Fragile Existence: The Need for Animals
Sophia W
ENG 102
Rosanna O
28 March 2023
Our need for animals in this world is more than people realize. From the smallest mouse to the largest whale, they impact us and everything. The human existence is very delicate with such a great dependency on animals. A quote from Enric Sala, a wildlife explorer, says "The oxygen we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat-they all depend on other forms of life. Without the rest of species on the planet, there would be no prosperity, no economy, no us" When there is any slight shift in the lives of animals it impacts everything in our world. Living life would not be what it is if we did not have animals. Just the human-animal bond alone has simple benefits. Without these benefits, we would not exist in such great numbers. Although animals do not depend on us, our lives would not be the same without them; any shift in their lives, shifts our lives.
One benefit of the many that animals bring us, is a positive, and physiological boost, only when one is bonded to an animal. Multiple studies have been conducted on this area of research a result that is repeatably produced many times is "Research shows that pets can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, raise blood oxytocin levels, and, in some cases, may reduce direct pain" (Michigan State University). All these physical aids can keep one healthy in unnoticed ways, but they are noticed in the long run. The sudden removal of an animal one is bonded to induces negative effects. Animals like pets help stabilize us, not only bringing physiological benefits but mental as well.
Being bonded to an animal can increase a person's mental health and how stable it is. Again, many studies have been completed in this area of research and these are some of the results found "Other studies have found that animals can reduce loneliness, increase feelings of social support, and boost your mood." (NIH) I have personally experienced this myself, my cat can almost sense when I might be sad or upset and she'll come over to me and I will pet her, it does produce a calming effect. Many mentally troubled people have therapy pets, it is proven repeatedly that they help. The simple presence of a pet can make your whole day better, making you feel comforted or loved by them. Pets continually help to stabilize their owner's mental state.
A variety of animals provide many different categorized people with services to help them physically every day. For example, those who are recovering from addiction can receive rehabilitation help from trained animals. A quote found on the website of a rehabilitation hospital says, "In recent years individuals have benefited from programs that use animals to help patients recover." (The Recovery Village) Along with helping patients recover, it boosts their self-esteem. Patients that know they are getting better by using proven recovery programs with animals, further their journey to recovery. Those in rehab are among the many that benefit from animals' help in the medical field. Animals and pets positively impact the lives of those who have disabilities more than we know, without service animals the disabled would struggle.
The physically disabled like the blind and injured trust and rely on their guide or service animals to simply help them move through their day. Specially trained dogs are assigned to those with physical disabilities or ailments, like the blind. Their disabilities prevent them from being able to perform normal activities without assistance. Dogs are one of the most common animals used to help them in their tasks. In a report by the US Service Animals, the organization says that one of the most common uses for service animals is a seeing eye dog, who helps the blind enjoy a newfound independence by helping them safely navigate through unfamiliar locations and around other people. Those who have seeing-eye dogs get a boost in their everyday lives by having the confidence to accomplish things. Once again touching on the mental benefit that animals bring us; those who might be insecure about their disabilities experience a mental boost from the animal that helps them.
Others who can benefit from therapy animals for mental purposes are our veterans. Veterans with mental disabilities such as PTSD from returning from war can enroll in treatment programs involving therapy dogs. PTSD therapy dogs are specially trained to help veterans recover from PTSD. An example of what a PTSD dog does from the US Service Animal Registrar (USSAR) says "A specially trained service dog can nudge you to get moving and help exit and recover from a PTSD episode." It is outstanding the ability that dogs can obtained through training to help those plagued with such traumatic experiences. These dogs are heroes for our heroes. Each therapy animal plays a special role in the lives of whoever they are helping, they are needed every day in their lives.
Therapy dogs also comfort cancer patients. Cancer and other hospital patients receiving a lot of treatment can become easily stressed, which then affects their recovery. Animals are provided to help aid their recovery. In an article from Husson University the title being "The Healing Power of Animals" states that "Animals bring comfort to people and spending time with animals can make healing faster and easier." The fact that animals can physically reduce the recovery time a patient might be scheduled for is an amazing ability they hold. The discovery that animals can help humans physically in so many different areas of life is truly a scientific breakthrough for our society, and it always will be used.
The research done to find the best training methods for dogs is a revolutionizing discovery. Police forces train dogs to physically help them in many tasks. Police recruit canine units to aid officers in searches for both individuals, substances, and explosives. An assessment has been done on how useful police dogs are and the results show that "Many evaluations have provided strong evidence that dogs can be invaluable service to police work". This is a report from the US Department of Justice. The minor clues that any human can miss in a physical search are so great, yet dogs can find the smallest trace of anything within a matter of minutes. Police dogs help our enforcers to keep our cities protected and functioning. Police dogs can do things that no human could ever do.
Police dogs provide many ways of helping our officers. But these dogs, avalanche rescue dogs provide physical rescue to those in distress. Avalanche rescue dogs are another form of service animal. These dogs are specially trained for emergency responses in the cold. "These dogs have proved so successful that many ski resorts now station avalanche rescue dogs on the mountainside with their ski patrol teams." ("Working Dogs") Another article from the American Kennel Club (AKC) states "There are many other ways to help those caught in avalanches. Rescue dogs are still one of the if most effective forms of rescue. They can cover acres of snow in a fraction of a time that a search team could and are efficient in their work." Avalanche rescue dogs are truly mind blowing in the emergency service they provide.
Therapy, police, and rescue animals may provide lifesaving services to us; but they also play a huge role in the advances of our society and health industry. Although it may be controversial, lab testing, and research on animals have provided many breakthroughs in our medical discoveries. We derive and harvest naturally formed medicines from animals. Without them we would be far behind in what we know today, even in just caring for our animals. Studies show that researching lab animals "Limit the transmission of zoonotic diseases that spread between animals and humans." (Animal Health Institute) By studying and observing animals' DNA and how it reacts to certain viruses we can detect harmful sicknesses that start to develop. Another article states "Through bio mimicry, the innovations of wildlife have allowed us to develop technology that improves our lives and to create medicines that save millions of people annually." (BBC) Being able to observe the DNA and structure of animals helps us find medical products we would not have otherwise. There have been many lives saved because of the resources that animals give us in the medical field. Blood transfusion aid is harvested from blue crabs nearly 500,000 tons each year. They will always be needed here, to continue the production of medicines and further our medical research.
Animals provide us with needed medical items and substances that cannot be found in a natural form anywhere else. A few of the medical items we can harvest from animals are blood pressure medication from viper venom, we borrow insulin from the pancreas of pigs. These are essential resources to us. In an article reviewing the medical items produced by animals by the BBC states "Numerous drugs are already available on pharmaceutical shelves and Exenatide, derived from the saliva of the Gila monster is prescribed for type 2 diabetes." Although it may be controversial harvesting certain products from animals it is done in humane ways, and it does not harm the animal physically. Animals provide us with resources they don't even know are so important to us, without animal's resources we would have many medical issues.
Human existence is not the only thing dependent on animals, in fact our entire world as we know it relies on animals. Animals play a huge role in the stabilization of our ecosystem. Every small shift in the lives of animals through extinction or decreased population leaves a huge negative impact on everything. We have lost up to 500 species in the past 100 years. Many voices are heard for the lives of animals and their extinction or endangerment. The fact of knowing our lives depend on theirs should bring us great concern. "Endangered species if not protected, could eventually become extinct and the extension has a myriad of implications for our food water environment and even health." ("Columbia Climate School") The fact that animals affect every aspect of our lives without us even realizing it can be frightening. But as soon as we realize the importance, they have to us it can change our perspective on them. The importance of preserving animal lives gets to the point where if they did not exist, neither would humans.
To add to that, without animals we would have no vegetation because plants have a dependency on animals too. Plants and animals have a codependent relationship where they both rely on each other's existence to thrive. Plants nor animals rely on humans to survive yet we rely on both. "The global ecosystem depends on both plants and animals to survive and as a part of that ecosystem plants and animals need each other." ("Sciencing") The realization that we are utterly useless to the lives of animals and plants is kind of hysterical. We are so dependent on animals, we would suffer without them to the point of death, but we are oblivious to that fact. Not only would humans go extinct without animals but eventually the entire earth.
The extinction of any animal leaves a grave negative impact on our entire earth. Throughout the years we have seen many species go extinct. Recently programs have brought about conservation laws against poaching or over hunting animals. These organizations realize how important animals are to everything. The protection of animals is a high priority, at least it should be. We are at the point where the extinction of one species can cause an outbreak of disease in wildlife that can turn into a pandemic for humans. "Even if it's not a keystone species [a species that others in an ecosystem depend on], its loss will weaken the functionality of the entire ecosystem, which just makes it easier for that ecosystem to stop working." ("Columbia Climate School") There is a fragile scale that is near a tipping point for our survival, if any more animals are extinct, the scale will tip us into a world of trouble. Although we might get caught up in climate change the real issue is preserving the lives of wildlife.
After looking at all of this evidence for the need for animals it is easy to see that we may depend on animals, but they do not depend on us. Many animals live solitary and independent lives for their own health and safety. They simply don't need anything else for their survival. "Independent animals don't have to share any of their food with others this is especially beneficial when food supply is low or requires a lot of energy to get." ("Sciencing") When animals isolate themselves, they are protecting their lives from us for we are a greater danger to wild animals than we realize. Animals have always existed alongside humans, eventually we domesticated them and that is what led to their endangerment even more. But they still give us immense benefits, for the sacrifice of their own. Animals do not realize that we can cause them harm, therefore it is our responsibility to be the ones with knowledge to protect and preserve animal lives.
Humans have always needed animals, and we always will. Without animals we would be extinct. Interaction with animals has led us to curiosity in other fields of nature. Research shows that the physical and mental health of humans is closely related to access to nature hence without these the human will become extinct. Not only will animals physically and mentally affect us if they are not here; but the death of them will be the death of us. A quote from The World Atlas simply says "Do we need animals to survive on this planet? The simple answer is yes- absolutely yes." This is the simple answer like it says. We will always need animals without a doubt. Although animals do not depend on us, our lives would not be the same without them. Without them there is no us.
Works Cited