From the earliest days of man, creative uses for animals have arisen. Since the time of them Mongolian chief Timur and Sultan Muhmad Khan, many military uses have been created. These creative ideas are still created today, now modern day countries find many uses of animals such as monkeys, seals, dolphins, goats, elephants, and other animals in the military. Though the truth is right in front of our eyes, many people do not believe that these animals show up on the battlefield and in the oceans with humans defusing bombs and attacking enemies on the other lines.
One of the first documented uses of animals in the military showed up around the year 1398. In this year the Mongolian army invaded India riding army elephants that had scimitars attached to their tusks. To stop the Mongolians and their strong army of armored elephants, Timur, the Indian Sultan, ordered all of his camels to the front lines to be covered in oil and straw, then set on fire. Just like planned, the camels charged forward scaring the elephants who retreated backwards killing and trampling the whole Mongolian army (Sloan 1).
Even though the animals in the military get the same amount of treatment and training as the humans, these tactics have now become very controversial and many people are protesting against it. The leaking of many training videos involving these military animals has not helped the military's cause. These videos show the use of monkeys and goats in medical training which is evidence that the military is violating its own animal welfare regulations (Lawrence 1). These military's response has not helped their cause either, a former military medic responded to these videos saying that these training videos are not enough to replicate actual b...
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...examples of how smart and how rich the knowledge of not just humans, to think of this use, but also animals, to be able to understand and do their part in protecting and attacking in war.
Works Cited
Lawrence, Chris. "Videos renew debate on military use of animals." CNN politics . 1. 1 (5 June 2009): 1-2. Web. .
Sloan, Jacob. "Insane military uses of animals (that actually worked)." DISINFO . 1. 1 (6 April 2011): 1-6. Web. .
Unknown. "Marine Mammal Program." United States Marine Mammal Program . 1. 1 (2 February 2011): 1. Web. .
Unknown. "The story of navy dolphins." PBS . 1. 1 (2014): 1-4. Web. .
The abundant animal imagery in Timothy Findley's book The Wars is used to develop characterization and theme. The protagonist, Robert Ross, has a deep connection with animals that reflects his personality and the situations that he faces. This link between Robert and the animals shows the reader that human nature is not much different than animal nature.
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
According to Marna Owen, from "Animal Rights; Yes or No? claims that each year 80,000 animals are used and often killed for the sake of medical research. He describes experiments in which puppies are burned, cats eyelids are sewn shut, and baboon's heads are crushed. A fiery debate arised and according to the book 6 people chained themselves to the psychol...
“Even if animal testing produced the cure for Aids, we’d be against it” This rhetoric notion was stated by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and summarizes the fanatical doctrine animal rights activists preach to their followings. These activists preach a doctrine of hate calling for the end of all meat eating, wearing of fur, use of animals in experiments regardless if they are beneficial or not, and even push for the end of all pets as we know of it. Howard Lyman author of “Mad Cowboy” has not only aligns himself with this rambunctious group of man haters, but supports their nazi like doctrine in his book. On further review of mad cowboy one must dig deep to find any useful knowledge, and when you do find it, one sees that the knowledge has been twisted to fit Lyman’s own agenda. Long dead are the days when knowledge was first gathered then conclusions derived, now statistics and data is twisted and molded to grant validity to ones own agenda.
Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2012. Print.
Cats have been used in several ways to work in the military. With all of their sharpened senses, cats would make great trackers and would be able to navigate terrain easily. In these articles, the authors discuss the uses of cats in the military. Allen and Beam found, “Smarter and stealthier than dogs, cats are also more versatile: They can climb trees and leap across buildings to gain intelligence,” (Beam, Allen, 2011). Pitogo’s research found, “Cats were deployed into the battleships and the trenches of the Great War to hunt mice and rats,” (Pitogo, 2014). Pitogo also states, “In the trenches, they were also employed as gas detectors,” (Pitogo, 2014.) Cats are incredibly agile, and can climb to great heights and fit into small spaces easily.
Cohn, Meredith. "Alternatives to animal testing gaining ground." The Baltimore Sun [Baltimore] 26 Aug. 2010: 1-2. Print.
Throughout history, there has always been wars. Whether it was about pride, money, or territories, they all have one thing in common. All the soldiers in these wars have taken on characteristics of animals. "Only by doing so can a soldier survive. This is true in any war situation."1 They become vicious, braver, protective, develop better senses, and after the war, they do not want to remember what happened in the battle field.
...r the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 28 Oct. 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
"Animal Cruelty and Human Violence : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS. N.p.,
Science fiction never ceases to amaze me as I take great enjoyment in exploring these creative universes. I have always had a great interest in military science fiction for its take on technological innovation and critical analysis. Military science fiction in general is very speculative about future of technology and warfare. The military science fiction genre also serves as a critique of contemporary politics as it deals with many of the same issues that go on today. This has made military science fiction one if the most well respected genres of science fiction for it ability to indirectly criticize modern society. My Integrated Project explores the relationship between how technology that has arisen from war has been some of the most innovative and why war has become an unshakeable aspect of human existence.
Seeing maimed animals are not pleasant images. Those images sometimes appear across computer and television screens. The advocacy groups who place these images in the public’s view are trying to jolt people into the realization that abuse exists. For every ten seconds that goes by an animal is getting abused (“Animal… Statistics”). One statistic states that “71% of pet-owning women entering women’s shelters reported that their batterer had injured, maimed, killed or threatened family pets for revenge or to psychologically control victims; 32% reported their children had hurt or killed animals” (“Animal… Violence”). Animal cruelty comes in several forms, some of which people do not know. There is animal experimenting, animal abuse, and mistreatment of animals. and through revealing the results from research, one discovers the horrific effects of animal abuse.
Tom Regan, “The Case for Animal Rights,” in In Defense of Animals, ed. Peter Singer (Oxford:
A. A. “The Case Against Animal Rights.” Animal Rights Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Janelle Rohr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1989.
the military was testing bioweapons and other weapons on animals same with chemicals. It also stated that the experiments done in the US are some of the most harsh and extreme and dangerous (Animal Rights pages 57-58).