"Kara7571 #36 America's no better than Germany. We have always been a eugenics loving nation of grandiose elitists. If Germany hadn't followed through on its treaty with the Japanese, we would have never entered WWII. Just like the Civil War wasn't about slavery, WWII wasn't about anything as noble as defeating evil social policies."
The rest of the article is pasted below.
What I find interesting about the comment, is that Germany adopted the notion of eugenics from American researchers. It was American research that eventually led to the concentration campus of the Holocaust. (http://hnn.us/article/1796) I came across a great website of work by students at the University of Vermont who detailed the Eugenics movement by state (http://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/). In Nevada, we had a 1911 sterilization law "by means of vasectomy" for "men convicted of child molestation under the age of 10 and rape". It was struck down in 1918 before it was ever used. I find myself completely okay with the law though, because I have two small girls and the thought of them being attacked by anyone....I would "sterilize" them myself.
However, I completely disagree with the use of eugenics on people with disabilities or people of a race deemed to be inferior. The North Carolina program sterilized over 7,600 people from 1929 to 1974 (http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/north_carolina_woman_who_endured_forced_sterilization_fights_for_reparations.html). The majority of them being Black women labeled "promiscuous" or "unfit" to be a mother, and some as young as 14 years old (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/north-carolina-eugenics-sterilization-victims-offered-funds_n_3657982.html).
It's a common habit I think, to compartmentalize values and what-if situations. I place a value on human life in one situation, but shift stances when my children are negatively impacted in some way. I'm not saying that's right either, but I would venture to say I am not alone in that practice.
As for the giraffe in the article, I find myself switching values again. The animal didn't ask to be bred into an over-populated situation. The animal didn't ask to live in captivity. Starting there I am torn. I don't like zoos or circuses. But I do support animal sanctuaries that take care of animals who have been ill-treated or misplaced. We frequent Animal Ark here in Northern Nevada. I do support aquariums like Monterey Bay that do research and have a positive impact on ecosystems. I do support zoos that provide animals with environments closer to their actual homes, provide stimulation and play to keep them active and healthy, and are good stewards of animal husbandry.
Yet I will never take my girls to the circus. I find them to be unbelievably cruel. I don't support small zoos whose purpose is revenue at the expense of the animals they claim to take care of. Some of these views are from a class I taught at Elmhurst College with the dean. For two years we co-taught a first year seminar on the relationship between animals and people. It was eye-opening and inspiring! We covered multiple topics:
- Our Connection to dogs, their domestication, breeding, etc.
- Religion and animals
- Hunting
- Food: How we get it, where it comes, from what different culture deem acceptable for consumption
- Why frogs are so important to the ecosystem
- The socio-economic differences and cultural acceptances between horse racing and cock fighting
And anything else you can think of pertaining to animals! Whatever we didn't cover, our students had to create a project with an essay and presentation that delved deeper into a topic we glanced over or didn't touch. We had three service trips during the semester. I loved animals before, but after teaching that class I LOVED animals. My bias has changed. My views on our responsibility to animals have changed. I have changed.
When I read this article, my first thought was that the animal should never have been bred for the zoo's entertainment. My second thought was the zoo did the responsible thing in mercifully killing the animal, then providing food to the other animals. It would be wasteful and potentially illegal to dispose of the giraffe carcass any other way. Whatever thoughts I had after that would never have led me to eugenics without the help of comments by KARA7571.
Zoo Kills 'Unwanted' Giraffe Marius, Feeds Carcass To Lions
KELD NAVNTOFT / EPA, FILE
A zoo in Denmark killed a young giraffe with a bolt gun and fed its meat to the lions Sunday, saying the animal was “unwanted.”
Copenhagen Zoo said 18-month-old Marius had been euthanized the giraffe to avoid in-breeding
“When breeding success increases it is sometimes necessary to euthanize,” the Scientific Director Bengt Holst said on the zoo's website, acknowledging the decision has led to a “debate.”
Animal rights campaigners gathered outside the zoo to protest the killing, local media reported.
Marius could not be released into the wild as his attachment to humans would make him easy prey, and no other zoos with the same breeding program had room for him, the zoo said.
After killing Marius, the zoo carried out a public autopsy. Graphic pictures of the carcass were published in Danish media.
A British zoo offered to rehome the giraffe, ITV News reported, while an online petition to save him reached 28,000 signatures.
However, the zoo was undeterred.
“We see this as a positive sign and as insurance that we in the future will have a healthy giraffe population in European zoos,” Holst explained. "The same type of management is used in deer parks where red deer and fallow deer are culled to keep the populations healthy. The most important factor must be that the animals are healthy physically and behaviorally and that they have a good life whilst they are living whether this life is long or short.
"If an animal’s genes are well represented in a population further breeding with that particular animal is unwanted."
It added that the animal was killed with a bolt gun so that its meat could eaten, which would not have been possible if anaesthetic had been used.
The organization Animal Rights Sweden told The Associated Press the case highlighted what they believe zoos do to animals regularly.
"It is no secret that animals are killed when there is no longer space, or if the animals don't have genes that are interesting enough," the organization said in a statement. "The only way to stop this is to not visit zoos."
"It is no secret that animals are killed when there is no longer space, or if the animals don't have genes that are interesting enough," the organization said in a statement. "The only way to stop this is to not visit zoos."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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