DEAR READERS: I wish I could include more uplifting material in my newspaper column. I read so much about animal cruelty and wanton killing every week, and I never post most of it. But I feel some of this needs to be shared because it parallels the sociopathic and psychopathic behavior of many in society today. The increasing violence in schools and deaths from drug overdoses are symptomatic of a dystopian society.

These trends call for more schools to include humane education and ethics in their curricula. Simply putting up plaques of the Ten Commandments will not suffice. At least display the declaration that nearly all religious traditions include: Live by the Golden Rule. That means treating all sentient beings as we would have them treat us.

A SICKENING ANIMAL CRUELTY PROSECUTION

Please see the following news release from In Defense of Animals, posted on June 20 at idausa.org:

"In Defense of Animals applauds the sentencing of Nicole Devilbiss, who was charged with conspiring to create and share 'crush videos' depicting monkeys being tortured and killed. On June 18, U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger sentenced Devilbiss to serve four years and three months in federal prison of the five-year possible sentence.

"In Defense of Animals sent (Florida) State Attorney Roger B. Handberg a letter with 13,593 signatures seeking maximum sentencing for Devilbiss.

"A tip from an informant led to a multi-agency investigation that uncovered Devilbiss as the administrator of a Telegram group that was sharing thousands of messages and funding videos depicting the abuse and torture of monkeys. ...

"Crush videos, or crush porn, depict animals being tortured, mutilated and killed for the sexual gratification and sadistic satisfaction of viewers. The creation, sale and distribution of these videos was banned in 2010 under the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which was strengthened in 2019 by the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, which made involvement a federal crime."

TIME TO END WILDLIFE-KILLING CONTESTS

The June 22 Star Tribune article "Quest for gopher feet binds community," by Trey Mewes, details a “treasured local event” in which "Viola Township, like many communities across Minnesota, pays a bounty for pairs of gopher feet." In other states, there are "rattlesnake rodeo" roundups, prairie dog and rabbit roundups and clubbings, as well as coyote-killing contests.

Each year, thousands of native carnivores and other wildlife -- including coyotes, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, rabbits, prairie dogs, mountain lions and wolves -- are killed during these cruel, senseless competitions. To make such competitive killings a public festival is a sad reflection of a cultural tradition that has no place in a humane, civil society where there is respect for all life. It is evident that rural attitudes toward indigenous species are lacking in respect and understanding of wildlife and their valuable ecological services.

The Prohibit Wildlife Killing Contests Act of 2024 (H.R. 8492) was introduced in May by Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee and 16 cosponsors. The bill would require the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service to enact regulations banning wildlife killing contests, within one year of the law's enactment, on 500 million acres of public lands.

Contact your members of Congress to urge them to support H.R. 8492.

DEAR DR. FOX: A friend sent me an account she'd seen online: To summarize, a bird flew into a window and died, and its mate hopped over to lie down beside it. It sounded very sad and beautiful -- an example of animals feeling emotion. This is what you have been writing about in your column over the years, about how sentient animals are. -- K.F., Minneapolis

DEAR K.F.: Thank you for alerting me to this touching story. I recall receiving a letter some years ago from a horse owner who saw one of her old horses collapse and die in the paddock. A companion horse trotted over, examined the dead horse, then keeled over and died.

This is evidence of the strong bond animals can develop; when it is broken, they can die from a broken heart. This broken heart syndrome, also known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, is recognized in humans and is now being documented in animals. The stress of capture or predation can cause a heart attack in a variety of wild animals.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: Please see this June 11 abstract from Nature.com:

"Elephants seem to use proper names to address their fellows -- a habit that appears to otherwise be unique to humans. Scientists used machine learning to analyze 469 deep rumbles made by wild female African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) and their families in Kenya. They found patterns that indicate that calls are specific to individuals. The researchers also played recorded calls to elephants out in the field and watched how the animals responded. 'They could tell if a call was addressed to them just by hearing that call,' says behavioral ecologist and study co-author Michael Pardo." (For details, read the study “African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls” by Michael Pardo, et al., published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, June 2024.)

This research raises the ethical and legal issue of animal personhood, and should serve as another step toward human recognition of animal sentience and our responsibilities for our fellow creatures.

TIME TO STOP KAPPAROT RITUAL POULTRY “SACRIFICE”

Here is an important post from We Animals Media about a ritual practiced by some sects of Orthodox Jews before Yom Kippur. All should be concerned about such mistreatment of animals. Full story available here: weanimalsmedia.org/2023/09/22/documenting-kaporos-chicken-slaughter-in-new-york.

"Traditionally, during Kaporos (aka Kapparot), a live chicken is swung over the head of a practitioner three times while a prayer is recited and the sins of the practitioner are symbolically transferred to the chicken. On the eve of Yom Kippur, the chickens are handed to a shochet (a person certified to kill animals in accordance with shechita law) to be killed and the meat donated to the poor -- or eaten at the pre-Yom Kippur meal.

"In the week leading up to Yom Kippur, the streets of Brooklyn, New York, become one of the largest wet markets in the United States, with an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 chickens being used in the Kapparot ritual and then killed. Those opposed to the practice cite violations to animal welfare laws and public health risks, yet the city of New York allows the practice to continue."

NEVER LEAVE ANIMALS IN CARS IN EXTREME TEMPS

The Denver Animal Protection department has responded to 130 calls so far this year about animals trapped in vehicles during extreme temperatures, and has had 277 calls about animals without access to shelter.

Dog owners and parents/caretakers of infants must be especially cognizant of the risks of heat stroke and death in hot weather. It takes only about 10 minutes for the temperature inside a car to rise by 20 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the AVMA, and leaving a window cracked does not help much, if at all.

Also, taking dogs out for a walk in hot weather can put some at risk -- especially flat-faced breeds, like pugs, and all older dogs. Put your hand on the sidewalk, feel the heat and use your compassion and common sense!

HEAT WAVE IN MEXICO KILLS HOWLER MONKEYS

At least 138 howler monkeys have been found dead since May 16 in Mexico’s Tabasco state along the Gulf Coast. Five more were in critical condition after being taken to local veterinarian Sergio Valenzuela, who provided intravenous fluids for free in an effort to save them.

Hundreds of the monkeys may have died amid an extreme heat wave, drought and habitat loss. Wildlife biologist Gilberto Pozo said howler monkeys “were falling out of the trees like apples ... in a state of severe dehydration, and they died within a matter of minutes.” Birds and reptiles have met similar fates, Pozo says. (Full story: Associated Press, May 22)

Climate change is a reality -- a global crisis that we humans have created and must now take every possible measure to rectify. It is a political and economic challenge, but we cannot continue with a “business as usual” attitude. Each of us can make a difference when we change our lifestyles and food choices to reduce our carbon footprints.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR DR. FOX: I just finished reading many accounts of people who have experienced contact from deceased pets.

I must back up a bit to introduce Fiona, our labradoodle. My husband and I got her as a puppy and adored her. While she loved both of us, she really was closer to me since my husband traveled extensively throughout her life.

Last fall, just before she would have turned 13, we had to relieve her of her suffering from various ailments. After we lost her, I experienced many things that told me she was near: sounds, smells, drastic temperature changes, glimpsing her on our property, etc.

I was crushed to lose Fiona, and couldn’t see adopting another dog. Still, I found myself drawn to a 4-year-old standard poodle, Donner, at a local rescue. He joined our home in February and was just ecstatic to be with us.

Two weeks ago, I woke up early and Donner followed me downstairs, as usual. I put him out and fed him, then we both went back to sleep for another hour, with him on his bed beside mine. I was stunned to see upon awakening that he could barely move and did not want to come downstairs. I of course rushed him to the vet, who saw splenic nodules and evidence of bleeding into his abdomen.

We then rushed to the same specialty group that had cared for Fiona. On X-ray, a surgeon, a radiologist and an oncologist saw multiple lesions in his lungs and near his heart. His belly was getting distended and tender, and the surgeon refused to anesthetize him due to the state of his lungs.

I took Donner home, making an appointment for him to pass at home two days after that. The specialists had been very concerned that he would crash in an awful way before that, but he made it till then.

Unlike with Fiona, I have not "heard" from Donner yet, and I am bereft at thinking that he may not have formed enough of an attachment to us to visit as Fiona did. Because we only had him a few months, and because he was so young, I have become concerned that his soul is somehow “lost” from me, or that he wasn’t with us long enough to feel loved and at home. This breaks my heart.

I believe that he was a part of us from the time we brought him home. I loved him so much. It was like a lightning bolt, his being here -- so healing. Do you have any experience with people who have experienced a loss similar to ours? -- M.G., Larkspur, Colorado

DEAR M.G.: I can sympathize fully with your situation, and I send my condolences. Despite the many communications I have received over the years about deceased animals "returning" in various ways and at different times, it seems to be more of an exception than a regular phenomenon. In other words, most deceased companion animals rarely return, as is the case with your second dog.

The strength and duration of the human-animal bond during life, and the intensity of grief experienced when the animal dies, may all play some role in after-life manifestations. Once the grieving dissipates, the visitations often cease. This seems to indicate that some animals' spirits come back to provide comfort, which many people have told me they felt. This is all part of the great mystery.

I hope you find comfort in the fact that you provided love and security for a dog who was not long for this world; with cancer at such a young age, he otherwise probably would have suffered alone. He is now free from suffering, and if there is reincarnation, as some cultures and religious traditions believe, his soul will journey on, enriched by the time shared with you.

To learn more about reincarnation research and transmigration of the soul, see the book “Signs of Reincarnation: Exploring Beliefs, Cases and Theory” by James G. Matlock.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)