“But, Grandmother! What big teeth you have”, exclaimed Little Red Riding Hood, her voice quivering. “The better to eat you with, my dear!”, roared the hungry wolf as he leapt out of bed. Accompanying illustrations typically portray a menacing, salivating wolf baring its teeth at the child. Frilly cap notwithstanding, these words and images drawn from the many versions of the fairy tale, “Little Red Riding Hood”, have sent chills down millions of small spines for centuries, and served to teach us from an early age to fear our lupine friends.
Aside from fear, another rationale we use to dismiss the vast majority of animals as worthy of our consideration is a steadfast belief in our superiority over other species. This leads us to regard most animals as not only less intelligent but some of them as downright stupid. This is used to justify our authority and dominion over them which denies them the power to live their lives as they would choose, and to be free from our abuse and exploitation.
Increasingly, though, research is showing that animals are far more intelligent than we previously thought, and more and more species -- from dolphins to crows, to chickens to elephants – are being recognized as a lot smarter than we’ve previously given them credit for. Famed primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall – who was the first to discover non-human, tool-use (in chimpanzees in East Africa in the 1960s) –- says she’s looking forward to the day when we stop being amazed at how smart animals are! Similarly, the title of a book by Dutch ethologist, Frans de Waal, asks: “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” It’s worth reading even if you suspect the answer.
New research from www.faunalytics.org demonstrates, once again, how human behavior is driven by perceptions that certain animals pose a threat or are considered of low status due to a supposed lack of intelligence, which drive prejudices against them. These ingrained attitudes -- many of which are programmed at an early age -- make it easier for us to dismiss that animals have wants and needs worthy of consideration. And this leads to it being socially acceptable to cage, kill, eat, wear, hunt, trap or otherwise destroy them.
The authors of the study suggest parents be more selective about the fairy tales they read to their children – analyze the messages that are being communicated to young, impressionable minds. And, when it comes to exploiting animals, we replace our belief in the superiority of humans with an awareness that humans and animals can coexist peacefully.