The Importance of Realism in Animal Advocacy

Left: Just after being rescued. Extremely malnourished and emaciated. (Photo by Mane Frame Imagery)

Right: Summer 2020. A soft, relaxed eye and healthy, nourished coat.

The world is working to improve on the basics of animal welfare as we learn more and more about the learning process and biological needs of the animals around us, which is fantastic! But, unfortunately, with this new territory also comes evangelical extremists who take on an “all or nothing” mentality when it comes to animal welfare, which pushes them to try to strong arm other people to take on the same values of them. Such mindsets results in an awful lot of animosity and the word “abuse” being thrown around more often than it ought to be. This, in turn, makes these well-intentioned but off base people actually ruin some of the positive ideas that they’re trying to push by taking too radical of an approach and being too inflexible, thereby ruining their credibility and having the people they’re trying to change start to view these new welfare ideas with bitterness and resentment. On top of this, way too many animal advocates and advocacy groups try to make bold claims on animal species that they’ve clearly neglected to properly research. A shining example of this is the time that PETA put out an ad against wool in which they used a photo of a lamb that appeared to have been skinned and tried to pass this off as a byproduct of shearing for wool, which is a completely asinine and untrue take considering sheep do, in fact, need to be sheared for their own health because we have bred them to grow more wool than they need and as a result, they can become wildly uncomfortable if handlers neglect to do this. Also, shearing does not remove the skin of the sheep. It is literally the same idea as shaving your head. Last I checked, hairdressers are not scalping their clients when they do this.

Realism is important. While everyone is entitled to their beliefs, if your belief is that all animals should run wild and unencumbered by humans, you are allowed to feel that way, but you also need to acknowledge the reality of the situation. Domesticated animals are nothing like their wild counterparts. They do not have the same instincts of survival and rely on human intervention for nutrition, vet care and safety. They simply do not have the skills to survive in the manner that wild animals do and if the idea of releasing these animals into the wild is pushed, we actually only endanger the animal as well as putting true wild species at risk by introducing invasive species when the world is already lacking in resources. The problem with so many people who take this stance is the immediacy with which they expect this to happen. You can believe with all of your heart that horses deserve to be wild, but they are not currently, and domesticated horses are currently occupying this planet in the millions. If you were to succeed in “freeing” all of them, it would not just be the horses who suffer, it would be many, many other undomesticated species suffering alongside of them. So, anyways, this is where realism comes in.

A true animal advocate needs to recognize that not everyone is going to be able to offer their animal the perfect ideal of a “natural” life unaffected by humans. Training animals can be exciting and enriching for the animal when done correctly, so even if someone is of the mind that this is unnecessary and more for the enjoyment of the human, they should support and recognize the value of ethical training. On top of this, we need to acknowledge the amount of open space in the world. Horses are living in areas where they simply do not have the space to roam in herds. While this is devastating and sad, it does nothing to help the horses if you just slam their handlers and go on about how cruel and abusive they are. What does help the horses is indicating what horses natural needs of socialization and foraging are and offering enrichment ideas to better the lives of the horses within the situation that they’re in. This offers the handlers a solution that can improve wellbeing immediately and doesn’t focus on shaming and “punishing” the handler. The irony of how so many of these militant “advocates” speak to people is not lost on me. They’re highly against mistreating and punishing animals and yet they speak to humans abusively and venomously, using punishment as training and for whatever reason expecting a different outcome than what we have documented in studies with both humans and animals.

Positive reinforcement works on people too and this needs to actually offer them some constructive ideas on how to better the handling and care of their animals and to properly do this, you first need some knowledge on the basic body language of the animal, their species specific needs and how these can realistically be offered and met in a modern situation. It is absolutely irresponsible as an advocate to go spouting off information on animals you’ve never even handled without taking the initiative to ensure that what you are saying is actually accurate. People do this from a moral high ground but their words only serve to perpetuate false information to less experienced people, meaning if they decide to take on a high maintenance animal like a horse and don’t do further research, it is the horse who suffers. On top of this, it ruins a lot of the work in improving ethics that people within the industry are trying to do because these militant advocates put others on the defense, making them much more likely to shut down any similar information the next time, no matter how politely and constructively it is worded.

I have been incredibly outspoken on the importance of turnout and socialization for horses as this is what I view to be one of the most pressing welfare issues for horses and yet, I still put out information on enrichment for stalled horses. This isn’t giving up the good fight or selling out. It is offering people who love their animals, but are “trapped” by circumstance in the modern world, a means of improving the life of their horse however they can. Are you a real animal advocate if you care so much about being right and rigid in your views that you continue to berate and disparage those who aren’t at the pinnacle of enlightenment, wherever you view that to be? This mindset does not improve the life of the animal. It may make you feel better in your righteousness, but you’ve offered zero tools to immediately help the animal. None. Positive change that could have been made is thrown out the window in the name of a person’s ego, this is merely a different way of exploiting animals in the name of your movement. You are putting your desires ahead of them because your focus is entirely about being correct and trying to ridicule those you view to be wrong, all the while losing sight of what will actually help the situation of the animal.

Top: Milo after being “left to his own devices” in a field with other horses. Incredibly emaciated and malnourished.

Bottom: Milo in Summer 2020. Healthy and happy.

I also think it is important to acknowledge that as an animal advocate, owner and lover, you are not being responsible if you do not take the initiative to teach your animal how to live a safe and happy life in the current world. This means they need to be trained to coexist with people. They need to be “tame” and able to be handled for necessary medical care. They need to be able to view humans without fear and find their place in the world alongside humans. No animal owner on this planet can ever guarantee that they will always be the sole caregiver of the animal. Financial struggles happen, deaths happen and other unforeseen circumstances. There is always the risk of your animal needing to be rehomed and if you haven’t prepared them to be able to easily live alongside humans safely, you’re setting them up for failure and at high risk of not finding a home, being euthanized, sent to an auction or shipped the slaughter. This is not the kind thing to do. The kind thing is to practice ethical training methods while still prioritizing the realism that is a domesticated animal. They cannot live wild. They need human intervention for their safety and health and what this means is that it is your job as their caregiver and advocate to help ensure their wellbeing through how you handle and train them.

It is not kinder to leave your animal to their own devices, lacking nourishment or eating to the point of obesity. This is not without stress. Poor health adds stress. Confusion in a new environment after having no training to prepare them is stress. These things can easily be avoided by proper handling. So much of animal advocacy is so incredibly misguided because the people within some of these movements hyperfixate on their end goal which is ending breeding and ownership of animals and forget that there are millions of small steps towards achieving such goal, unless, of course, you view it as more ethical to let domesticated animals starve by the millions while they deplete the natural resources of the wild animals who actually need and use said natural resources. Moving towards a more ethical society involves mediation. This means, even if you would do something differently, you have to look at situations practically. Sure, someone may ride their horse and you, as a vegan, may view this as exploitation. But, learn about the subtleties of equine behaviour. Does the horse look like it is in active distress or pain? Most don’t. Is it really the end of the world for someone to ride their horse for exercise if all of the horses’ needs are met and it looks otherwise unbothered? Absolutely not. Is it more harmful to latch onto your militant ideas to the point where you slam rescue organizations and people who are advocating for positive change that actually moves towards your end goals? Yes, absolutely. You’re ruining your own fight for betterment by going about it like a god damn dictator. Nothing in the world works like this, this is basic psychology and learning and behavioural theory. Going at people with 100% intensity is never going to work. It doesn’t work for animals, it doesn’t work for humans, and quite frankly, it is extremely ironic to see animal welfare advocates behaving in the exact ways they condemn in animal training. Learning theory for humans really is not that much different than it is for other animal species.

This isn’t to say people should be coddled. If you have factual information, like what I have shared about the importance of socialization for horses as herd animals, you should not refrain from sharing it. But, such information has been replicated in a series of studies over the course of years. It is not just an opinion you formed by following hypocritical and erroneous organizations like PETA. Also, even when sharing these facts, coming at people on the attack rather than just sharing information to your pages or in discussion forms, is less effective. The reason why most of my controversial takes are posted to my platforms rather than as venomous comments in response to peoples otherwise innocuous posts of their horses is because it allows people who need to see it to find the information on their own, thereby setting them up to feel less defensive and more receptive to the information. Even when care is not the 100% ideal, most of the people we disagree with are not actually being what is considered abusive. Someone keeping their horse in a smaller turnout than what you personally believe to be fair is not abusive. It may be neglecting some of the biological needs of the horse, but calling someone who is doing their best a horrible abuser takes away from the impact that descriptor has for actual abusers and allows the real abusers to use this to discredit others under the guise of people being “snowflakes” or “treehuggers”. It gives them a reason to try to undermine the credibility of otherwise educated comments and allows other disenfranchised, frustrated people who have been attacked for lesser offences to join them in their defense. This moves things backwards for animal welfare by pushing people further into denial.

My horse, Milo. Left: just after being rescued in 2014. Right: Summer 2020.

I ride my horse. But, he was such a difficult horse in the beginning of his training that I am not kidding when I say he would have been an exceptionally difficult horse to adopt out somewhere that would not actively punish his misbehaviour. Inexperienced horse people would have been put in danger by him. It is doing horses like him a disservice to claim they’re better off not being ridden, especially when those most qualified to ethically handle and train away dangerous behaviour usually learned to do so by being riders.

What frustrates me so much about these types of people who are so rigid in their views that they actually refuse to consider any information that confounds what they believe to be true, no matter how credible the source, is that they frequently parade around on a moral high ground while being hypocrites who are doing much, much less for welfare. Yelling on the internet perpetuating ideas that are so unrealistic for the state of the world currently that they’re basically folklore does not help as many animals as you think it does. Blindly and hypocritically supporting organizations like PETA like they’re the epitome of animal welfare when they put out so much false information, euthanize more animals than what die in any of the industries they attack, such as horse racing, and do virtually nothing to offer people enrichment and alternative training ideas to some of the harmful mainstream methods, is utterly useless. You are supporting an organization who does less rehoming and education than many of the rescues that you attack due to viewing them as problematic for exploiting animals by adopting them out to homes where they will use for sport. PETA literally euthanizes more animals than it adopts out, many of which are killed in a matter of days after being “saved” which implies that there is no real effort to find these creatures homes. This is not a sustainable method of improving the treatment of animals. You are still exploiting them by assuming they would be better off dead than being ethically managed and trained for odd jobs like agility or basic obedience training. On top of this, openly supporting any organization that is collecting millions of dollars worth of donations each year but spending virtually none of it on actually helping animals, is just irresponsible activism. You are a fool and I do not respect you if you condescend others for exploiting animals but follow an organization that is exploiting you and your ignorance to earn money that is largely spent on media and advertisement with less than 1% going into helping animals. If you’ve perused any of the stats surrounding organizations like this, this is not a surprise, because why would you need money to sustain animals you promptly euth once they’re in your custody?

In order to be a true activist, there is a certain level of responsibility that goes along with it. Such responsibility includes: not putting out false information on animals you have not bothered to become educated on, actually looking at credible sources that go against your current beliefs when they are offered, not supporting organizations that are not doing anywhere near what they claim to be cough PETA cough and maintaining a realistic outlook instead of latching onto radicalism and thinking it is the smart approach to enacting any change. With horses, we know that proper introduction to new stimuli that may provoke fear needs to be done at lowered intensity, gradually increased as they understand and get more comfortable. This keeps stress low and makes them more receptive. This is the same approach that needs to be taken with any form of education and it should go without saying that it is just ridiculously impractical to think we are anywhere close to being able to allow domesticated animals to live completely left to their own devices.

Dogs and cats are such mainstream animals that people typically understand their mannerisms, needs and overall body language far more than they might farm animals like horses or cows. The average pet owner can take on a lower maintenance dog breed or adopt a cat and figure out how to care for it without doing too much harm. Livestock is not the same. Flight animals like horses react entirely different than dogs or cats and due to their size are just not safe for inexperienced people to handle, care for and be around. Your dog can get into something its not supposed to eat, vomit and move on with life. A horse cannot do this and if they are to get sick and colic, this is life threatening. However, like dogs, horses can find enrichment and reward in training. They can be trained using positive reinforcement. They can grow accustomed to walking on a lead. They can be taught to happily carry a rider and do so comfortably in properly fitted tack. It does not take brute force to train a horse if you do it properly. Brute force can be used with any creature but that doesn’t mean its the only means of achieving the teaching of a certain behaviour. It is naive and illogical to assume that the only means of training animals whose ethogram you do not understand can only be achieved by abusive methods.

Asking questions and being open to education is one of the most important parts of any advocacy. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is incredibly damaging to go speaking on topics with conviction when you’ve not bothered to research. Misinformation has been one of the most harmful aspects of equine handling. This is what has caused people to mislabel stress behaviours in horses. To partake in ineffective methods without a care in the world. To push inexperienced people to decide to randomly get a horse to “save” it before malnourishing it and having it develop dangerous behaviours due to their naivety, even if they were well intentioned. If you want to better animal welfare, you have a responsibility to know what you are talking about. Horses are not an animal that is understood on the mainstream. The movies and TV shows about them sensationalize their behaviours and over simplify their training while misplacing body language cues and “dumbing down” the care of them. Even within the horse industry, lifetime horse owners are still massively misled on behavioural repertoire because it is just not being taught to the extent it should be and SO MUCH about horses is misinformed. Militant animal rights warriors amplify this by putting these types of people so far on the defense that they will discredit even the educated people who go about trying to correct misinformation in a productive way.

I am writing this to tell you, if you are reading this, that you probably have made my job harder as a trainer and behavioural consultant by radicalizing horse care and coming after people frothing at the mouth, throwing abuse around like a buzz word. The world is not as black and white as you think it is and if you do not have the experience to adequately care for and provide for a horse or lesser known domesticated animal, you do not have the experience to be calling the shots on what these animals “need” or what they “want”. Horse care is not easy. It is a process where you are constantly learning. I’ve been in this industry 20 years and I am still learning. I am almost done my equine sciences certificate through Guelph University, which has a great equine sciences program, and I am still learning. I have received my certified equine behaviour consultant title from the International Association for Animal Behaviour Consultants and I am still learning. If people with as much experience as myself still are actively learning, those outside of the horse world need to stop being self absorbed enough to believe that they’re some how more capable of being able to call the shots on how to ethically modernize horse care without actively setting foot in a barn and handling horses or educating themselves on the learning theory of horses on a scholarly level. You are making the jobs harder for those more capable of educating the masses than you are yourself. You are not bettering the situation for horses by pushing rhetoric that cannot feasibly be applied any time soon and if it were applied now, would have massive fall out to the detriments of the horses.

You are not a real animal advocate if you can’t slow your roll for long enough to look at situations practically and realistically. You are simply a glorified radicalist who is narcissistic enough to believe that you know better than everyone else even though you’re not passionate enough about animal welfare to learn the inner workings of the animals you speak on. You value the fight, the idea that you are superior, more than you do the wellbeing of the animal. And, frankly, that is sad. I truly hope people will chose realism and the path to improvement over their hunger of being right. I hope they will eventually see the hypocrisy in the animosity they direct at their fellow humans, while preaching about the ethical way to train and handle animals but showing no ability to do that themselves despite trying to enact change. I hope that people realize that there are few things more harmful to the animals than the spread of misinformation.

Want to be a real animal advocate? Educate yourself on the animals you speak of. Learn about the process of reputable and functional rescues. Support them and direct donations their way instead of to organizations like PETA. Learn about the aspects in the industry that are in the most dire need of change and come up with REALISTIC solutions and push for those. Change doesn’t happen overnight but if you’re smart enough to set up the building blocks to incite positive change, you’ll see the foundation for improved welfare built a lot faster than you will by viewing the world through your idealistic lens and spouting off ideas that have no way to be practically applied any time soon. Fantasy does not help animals. Reality does. Work within your reality and you can really make a difference, I promise you that. The middle may be a lonely place, but compromise is where the learning starts. Rigidity just creates animosity between the two extremes of either side and doesn’t help anyone start to soften their perspective. Compromise involves supporting those that perpetuate the ideas that help you on your journey to righteousness. Perfection doesn’t exist which is why, like in training animals, you need to capture moments of positivity and shape those towards your end goal. You cannot do this by ostracizing the very people who can help you on the journey to enlightenment.

You may be wondering why I wrote this blog disparaging the very organization that is closely linked to the Dodo, a platform I allowed to use my horse’s story and my likeness. You may think it is hypocritical of me to allow them to do this when my views do not align with many of the ones that are pushed on their pages. I understand why people may think that, but consider this: In allowing them to share my story, I targeted the very demographic of people who need to be educated, who need to learn to be less rigid. Who need to become more understanding the the industries that they condemn. I have targeted a demographic of people who would otherwise refuse to view my pages and while many of them are too self righteous and angsty to listen, there are probably enough of them who are flexible enough to have seeds of doubt planted in their preconceived notions and that is just enough to help set them on their path of education. So, if you are one of these types of people and you still chose to read this whole thing, I appreciate you and your willingness to consider the other side and I truly hope you take what was said here into account.