Dr. Michael Fox: Animal Rights

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This syndrome is very apparent among laboratory researchers. They treat their "subjects" like machines, simply because it's not pleasant to get to know a creature before vivisecting it. A former graduate student of mine was once asked by a colleague — an individual who was conducting brain research on cats — to take a look at one of the animals used in the experiments. It seems the researcher feared, because of a noise the feline was making, that the cat was developing an upper respiratory infection. So, my friend went to look at the animal, gave it a thorough examination, and suddenly realized what the problem was.

"There's nothing wrong with this cat," he explained, "it's just purring."

PLOWBOY: I see what you mean when you say that many researchers treat their experimental animals as tools. Isn't there any progress being made in discouraging that sort of callousness?

FOX: Yes, there is. For example, we've gathered some solid statistics showing that many of the traditional methods of raising pigs are more productive than the total-confinement, environmentally controlled farms. We've also learned, from research done in England, that veal calves can be just as productive — in terms of meat gain — and healthier if they're raised in groups rather than in separate pens.

Then again, we know — and are able to prove — that sometimes a lot of good can be done by modifying, rather than abandoning, the new methods . . . and, of course, such small, inexpensive steps are more likely to be taken by farmers. In the case of dairy cattle, for instance, great welfare improvements can be brought about by simply making sure the animals have occasional access to a grass paddock or meadow. Just letting them get off the concrete once in a while will, you see, go a long way toward cutting down the incidence of lameness . . . which is one of the most common reasons why dairy cattle have to be destroyed!

Furthermore, we can now show egg producers how they can continue to use battery cages — which admittedly do keep the birds off the ground and thus protect them from a number of parasitic diseases — by just reducing the stocking density and making a modification to the enclosure.

PLOWBOY: What sort of change would you recommend?

FOX: The battery cage simply needs an "escape" chamber to allow the birds to move away from their aggressive neighbors . . . and possibly a perch and nest box.

PLOWBOY: So you do have evidence indicating that many of the steps needed to bring about significant change aren't all that complex. I know, however, that — even though the smallest improvement in animal welfare must cheer you — as a concerned environmentalist you have a larger vision of the future. Would you care to conclude this interview by discussing your feelings about humankind's chances of bringing about — in time — the kinds of changes that we'll have to make to face the dangers to come?

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