Welcome,
kind-hearted viewers,
to today’s edition of
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants,
featuring an interview
with vegan
child-and-family advocate,
parenting advisor,
filmmaker, and author
Amy Hatkoff
from the United States
who has written
“The Inner World
of Farm Animals:
Their Amazing Social,
Emotional and
Intellectual Capacities,”
an insightful work
that gives a voice
to these gentle beings.
The book, which presents
facts and anecdotes
about our beautiful
farm animal friends,
has an introduction
by renowned
British primatologist
Dr. Jane Goodall
and an afterword by
Wayne Pacelle, president
of the respected
animal welfare group,
the Humane Society
of the United States.
Why did Ms. Hatkoff
decide to write
“The Inner World
of Farm Animals”?
Let’s now find out.
I was riding the bus
in New York City (USA),
and I looked up
and I saw this sign;
it depicted farm animals
and mostly cows.
I saw their suffering
but at the same moment
I saw their essence
and I had kind of
an “ah-ha!” moment.
It was like a lightning bolt
had struck me.
I got this message
that I had to speak for
farm animals in the way
that I’ve been trying
to do for babies.
So I got on the Internet
and I Googled and
I put in “farm animals
and capacities,”
and then I put in
“pigs and emotions”
or “cows and intellect.”
And there was
a tremendous amount
of research documenting
that farm animals
were sentient beings with
very complex intelligence,
rich emotional lives,
and rich social lives.
So, I was able to
follow this hunch and
put the story together.
Chickens are
highly developed beings
and the extent
of their intelligence
is not appreciated
by most people.
Here is some
amazing information that
Ms. Hatkoff discovered
about our poultry friends
during her research.
I think, for me,
the most surprising
was the information
I learned about
the chickens.
First of all,
the avian brain
is structured very similarly
to the human brain.
They process information
in the same way that we do,
and there is research
now that shows
that birds have
cognitive capacities
equivalent to
those of primates.
As newborns,
we are largely helpless
and take much time
to learn and
familiarize ourselves
with the world around us.
By contrast, chicks are
cognitively developed in
many areas from day one!
I had a friend
who just had a baby
and I was telling her that
chickens right from birth
have something called
object permanence.
That’s something that a
human baby doesn’t have.
They used to think
that it was eight months;
now they think
it’s maybe as early as
four or five months.
But that means when
something’s out of sight,
you can’t hold it in mind
that that exists.
Baby chicks have that
from the moment
they are born
and we used to joke,
“Well, maybe one day
Emily will be as smart
as a chicken.”
But other amazing facts
about chickens,
they can learn from
watching a video,
for example.
They showed baby chicks
pictures of hens
given two bowls
and eating only
from the red bowl,
not the yellow bowl,
and then the chicks
would go off and eat
only from the red bowl,
not the yellow bowl.
They can count.
Italian researchers
showed that they can use
geometric principles.
So much of the premise
of the book
is that they are closer
(to us) than we think.
Aside from
their cleverness,
chickens, turkeys
and other poultry
are feeling beings and
we are able to
understand their emotions
if we take time
to get to know them.
When I went to visit
a sanctuary, somebody
put a blind chicken
in my arms and
I was petting that chicken.
I never thought
you could hold a chicken,
and stroke a chicken,
and the chicken did just
what my cats used to do.
She nuzzled her little face
into the crook of my elbow
and started to purr.
And I’m sitting there,
petting a chicken.
I mean, as a city person,
this was
incredibly surprising.
The turkeys followed me,
they sat on the grass
with me, and they let me
stroke their feathers
as I went to meet
the other animals
in the shelter.
The very rich, emotional,
communicative capacities
of these animals I find
extraordinarily surprising.
Some say
that the deepest love is
between mother and child.
This profound connection
is found both in the
human and animal world.
I want to just read a quote
by this man,
Joseph Stookey who’s in
Saskatchewan (Canada).
“Is it love?
When we see examples
of maternal behavior
in people, we simply see
it as a strong example
of the bond we call love.
When we see
the same kind of behavior
in any other mammal,
we credit that to evolution
and we leave out
and deny the fact
that they might love
their offspring,
when in fact I can’t see
any difference.”
And that goes with
the expression here,
with speaking about
how we love our children
and how excruciating
it is for them
to be separated.
So, I think
if you ask anybody
who knows animals,
they will tell you it is love.
And they see that love
and that they can love
more purely,
in the same way
that we would say
your dogs love you
or your cats love you.
The same thing
is happening
with these animals.
When we return, we’ll
resume our interview with
Amy Hatkoff, author of
“The Inner World
of Farm Animals:
Their Amazing Social,
Emotional and
Intellectual Capacities.”
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
I think you feel
in your heart that
these animals are beings,
though it’s so easy
not to think or experience
farm animals because we
don’t have access to them.
They’re really
the forgotten ones,
the ones tucked away.
Welcome back to
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants,
as we continue
our engaging talk
with Amy Hatkoff,
the vegan author of
“The Inner World
of Farm Animals.”
Informed by her work
as an advocate
for children and families,
a parenting advisor
and a filmmaker,
Ms. Hatkoff’s book
reveals a deep knowledge
of farm animals and
includes touching stories
and beautiful photographs
that connect readers
with the animals
and their peaceful nature.
So what would you say
that “sentient” means?
Sentience really refers to
feeling and awareness,
that you’re aware of
what is happening to you,
you’re aware of what’s
happening to your body,
you’re aware of
how your body feels,
you’re aware of
what’s happening
to others around you.
It’s being,
having an awareness.
And that really is
kind of counter
to what we often think.
I think we feel that way
about our dogs and cats,
but I think
we don’t often think
that a farm animal,
for example,
has a wide range of
those feelings and as well
as the cognitive capacities
and emotional capacities.
Cows get excited when
they solve problems;
they form friendships
with small groups
of people.
They live by moral codes.
They’re very altruistic.
If a friend of theirs
seems to be upset, a cow
will learn less rapidly,
they will eat less,
and they will groom
that animal.
They have a great deal of
really kind of empathy
towards
their fellow bovines.
That’s beautiful.
And pigs can learn
to play video games
on the computer,
and I think movies
like “Babe” and others
have given us an awareness
that pigs have
an intelligence.
They are
incredibly sensitive,
they mourn themselves
to death
over the loss of a friend.
They don’t like to be alone.
They’re frightened
when they’re not
with their group.
Sheep, the amazing thing
about sheep,
when they are separated
from their flock,
they have great anxiety.
But if you show them
a photograph
of a familiar sheep, or
familiar breed of sheep,
all their stress signs
will go down.
Even squid, that
struck me to learn that
squid have personalities.
I thought
that was extraordinary.
But you know, they’ve got
fear, depression, anxiety,
joy, and boredom.
They really can
suffer terribly if they
don’t have stimulation.
What is your vision
or hope for the future?
What can we do
individually to stop
the plight of farm animals?
Go and meet the animals.
I mean I think
if we want to change
the way we treat animals,
that’s one of
the quickest ways.
I think everybody should
visit the sanctuaries.
I think it’s really great to
start speaking to children,
for school classes
to go to a sanctuary.
Ms. Hatkoff also believes
the adoption
of the vegan diet
is key to changing
how farm animals
are perceived by society.
I think we just
have to wake up.
And there are
so many alternatives that
are being offered to us
if people wanted
to stop eating animals.
(There are) tremendously
wonderful publications
about being a vegan
and how to do it
and what are
the health benefits of that.
So, I think it’s all of us,
stepping up to the plate
and being
conscious Earth citizens.
Amy Hatkoff has these
wise parting words for us
about how humanity can
create a wonderful future
relationship with
farm animals.
And I think if
we want to make changes
in this right now,
there is a tipping point, and
I just read the other day
children are
becoming vegetarians,
I forget the numbers,
but in very high numbers.
So I think, how society
can change awareness?
I think that it’s all there,
it’s all in front of us.
I think
we have to be receptive,
step back, take a breath,
keep on envisioning,
how can this world
be better, safer,
more humane,
more supportive,
more peaceful
to everybody?
When we’re peaceful
to one person, that peace
has a lot of ripples.
So we’re
all going to benefit.
It’s all going
to come back to us.
But we’re really
at a tipping point too with
the safety of our planet.
So making a change with
regard to factory farming
would be one of
the biggest impacts,
to protect us
from global warming.
And again, there’s
so much information
out there now and
sites people can go to,
to really get as informed
and find out
how they can advocate,
how they can champion
for these changes.
Amy Hatkoff,
we salute you
for opening the eyes
of so many people
to the sweet nature
of farm animals.
May your work continue
to bring much needed
public awareness
that these animals are
sensitive, sentient beings
who are full of love
and that the vegan diet
is a splendid way to
show our care for them!
For more details
on Amy Hatkoff,
please visit
“The Inner World
of Farm Animals”
is available at
Thank you for joining us
today on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May the true love within
move you to
the highest state of being.