Download Animal Angle May 2014: Animal heroes The SPCA applauds any

Animal Angle May 2014: Animal heroes The SPCA applauds any recognition given to animal behaviour that clearly displays intelligence or altruism. Despite increasing research and the growing weight of evidence, many people continue to deny the existence of these qualities in animals. It is convenient to do so, since it leaves conscience far less troubled. We quite often read of the intelligence and courage of police dogs and of the relationships between many policemen and their animals, and for the moment we are filled with admiration, before the valour of these animals slips back into the obscurity that generally masks these gallant human-­‐and-­‐animal working relationships once the headlines have faded. In Britain, the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA ) has, since 1943, awarded the PDSA Dickin medal -­‐ a medal known as the animal version of the Victoria Cross -­‐ for "outstanding acts of bravery displayed by animals serving in the armed forces of civil defence units in any theatre of war worldwide". The award was introduced by the founder of the PDSA, Maria Dickin, to acknowledge animal heroes during World War II, but there have been many regional wars since then, so the PDSA has continued to award medals for outstanding animal bravery anywhere in the world. At the time of writing, 65 medals have been awarded: 32 to pigeons, 28 to dogs, three to horses, and one to a cat, all of them having given their lives after deeds of extraordinary bravery. In 2002, the PDSA created a civilian award, the PDSA Gold Medal, which is also awarded worldwide. The PDSA turns away no sick animal, although its mission is to attend to the animals of the poor. In 1917, a small PDSA veterinary clinic opened in District Six in Cape Town. It became fully autonomous in 1988, but remains in close contact with the PDSA in Britain and also with many local animal welfare bodies. We were happy to read that, like us, it has a schools project for Grades 4 to7. Education is the only way to change attitudes. We have to make our voices heard Cruelty is absolutely unacceptable. It doesn't matter whether it manifests in people's backyards; in the treatment of beasts of burden, like donkeys; in factory farming; in cruel cultural practices; in the deliberate harming of small wildlife; in random ruthless acts; or out of abysmal ignorance. If we know about it, and we keep quiet, we are complicit. Educators could play a huge role here if the teaching of values were to become mandatory in the formal education system. And when any authority turns a blind eye to cruelty to man or beast, we need to care enough to say, as publicly as possible, "Not in my name." Silence is condonement. Shirley Bell