Chickens capable of empathy
Chickens are the most mistreated animals in the meat industry. Most chickens in the commercial farm have a life span of 6 weeks before being sent for slaughter, and their living conditions would be considered unacceptable for any being. If left in the wild, chickens can live for 5 to 10 years (depending on the breed).
The article below was shared on Facebook by my student and liaison, Sharon Saw.
It is great that the sufferings of these animals can be proven scientifically, allowing more people to realize that animals too have feelings… just like us. Hopefully, with findings such as this, cruelty towards animals will no longer be taken lightly.
Tsem Rinpoche
Chickens are capable of feeling empathy, scientists believe
Domestic chickens display signs of empathy, the ability to “feel another’s pain” that is at the heart of compassion, a study has found. The discovery has important implications for the welfare of farm and laboratory animals, say researchers.
Empathy, long thought to be a defining human trait, causes one individual to be affected by the emotional state of another. Feelings are “mirrored” in the observer, leading to a shared experience of being happy, sad or distressed.
The research demonstrated that hens possess a fundamental capacity to empathise, at least with their own chicks.
Scientists chose hens and chicks for the study because it is thought empathy probably evolved to aid parental care. A number of controlled procedures were carried out which involved ruffling the feathers of chicks and mother hens with an air puff.
When chicks were exposed to puffs of air, they showed signs of distress that were mirrored by their mothers. The hens’ heart rate increased, their eye temperature lowered – a recognised stress sign – and they became increasingly alert. Levels of preening were reduced, and the hens made more clucking noises directed at their chicks.
Researcher Jo Edgar, from the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: “The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.
“Our research has addressed the fundamental question of whether birds have the capacity to show empathic responses.
“We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of ‘empathy’, the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.”
The findings were reported online in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Under commercial conditions, chickens regularly encounter other birds showing signs of pain and distress “owing to routine husbandry practices or because of the high prevalence of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders”, said the researchers.
The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council’s Animal Welfare Initiative.
Extracted from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8370301/Chickens-are-capable-of-feeling-empathy-scientists-believe.html
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/chickens-can-emphatize.flv
Or view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/chickens-can-emphatize.flv
No one wants to suffer. No one wants to feel pain. No one wishes to die. To make others suffer, feel pain and killing them will invite the same. Karma is blind to race, creed, religion, background, beliefs and understanding. It is universal. Never harm anyone or anything. Karma is ever recording our deeds. Tsem Rinpoche
Dear Lama
I have this article translated to be uploaded in lamatsongkhapa.com – from Rinpoche’s blog – animal & vegetarianism section
Warm regards
Valentina
i hope ppl who love to eat KFC read this article so that they will think twice when they going to eat Chicken next time.
lot of people have wrong view that animals born to be food for human so they don’t feel anything wrong to do that.
Again, even after they know doesnt mean they will stop to eat.. unless they realize that they are cruel and hurt other being.
Chicken is such a common meat product that hardly anyone realises how much they have to go through so that we can have our scrambled eggs for breakfast or chicken pie for lunch. I watched a hidden camera video of KFC chickens being abused and brutalised for sport, and have not eaten any KFC since. The same applies to other chicken products of course.
Having read this article, I am even more disturbed now, as being a vegetarian, I consume quite a lot of eggs, and I realise that my egg came from a source of pain and discomfort. It is not easy to find free range and organic eggs where I live, but I will try to consume less eggs now, and look for a more humane source of eggs.
I believe that as long as the subject is a living being THAT has a mind, a conscious, that being can feel anything that we humans feel too.
As Rinpoche has pointed out, no one wants to suffer, feel pain or be killed; I am sure you and I, if put in the shoes of a chicken, a cow, a pig, would feel extremely scared, worried, terrified and in excruciating pain (both physical and mental) as well. Whatever we feel if put in the situation of an animal in a slaughterhouse, they feel too.
Think about it, why are animals considered “lesser” than humans? Because they cannot communicate with us? Because they run slower than us, some have 4 legs, because they cannot kill humans hence not at the top of the food chain? NO, cannot be.
Since Buddha is extremely compassionate and has a kindness that pervades throughout ALL beings, shouldn’t we show the same since an enlighted being has proven that it works? Since we have the Buddha nature in us, aren’t we all capable of achieving the same qualities that of a Buddha? Why be selective, when selectivity, discrimination, and perceptions all arise only in our minds?
Anyways, I used to not think about the meals that I eat.. steak steak lah, chicken chop then chicken chop lah. But now, I think about the suffering, both for the animals and myself, because karma is creating suffering.
Even chickens capable of empathy, it shows how insensitive we human are.
We have been focusing on ourselves, chasing for money, luxurious life etc…until a point that we have neglected the people and beings surrounding us, and we become a very cold person.
I used to like chicken wings a lot, when I started to be vegetarian i visualize the chicken wings is my mum’s hands, and it turn me off immediately… I’m happy to be vegetarian.
Contrary to the public’s belief, chickens are not mindless living beings. This article shows that they are even capable of showing empathy which some humans are not capable of. So instead of creating distress in their lives by farming them for our sustenance, we should think again.
Eating meat is only a habit. We can still live a healthy life being vegetarian. Millions of people vegetarian. So why can’t we? Don’t we all want a more loving and caring society? Then why do we inflict pain and distress to other living beings?