Part 1: Scars of the Past:

My photos are primarily divided into two categories, taken at two

different times. They represent two contrasting relationships underlying the
animal stories at Pasados.
Using photography to focus on a single individual made everything
more concrete for me. Its like what we discussed in class about the inability
to comprehend something so abstract (e.g., the plight of factory farm
animals as an entity). Heres a story from my time with a pit bull named
Tipper.
It was a damp, cloudy day, with wet mud scattered about Tippers
outdoor housing. Immediately, he came up and began licking my hand. After
a few moments, he wandered off and sat down, sunbathing, thanks to the
brief warmth of sunlight that had appeared. I went and stood behind a tree
and decided to simply observe his behavior, trying to piece together his
personality. From what Eve has told me so far, Tipper is extremely friendly
toward humans (hence the licking), but is questionable toward other dogs.
This is because Tipper, a pit bull, was bred for fighting. As you might be able
to see in the photos, Tippers ears were cropped because it limits the area to
which other dogs can grab on to when fighting, and it makes a dogs body
language more difficult to read during the fight.

It really struck me when I thought about what it means for a dog to

have its ears cropped off, just as we discussed in class about cows having
their tails removed. It is most jarring when you realize that these things
essentially strip the animals down not only physically, but emotionally. Their
very identities are taken away from them (loss of body language) through
these procedures. This is a clear act of violation, a typical depiction of the
lopsided power dynamics that exist between humans and animals.
As I continued to watch Tipper, he suddenly stood up and walked up to
the wired fence. He seemed to fixate on something in the distance. A few
moments passed. Suddenly, there was complete chaos. Tipper started
barking like mad as another dog passed by. He dashed across to the other
side the fence, where a red ball lay. He picked it up and started licking it
incessantly. I watched in utter incredulity as he transformed from a calm,
sweet boy, to a helpless, anxiety-driven mess. I slowly walked up to him but
he ignored me entirely. He was fixated on the toy, licking the toy with a
ferociousness that reflected the intensity of his inner turmoil. After about five
minutes of this, it was as though his brain tapped the OFF switch he
turned around from the toy, went back into his little house, where I could
hear him drinking some water. When he came back out, he was back to his
old self, as though nothing had happened. It was absolutely eerie. What was
going on inside his mind? Was his mind still racing from the anxiety attack he
had just experienced? Did his mind just forget about what he experienced?
Regardless, what I had just experienced was simply horrific, clear evidence

that dogs and other animals are capable of developing long-term

psychological disorders as a result of severe trauma (I assume this behavior
developed during his time as a fighter dog). I dont think Ill ever forget this
experience it penetrated deep down into my consciousness and affected
me on an emotional level. No matter how much philosophizing I will do in the
future, discussing the distinctions between pain and suffering and whether
we think these distinctions matter in considering animal rights, this one
particular experience will always remain with me and remind me how
fundamentally wrong it is abuse another living organism, no matter for what
purpose. It almost makes me question the power of logic we have used it to
bring technology and science into the world, but it can also be dangerous. It
is quite repugnant when we step back and realize we are using logic to justify
killing a living organism, another being with whom we share this world.

Part 2: Hope for the Future:

A few weeks after the first trip, I was invited to be the official event
photographer for Pasados upcoming Valentines Day public gathering. I was
told that they had these public events every other month, primarily on days
that had some sort of theme; in this case, it was Spread the Love, a
suitable theme for Valentines Day. I attempted to show the clear contrast
between the remnants of the past and the incredible hope for the future. This

was especially evident, given that most of the attendees (about 150!) were
new to Pasados. I was able to observe, again on an individual level, the
incredible change that occurred after the kids and adults started interacting
with the animals.
One of the first glimpses of hope I saw was actually not through a
human-animal interact. Rather, I had stationed myself in the warmth of
welcome center, where people were busy checking in and enjoying a quick
bite before heading off on the grand tour. I witnessed the pure connection
between mother and daughter and the intensity of young love. These sights
reminded me that humans are capable of experiencing powerful emotions
that can serve as an important impetus for change. The question is, how do
we access or appeal to such emotions when dealing not with our loved ones,
but with animals? I think that Pasado, as an animal sanctuary, has a special
place and opportunity to make real progress with this issue. One of the
biggest problems with our relationship with animals is simply that we have
no real contact with those animals that we eat. In turn, we lose the vital
connection that reminds us that animals are more than products for our
consumption. Pasado heals that connection in the most direct way possible. I
remember seeing one girl, clinging to her mother, standing behind the gates
of the pig pen. Snorty, one of the pigs, poked his nose out of the gates and
attempted to nuzzle the little girl. The little girl backed away, probably
frightened that the pig would bite her. Just a few minutes later, however, the
girl decided to walk into the pen and realized that there was nothing to be

afraid of. Within another few minutes, she was hugging the pig and posing
for pictures. It was pretty incredible to see such a powerful transformation in
mere minutes. I think this is why exposing kids to animals early on in their
life is most important because that is the time when kids are most malleable.
Their first experiences with animals are in person, not through the distortion
of ambiguity of television. Chances are, if they have questions about the
animals on the television, they will ask their parents. And honestly, I think
most parents would resort to answering questions based on their own limited
experiences and cultural norms, which often isnt quite the truth.
I could see the clear contrast between adults interacting with the
animals versus the kids interacting with the animals. One older man who had
come in to see the pigs was, in a flippant or even taunting tone, calling over
one of the pigs, calling him porky. I dont know if it was his choice of words
or his tone, but it definitely carried a dislikable, domineering undertone. I
dont think any amount of reconditioning with the animals could have
changed that attitude. That kind of behavior is so engrained in our minds,
reinforced every time we watch an animal product commercial that paints a
comical or disparaging picture of these animals.
This closing of distance between the animal and person doesnt just
occur during these events. The fact that Pasados adopts out all of its
animals, including pigs and cows, is probably one of the most important
things it does in changing attitudes. Increasing the proximity between human
and animal is crucial for fostering a deeper understanding an animals

identity, beyond its function as food. Perhaps the sanctuary model may be a
good one for the future, simply because of its capability to expose people to
animals in a unique context. The animals are not trapped behind bars like in
a zoo, or living in squalid conditions that may reinforce prior perceptions of
farm animals. Perhaps then, people can come to a better understanding of
who an animal actually is.
Part 3: Pasado in Context:
In Bears Being Angelica, the author argues for the importance of
observing animals at the level of the individual rather than the species when
looking at the human-animal relationship. I thought that this connection was
apt because of our overwhelming focus in class on the big picture factory
farms, policy, government, etc. There was very little on the individual. I
especially like the point that Bear makes about how a focus on species and
populations directs ethical concern to issues of scarcity and abundance.
Presumably, focusing on the ethical concern of the individual will lead to a
fuller understanding of what it means when we sentence entire species or
groups of animals to our policies.
In particular, I felt this refocusing on perspective while at Pasados. I
remember one particular day when I was cleaning out the barn that the pigs
were using to sleep in. We had recently hauled over a huge pile of new hay
to put in the barn. Penelope, one of the local pig residents, had wandered
over to investigate. She came over, sniffed around, and plopped herself right
in the middle of the hay stack. She rolled around, continuing to sink deeper

in the hay stack. By the end, we could only see her eyes poking out of the
haystack. She then promptly closed her eyes and appeared to take a short
nap. When we had to finally move her, she arose reluctantly, snorting all the
while, just like any one of us when we are waken up from a nap.
I dont know if its because Ive been doing photography for some time
and consequently paid more attention to the world around me, but I feel that
this kind of attention and focus to our environment (including animals) is
fundamental to expanding beyond the anthropocentric worldview. If people
were willing to showing compassion toward animals in the same way we do
with our own family or even our own pets, we would be much more reluctant
to pursue our current practices of factory farming and other abuses of power.
Again, seeing the individual is a huge part of doing this.