a difference. It falls upon all those of us who can still afford to keep animals as companions, and to care for them well in body and mind, to do something local that will help the global.  This can be from spaying your animal for population control, and adopting one as a companion and reducing the number that will be killed in your local shelter every week, to supporting your local organic farmers and groceries and getting back to home-cooking whole, nutritious and organically certified foods for your self and  for your loved ones. And if there is not an animal shelter in your community, and effective enforcement of both animal and environmental protection laws, then do what you can to make such important initiatives a reality in your community.

   Other local action to help globally would be to not use any petrochemicals on your lawns and gardens that can make all your loved ones sick, and harm wildlife. Introduce local varieties of trees, shrubs, grasses and other plants that help attract wildlife. The more ‘green’ your property and neighborhood, including office, apartment and warehouse rooftops-- the more of a carbon sink you have created, which is one antidote to global warming.

   The most radical, non-violent action of revolutionary consequence can come not from our freedom of speech and what comes out of our mouths, but from our freedom of choice and what we put into our mouths. The power of the plate and the conscience of the cook can make a world of difference through our informed choices in the market place, from purchasing humanely raised, free range farm animal produce if we are not vegetarians or vegans, to buying a more fuel efficient car and carefully recycling all that we possibly can so as to diminish our footprint on the planet. To live lightly and reduce one’s carbon/environmental footprint is to live more simply, so that more may simply live.  As ‘green’ consumers we have responsibilities as well as rights. Either exercise those responsibilities, or forfeit those rights.

   A consumer-driven society ultimately consumes itself. A civil society is a humane one that exercises the power of the consumer in a responsible way, and that includes environmental and animal protection; the abolition of factory farms and the wholesale use of petrochemical -based pesticides and fertilizers. Many people care about wildlife protection and habitat conservation, but few realize the adverse impact of industrial agriculture on wildlife at home and abroad; and how making meat and dairy products from factory farmed animals their dietary staples means more wildlife habitat is taken to produce the feed  necessary to raise billions of animals for human consumption.

   Establishing more community enriching and enhancing areas of protected and restored wildlife habitat is enlightened self-interest. “Developers” appetites must be tempered by ecological science and sensibility. Cut down one tree, then replant with as many little trees that equal the photosynthetic rate of the felled one, and then harvest sustainably, keeping the enhancement of biodiversity rather than short-term profit’s the primary goal. More wildlife habitat preserves, from woodland and prairie, to wetland and water shed, would do much to improve air and water quality, and complement organic and sutainable farming and forestry practices.

   Every human enterprise and activity that affects animals and the environment and causes harm, is in the domain of veterinary concern and professional responsibility. As Socrates, who advocated social democracy, cautioned, ‘a life unexamined is a life unlived’. So we are called upon to examine how our lives cause harm to others, and how we might avoid such adverse consequences. This is the realm of ethics, of making informed choices in our lives, that call for a broader bioethics  that includes consideration of how we might harm not only our own species, but also all other species that make up the life community of this living, but increasingly dysfunctional, human infested, and poisoned planet. Then we vote with our dollars and sense.