The photo shows rural citizens – mostly trappers – on video conference with Legislature.
Trapper arguments against shorter trap visitation times:
A trapline
Some of them have long trap lines with as many as 100 traps on a line. This takes a long time to visit.
The traps are set in remote, rugged, hard-to-reach country.
Most trappers have to work (despite the claim by some that trapping is their entire income) and so have only weekends to visit traps.
They want no restrictions. Period.
We flew to Las Vegas on our own dimes.
Yesterday in Las Vegas was like a bad acid trip. Don’t ask me how I know. I wish what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas, but it’s right here to haunt me today.
First off, a girl in a flowered dress tells us she just started trapping and she finds it “empowering”.
Then a guy in an American flag T-shirt lifts each of his pre-school little girls up to the microphone so they can pipe: “I like hunting and trapping.” A colleague behind me gasps: “Child abuse!”
Then the Committee sets upon Dr. Molde’s data – painstakingly collected utilizing much of Nevada Department of Wildlife’s (NDOW’s) own data – like a pack of wolves. (Dr. Don Molde is a retired physician who has been an ardent animal advocate for over 40 years.) Sullivan – trapper representative on the committee – is alpha predator calling the data: “amateur science” and “nonsense” and “deception”. Russell Woolstenhulme – NDOW data guy – explains away years of disregarding nontarget kills and citizen complaints, years of partial response from trappers – who are supposed to fill out an annual report, but in fact few do so – leaving us to question where the truth lies in this debate.
Sullivan tries to get Russell to issue a scientific “opinion”, but this does not happen. Dr. Molde is not there to defend his research.
Responding to trapper bemusement about why all this is happening, Committee Chair Commissioner Dave McNinch makes one of the few humane or even sensible remarks, explaining that “it comes down to values” and that there is such a thing as humane issues. He adds trapping is PRIVILEGE, not a RIGHT. He should be congratulated.
In a breathtaking turn-around, Commissioner Jack Robb – who is also NDOW Deputy Director – distances himself from his vote a few weeks ago to recommend one-day visitation for skimpy areas in the Sierra Front. Now he’s making trapper education a bargaining chip. He’s denying that’s what he’s doing, but that’s what he’s doing. The trappers want the education “in lieu of” shorter visitation. Jack would love to give them that but he makes references to the Legislature and their expectations, so you can see he thinks his hands are tied even though the Legislature gave him carte blanche to set this policy.
Robb indicates he’ll now support 2-calendar day visitation. “Shorter trap check might not be as effective as trapper education”. This entirely misses the point about animal suffering.
Of course the Nevada Trappers Association (NTA) boys want to run the education program. Robb suggests NDOW should run it.
Sullivan enlightens us. He has “objective” literature on trapping he will post to the NDOW website. Question: when do WE get to post anything on their website?
So now shorter visitation is a bargaining chip as is trapper education.
NTA President Joel Blakeslee mistakes a room full of glaring trappers and horrified animal advocates for a therapy group. He bares his soul to us regarding his unfair and unjustified citation for failure to visit his traps (for somewhat around 10 days). He had pneumonia. He tells us what he’s coughing up. He’s almost dying although miraculously well enough to stumble out of his death bed and fly to Las Vegas. He didn’t get his meds. He and Larry Johnson rumbling around the outback had a flat tire and who knows what else befell them. So the state shouldn’t even consider higher demerits for failure to visit trap (which, to my surprise, they are doing) Rising to flights of pneumonia-induced eloquence, he tells us there’s a bill already drafted to “shut down Mt. Charleston”. He accuses his opposition (us) of “cultural genocide”. He is “falling on his sword” being destroyed “inch by inch” by “Pol Pot, Germany”. His trap-baiting, animal strangling culture is being decimated “a pound of flesh at a time. Keep your dignity. At least you fought for it.”
Jack Robb tries to sound equitable – claims the Trapping Regulation Committee represents “all citizens” “We are the social arm of NDOW” Joel: “it’s the wrong thing. It’s not telling the truth”. “it’s all about us losing. It’s also about human fairness”.
Hard to tell if the focus of his grief was the threat from NDOW to shorten visitation times, or the modest suggestion from the Committee to increase demerits for violations Jack Robb deems “willfully malicious”.
At the end, I am not clear what will happen with the hunt units around Las Vegas. Sullivan wanted Commissioner Dr. Karen Layne’s ( she is the sole animal advocate on the Commission) map to shrink to ¼ of its current size and argued with every word she said.
We were mocked in absentia for leaving at 8PM to catch our flight back to Reno. We missed four more hours of this which, we heard later, went on until midnight.
Overview Trapping animals with devices such as the leghold trap, the snare, the Conibeartm type body gripping trap is cruel, indiscriminate, antiquated and opposed by all major animal advocacy groups. TrailSafe Nevada was a coalition of concerned citizens who introduced successful legislation to at least somewhat regulate use of the devices. This work has begun and we have every hope and confidence that it will continue.
Everlasting gratitude to these compassionate, fearless leaders and everybody else who helped along the way.
Nevada State Senator Mark ManendoNevada State Senator Sheila LeslieStrategist Beverlee McGrathCo-Founder Carol TresnerSouthern Nevada Activist Stephanie MyersNevada State Senator David ParksActivist Dr. Don Molde
Northern Nevada Activist Caron Tayloe
Between 2010 and 2017, TrailSafe prevailed with the Nevada Legislature and three of our trap regulation laws were passed in three different Legislative sessions. These were SB 226, 213 and 364. Each will be described below. Contact [email protected] for more detail.
We approached the trapping issue incrementally; trapping is so politically entrenched in our state that we could not hope for an immediate ban to all commercial trapping on public lands – which is our ultimate goal. So we went for common sense regulations such as:
Limiting the areas where trapping is allowed. To start with, it is obvious that trapping should not be permitted in residential neighborhoods or public recreation sites. We got a few miniscule areas grudgingly protected.
Shockingly, Nevada did not require registration or ID on traps. How can law enforcement function with no way to identify offenders? We did succeed getting this measure passed so now every trap set on public land must have either personal ID or NDOW registration number.
Requiring more frequent trap visitation. Nevada law requires trappers to visit their traps only every 96 hours. This is four days for a trapped living being to suffer horrific torture. If trapping must continue, at the very least we can hope for the trapper to visit traps daily, and put suffering animals out of their misery. Vague language in the final version of the bill led to a year of wrangling with the Wildlife Commission for very disappointing, grudging results . This measure must be vigorously pursued in future.
Nevada law set penalties for tampering with a legally set trap. This had to be amended to allow for common sense: allowing persons to free their pets or other domestic animals; allowing persons to move or disable a trap that poses a risk to animals or persons. We did ultimately get this passed.
Warning Signs at trailheads. The public overwhelmingly request this common sense regulation. Traps are camouflaged and hidden. The public deserves warning at trailheads, kiosks and visitor centers. We did prevail with this measure. But much of Nevada is Federal land which is not subject to state law. US Forest Service says they will post signs, but COVID-19 has caused delays. We need to pursue this. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has so far not made a firm agreement. NDOW will post signs on their Wildlife Management Areas – again we need boots on the ground to follow up on this.
Nevada State Legislature
Senate Bill No. 226
On June 3, 2011 the Governor signed our bill, SB226, into law. Although it’s not everything we initially asked for, it is a positive development.
The Wildlife Commission is now required by law to regulate traps in congested areas and to do so by Dec. 31, 2012. The Wildlife Commission whittled away the “congested areas” leaving only a few tiny dots on the map protected from traps. We learned anew the folly of any law that leaves definition up to the Wildlife Commission. “Adopt regulations governing the trapping of fur-bearing mammals in a residential area of a county whose population is 100,000 or more.” fell far short of our goal.
But it was a start and we went on to further legislative efforts.
Senate Bill No. 213
Commissioner Karen Layne
Our second bill became effective July 31, 2013.
Due to this bill, once again Nevada trap registration is mandated. It would seem obvious there cannot be trapping regulation if law enforcement cannot identify the offender. Trappers prevailed in 2015 to have this reversed, but we prevailed once again in 2017 and as of this writing (2021) the law still mandates personal ID or Department of Wildlife (NDOW) registration number upon every trap set on public lands. This was the most successful section of our bill.
But, the final language about frequency of trap visitation reflects the unjustified faith our lawmakers have in the Wildlife Commission. It also reflects insensitivity to wildlife, animals, compassion, suffering. Ultimately we were stuck with vague language granting them almost unlimited leeway to water down our intent. Phrases below in bold proved nearly impossible to define, and what followed was a year of wrangling with the Commission.
“The Commission shall adopt regulations setting forth the frequency at which a person who takes or causes to be taken wild mammals by means of traps, snares or similar devices . . . must visit a trap, snare or similar device. In adopting the regulations, the Commission shall consider requiring a trap, snare or similar device placed in close proximity to a populated or heavily used area by persons to be visited more frequently than a trap, snare or similar device which is not placed in close proximity to such an area.”
Traps
The history of this year of wrangling meant we had to attend meetings almost every month in different parts of the state – which meant uncompensated time and expense for us. This episode is a vivid illustration of government obstruction, obfuscation and machination. All we got were a few dots on the map designated for shorter visitation, and the rest of this vast state remains at the punishing 96 hour trap visitation law.
Senate Bill No. 364
Our third bill became effective July 1, 2017.
Strategist Lesley Pittman
With the guidance of a seasoned strategist, and the assistance of the Center for Biological Diversity, and the resources of our newly formed Nevada Wildlife Alliance, we pursued four goals. Three were successful, whereas we were again unable to get shorter trap visitation times.
This bill gives trappers the option of obtaining a trap registration number from Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW.) Or they can attach their own ID (Name and address) to their traps. Every trap, snare or similar device used in commercial and/or recreational trapping on public land has to have one of these means of identification.
Animals still suffer under the 96-hour statute all over the state excepting the few small areas “protected” under SB213. We still need a 24-hour visitation law. This was our only unsuccessful measure. Thirty three states mandate 24 hours. No trapping whatsoever would be best, but 24 hours would be more acceptable.
The public now has the right to move or disable a trap that poses risk. Trappers claim this will encourage vandalism on all their traps. Hikers need to know they won’t face a penalty for protecting themselves or companion animals.
The public deserves and has long demanded warning signs. Federal and state land management agencies in cooperation with NDOW will develop standardized signs to be posted at outdoor recreation sites warning that trapping may occur in that area. Trappers are not required to post these warnings themselves. It would be ideal if they had that much concern for the public, but experience tells us they do not and will not post signs themselves. We need to follow up and see if this is enforced. The US Forest Service agrees to post signs. The Bureau of Land Management has yet to confirm their cooperation.
Patrick Donnelly Nevada Director Center for Biological DiversityNevada Wildlife AllianceActivists Fred Voltz (L) and Dr. Don Molde (R)
The Raccoon is the survivor, who lives alongside man as if to show him that he cannot truly conquer the land.
Circa Summer 1972
Keeping a raccoon as a pet is highly controversial. Like the cat – who can be her own master, living by her wits, or maybe cozy up to you – or the coyote who thrives in rural/urban/or whatever – this guy can adapt to a variety of situations, so it’s not a black and white question. With raccoons, it also depends upon the season of the year. This story wouldn’t have happened if the raccoon was older or if it was autumn or winter. But, this summer my 4-year-old daughter and I were caretaking an old family property in upstate New York. We had a rundown house that was receding back into Nature, a scattering of furniture, 160 open acres and a lake. If you have a setting like this, why not share it with a raccoon, if you’re lucky enough to find one.
Our family’s first summer house in West Copake, NY. Here it’s intact; circa 1929. By 1972, it was rapidly becoming one with the surrounding woods.
Anyway, for a short time Jacques was with me – hard to define the relationship as pet/owner – but we lived together. The crowning animal experience of my life. Daytimes I would take him to the lake – him riding on my shoulder, under my long hair. In the water, he scrabbled about in the shallows. But he always stayed nearby. I never taught him anything. He chose to be close. No, he didn’t wash his food. But he loved to manipulate wet rocks.
As for bathroom habits, he chose an area and that was the latrine, just outside the house, and that was it and I never taught him. He just did it.
Constant rapid manipulation of stuff was his joy and set him to chuckling. I got no sleep because he wanted to spend the night perched on my chest, relentlessly trying to manipulate my teeth, and chattering away. Finally I had to close the door and leave him in the hallway with a steel tub full of old wooden doorknobs floating in water. This occupied him for hours. He kept up his one-sided conversation as the knobs banged and splashed.
Known to be extremely vocal creatures, raccoons interact by using more than 200 different sounds, which include purring, chittering, growling, snarling, hissing, whimpering, and even screeching like owls. Baby raccoon sounds include mewing, crying, and whining. For example, raccoons may whistle like an owl when communicating with other raccoons. Raccoons also growl in defense when in the presence of danger. Other vocalizations may include a low grunt, loud purr or even a scream (when under stress).There is also a kind of roar. If you heard it from a distance, you might think a 30 pound animal is lion-sized.
He got his rabies shots, nearly destroying the vet’s office in the process. He literally bounced off the walls, spraying from his anal glands as two vets tried to catch him. If you haven’t heard an angry raccoon yet, you need to. You will think the sound comes from somebody as big as a tiger, let alone a cute furball weighing no more than 20 pounds. I was delighted; why were these men so dour when we left? If I must analyze – Jacques was the channel for all my resentments and discontents with society. I reveled in his utter insubordination. It was the same with the impossible dogs I chose to love in later years. Sadie, for example…
He knew my mom was afraid of him. He recognized the sound of her car and when he heard her coming, he rubbed his hands together and chuckled, then he hid under her chair. She sat, and he sprang out and grabbed her ankles every time she came over, chuckling to himself over her screams. I can’t say why she never anticipated this, but he stayed a few steps ahead of her. It was all a game. He never hurt or scratched any of us.
He opened jars and soda bottles with screw on tops. He loved sweets. He loved eggs. Also milk. Feeding an omnivore is a no-brainer. Use anything you’ve got.
If you do not have a need to dominate, if you have a sense of humor and access to the outdoors, if you can appreciate a brilliant non-human intelligence, then I say do yourself a favor; spend some time with a raccoon.
The Raccoon is the trickster, the sly and crafty one who may appear slow, but who is quick and agile; the opponent who outsmarts his enemies, and who uses his hands like a human.
January , 2000
The cat food bowls in the garage emptied pretty quickly. But Bub and Nutmeg stayed sleek so I never thought about it. They were indoor/outdoor cats with a cat door to the garage. They hung out on the roof and the neighbors’ boat. I left them at a cattery while I went overseas.
Then right after I got back from my 3-week trip to India in January 2000 she – an unnamed raccoon – was in my garage when I opened the door, drinking out of the cats’ water bowl by the door. So she knew the territory well. She was not particularly impressed by my presence. She sauntered to the cat door. I’ll never know how long she’d been a trespasser.
Frequently visited deck Encounter was here, but had no camera!
April 29, 2004
About 5:15 AM Barest dawn. Roger barking at the door that opens to the deck. I flip on the light to see a striped tail facing us as the creature pulls itself up the border of the deck, feet on the flower planter box. I instantly know it is no cat. The movement is slower, more deliberate.
She turns to look at us, the classic coon face in full view. I say “she” because she visits a few days later with her kits. I turn the light off and hug the still barking Roger to calm him down. The barking had no visible effect on the little prowler.
She tests each potential departure route; eventually she goes down a nearby tree, head first.
A few forays here and there – back up once more – then she descends to the shadowy turf of the side yard where she blends into the darkness.
August , 2004
1:30 AM – 2:55 AM on the deck. Roger barking. A Mom and her three kits, about 2/3 grown. I could hear the chitter.
At first shone flashlight on Mom. She was hanging head first on corner of deck. She noticed me; again, no big reaction on her part . She’s fat and the kits look healthy. So they get food someplace.
Cars go by but nobody knows or even suspects. And until now, I didn’t know they lived here, at least part of the time. Raccoon moms have a few dens in different locations, and move the brood back and forth as she sees fit.
Circa Feb. 2013
This keeps happening. Stuff I thought I stashed safely for later disappears. The best stuff. Frantic searches through old photos, old discs, old flash drives Can’t find notes I surely wrote about this encounter, so can’t pinpoint the date. I do know this happened on a night probably in February or March sitting at my computer writing final draft of testimony for my first Legislative hearing to push the trappers off our firearms restricted congested areas. And push them further from local hiking trails and parks. It worked and we got SB213. No question of sleep, writing through the night.
Animal sidewalk
There is what I call an animal sidewalk directly outside my basement office window. It’s a concrete skirting that borders the east side of the house which is supposed to prevent floods into this finished basement – which I only heard about after buying the house.
Various animals parade here and pause to stare at me behind my monitor.
Fleeting encounters here from animal point of view
On the night in question, I pause my keyboarding to gaze out the window into the face of a raccoon. We take a good long look at one another before he/she ambles away. I take this as a powerful portent of success tomorrow and of course approval and support from the animal souls. I’m flooded with euphoria which, it turns out, was justified.
I name the pointy-nose masked agent of the Universe Wellstone. That’s because Paul Wellstone, liberal warrior, died October 25, 2002 on a charter plane in Minnesota fog along with his wife, a grown daughter, and somebody else…an aide? Now for reasons lost with my lost data, I care passionately about this loss which I just found out about, and no other name will do for this harbinger of success.
Sep. 2, 2014
Between 8:30 -9PM Watched a raccoon walk along sidewalk then up the juniper. She takes a running jump, grasps the trunk and pulls herself up.
In the photo above, the juniper’s highest branches touch my roof, providing a bridge for the raccoons.
This bridge sees raccoon foot traffic on and off for many years. From the living room one can hear overhead a scratchy shuffle and sometimes a two-footed plodding that sounds like a human walking; amazingly heavy tread upon those plantigrade back feet.
After several sightings, I know they come down headfirst. Then they jump down when they’re about 2 feet above ground. The peeling bark beneath their claws sounds like rain falling.
Sep. 7, 2014
5:40 AM One kit gets itself stranded on far pine branches high up over the driveway. I can see that part of the tree swaying although there is no wind. Mama appears, coming out off the roof along the branch that extends over to my roof. She gives a few harsh chirps. Then she makes her way closer to the little stray. Little stray comes toward Mama very slowly and hesitantly. Mama is too smart to go out on untested branches. She leaves but the little kit finally makes it to the overhanging branch and slowly walks along toward the roof. Gets a bit halted by fork in middle of branch, but takes his/her time, regains balance and tightropes it onto the roof. Mom keeps an eye on him, but he has to do it.
Miscellaneous Sightings
Relentless barker
At least 3 or 4 occasions Sadie barking at night. There are coons on the upstairs deck. At that time, there was a healthy aspen to the west with branches providing easy access to the deck. I learned it was Mom and 3 kits. They moved very slowly and cautiously from branch to branch. I didn’t feed them enough to sustain them, but I did leave out occasional treats. A package of sliced turkey was as far as I ever went. Mama was seated at right angles to me and I could watch her in profile as she picked out one slice after another, held it dangling to her uptilted head, and lightly chewed with her pointy back teeth.
Sadly, I had no camera in 1972. This stock photo illustrates the side entry eating technique.
I am not Catholic, but I say you don’t have to be Catholic to love this Pope. He gives us an elegant, eloquent document that goes beyond mere”humane” or “ethical” or “right” to the universal in the widest sense. Every line is quotable. Please read and be inspired anew.
He is the first pope to have taken the name of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, who was always said that he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of brother or sister.
And he is also the first Pope to be named PETA’s Person of the Year. [2015]
Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed “where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves”.
For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins”. For “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God”. (QUOTING PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW)
(ON THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI) If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.
FUTHER QUOTING FRANCIS OF ASSISI “Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker” (Wis 13:5); indeed, “his eternal power and divinity have been made known through his works since the creation of the world”
Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.
Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the environmental crisis have proved ineffective, not only because of powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of interest.
As examples, I will point to the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet, the conviction that everything in the world is connected, the critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from technology, the call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress, the value proper to each creature, the human meaning of ecology, the need for forthright and honest debate, the serious responsibility of international and local policy, the throwaway culture and the proposal of a new lifestyle. These questions will not be dealt with once and for all, but reframed and enriched again and again.
“If we scan the regions of our planet, we immediately see that humanity has disappointed God’s expectations”.
Environmental destruction in Indonesia caused by palm oil plantations
The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. This in turn distorted our mandate to “have dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), to “till it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). As a result, the originally harmonious relationship between human beings and nature became conflictual (cf. Gen 3:17-19). It is significant that the harmony which Saint Francis of Assisi experienced with all creatures was seen as a healing of that rupture. Saint Bonaventure held that, through universal reconciliation with every creature, Saint Francis in some way returned to the state of original innocence. This is a far cry from our situation today, where sin is manifest in all its destructive power in wars, the various forms of violence and abuse, the abandonment of the most vulnerable, and attacks on nature.
Migratory paths and habitat ruined by wall between USA and Mexico.
We are not God. The earth was here before us and it has been given to us. This allows us to respond to the charge that Judaeo-Christian thinking, on the basis of the Genesis account which grants man “dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), has encouraged the unbridled exploitation of nature by painting him as domineering and destructive by nature. This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the Church. Although it is true that we Christians have at times incorrectly interpreted the Scriptures, nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures. The biblical texts are to be read in their context, with an appropriate hermeneutic, recognizing that they tell us to “till and keep” the garden of the world (cf. Gen 2:15). “Tilling” refers to cultivating, ploughing or working, while “keeping” means caring, protecting, overseeing and preserving. This implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between human beings and nature. Each community can take from the bounty of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence, but it also has the duty to protect the earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations. “The earth is the Lord’s” (Ps 24:1); to him belongs “the earth with all that is within it” (Dt 10:14). Thus God rejects every claim to absolute ownership: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me” (Lev 25:23).
“You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and withhold your help… If you chance to come upon a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs; you shall not take the mother with the young” (Dt 22:4, 6). Along these same lines, rest on the seventh day is meant not only for human beings, but also so “that your ox and your donkey may have rest” (Ex 23:12). Clearly, the Bible has no place for a tyrannical anthropocentrism unconcerned for other creatures.
“Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection… Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things”.[43]
IV. THE MESSAGE OF EACH CREATURE IN THE HARMONY OF CREATION
The sun and the moon, the cedar and the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their countless diversities and inequalities tells us that no creature is self-sufficient. Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other”.[63]
A sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings. It is clearly inconsistent to combat trafficking in endangered species while remaining completely indifferent to human trafficking, unconcerned about the poor, or undertaking to destroy another human being deemed unwanted. This compromises the very meaning of our struggle for the sake of the environment. It is no coincidence that, in the canticle in which Saint Francis praises God for his creatures, he goes on to say: “Praised be you my Lord, through those who give pardon for your love”. Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.
92. Moreover, when our hearts are authentically open to universal communion, this sense of fraternity excludes nothing and no one. It follows that our indifference or cruelty towards fellow creatures of this world sooner or later affects the treatment we mete out to other human beings. We have only one heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people. Every act of cruelty towards any creature is “contrary to human dignity”.[69] We can hardly consider ourselves to be fully loving if we disregard any aspect of reality: “Peace, justice and the preservation of creation are three absolutely interconnected themes, which cannot be separated and treated individually without once again falling into reductionism”.[70] Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth.
III. THE CRISIS AND EFFECTS OF MODERN ANTHROPOCENTRISM
An inadequate presentation of Christian anthropology gave rise to a wrong understanding of the relationship between human beings and the world. Often, what was handed on was a Promethean vision of mastery over the world, which gave the impression that the protection of nature was something that only the faint-hearted cared about. Instead, our “dominion” over the universe should be understood more properly in the sense of responsible stewardship.[94]
In the absence of objective truths or sound principles other than the satisfaction of our own desires and immediate needs, what limits can be placed on human trafficking, organized crime, the drug trade, commerce in blood diamonds and the fur of endangered species? Is it not the same relativistic logic which justifies buying the organs of the poor for resale or use in experimentation, or eliminating children because they are not what their parents wanted? This same “use and throw away” logic generates so much waste, because of the disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary. We should not think that political efforts or the force of law will be sufficient to prevent actions which affect the environment because, when the culture itself is corrupt and objective truth and universally valid principles are no longer upheld, then laws can only be seen as arbitrary impositions or obstacles to be avoided.
The monks sought the desert, convinced that it was the best place for encountering the presence of God
When we speak of the “environment”, what we really mean is a relationship existing between nature and the society which lives in it. Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it
There is an interrelation between ecosystems and between the various spheres of social interaction, demonstrating yet again that “the whole is greater than the part”.
We have only one heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people. Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity’.” In the Encyclical by Pope Francis
