180 With Feet to the Earth 



at least let the Society for the Prevention 

 of Cruelty to Animals name the amount 

 and frequency of the slaughters. A science 

 based on cruelty ? A truth learned through 

 torture and outrage ? How can we know 

 it for truth under such conditions ? We 

 know enough about the anatomy of ani- 

 mals. Let us study them living, for in 

 that form they are a hundred-fold more 

 interesting, more useful, more engaging, 

 than when dead. Let us have no more 

 shooting "for fun," and no more vivisec- 

 tion. The brutalizing of men by such 

 actions is worse, if possible, than the pain 

 endured by their victims. 



Animals are closer to humanity than we 

 know. They reason. I have seen cats in 

 revery and dogs in study. They are bet- 

 ter than men, because they have longer 

 memories for benefits than for injuries. A 

 cat will return to you, purring, five minutes 

 after you have tweaked his tail. In our 

 latitude the only animals that misbehave 

 themselves are those that meet men. I 

 used to know a deer in Maine. His name 

 was J ames. Somebody had shot his parents, 



