May 2025 Focus

THE ISSUE

When our own freedom impacts another being’s body or mind autonomy it becomes oppression, so how do we live freely but not oppress others…

HUMAN FREEDOM: When we think about our personal freedom it can be quite mind boggling to gage how free in life are we? A good place to start is back at the nine key areas of wellbeing, rate each area: good, ok, or poor and this will give you a rough summary of how much freedom you have in life. Think of each area as in how well you can express yourself, grow and access. 

Intellectual Freedom?

Emotional Freedom? 

Relational Freedom?

Vocational Freedom?

Cultural Freedom?

Spiritual Freedom?

Financial Freedom?

Physical Freedom?

Environmental Freedom?

So how free are you? Now think about other people for instance that may not have access or rights to education, that may not be able to grow up in a stable environment due to climate change, may not be able to love freely because their rights are oppressed, living in poverty, or limited physically and treated differently because of this, these are just a few examples. Think about the way in which you live your life and your freedom and how that has a direct effect on the freedom of others? Remind yourself of those nine key areas that you have rated good, ok, or poor and apply how your freedom may not only just affect people, but non-human animals and the environment to? 

NON - HUMAN ANIMAL FREEDOM: Sadly, Non-human animals have very little rights and are extremely oppressed and exploited because of our personal acts of freedom. In fact,non-human animals along with nature falls at the very bottom of the list of oppression. I could talk forever on this subject about the freedom of human beings consuming non-human animals for food and how that affects the freedom and autonomy in every single way for those sentient beings which are used, exploited, killed, and consumed in the animal agricultural industry, which affect’s humans, non-human animals, and the environment. But what I want to focus on here is captivity. 

Captivity is where humans or non-human animals are held captive, imprisoned, or confined in a particular place or environment for a period or a lifetime.
Captivity prevents freedom of movement and freedom of choice. For humans held captive in prisons they have the hope that when their sentence is completed, they will be granted freedom. For a non-human animal living captivity, there is no hope of freedom in their lifetime and lack of choice during that lifetime.

Forms of captivity: zoos, farms, aquaculture and animal agricultural industries, animal riding and racing industries, dolphinariums, petting parks, mobile zoo's,
circuses and laboratories, even companion animals kept in our homes is a form of captivity even though it is a much kinder form of captivity. The only two forms of
captivity that can be considered positive for non-human animals are legitimate sanctuaries and genuinely domesticated companion non-human animals in human homes with high welfare standards. All other forms of captivity are detrimental to non-human animal wellbeing and rights.

Zoochosis is a term or phrase that refers to stereotypic behaviour that non-human animals perform when they are held in captivity and are in psychological distress. Sadly, many undercover investigations have revealed that non-human animals are suffering with zoochosis on farms (even with RSPCA assured logo and high welfare - red tractor), in zoos, dolphinariums, laboratories, travelling circuses and in the racing and hunting industries. 

Zoochosis is highly repetitive behaviours and movements such as: pacing, swaying, rocking, tongue playing, bar biting, over grooming, regurgitating, vomiting, coprophilia, coprophagia, self-mutilation, staring into space, head banging, or any behaviour or movement performed at a highly repetitive rate for long periods of time. Imagine that your mental health has deteriorated so much that these behaviours become the only form of self-soothing you have because of the environment that you are imprisoned in.

Imagine being stuck in the same room forever, that’s what it feels like for a non-human animal living in captivity. 

Take a moment to think about your personal freedom and the choices you make and how those affect non-human animals in captivity. 

ENVIRONMENTAL FREEDOM: What freedom does the environment have? After all mankind has changed the surface of the earth in its entirety. Mankind has affected the land, sea and sky through deforestation, agriculture, mining, urbanisation, infrastructure, climate change, pollution and in general mankind’s dominance and attitude towards the Earth. 

THE SOLUTION

To promote freedom for all: humanity, non-human animals and the environment, humanity would have to change its mindset and consciousness as a collective as humanity is the ultimate oppressor of all life.

Education from a young age in kindness and empathy to encourage human beings to be more compassionate and have more characteristics of compassion as well as compassionate behaviours throughout life.

Education of anti-speciesism to be promoted for all ages which could help end all other forms of oppression, as non-human animals are the most oppressed.

Political systems to promote animal rights not animal welfare as this would lead to true non-human animal liberation as well as raising human rights and environmental rights.

The promotion of veganism and plant-based living to promote human, non-human animal, and environmental liberation as well as health for all.

Education and awareness of the benefits of coexisting with wildlife, along with rewilding schemes and making urban spaces green to promote wildlife coexistence and boost health.

The phasing out of wildlife being kept in captivity and promotion of keeping wildlife in the wild. This could increase more land and marine protected areas and national parks, this would benefit all life.

Phasing out of non-human animal agriculture. 

All new homes and infrastructure to be built of biophilic design to promote nature connectedness.

Ultimately, we must see ourselves as part of nature again, to not only secure a future for our children but for the future of all other life on earth.

When we think of the environment, it’s not somewhere else far away, we are in it right now. We are in the environment and in the natural world all the time, and what happens to the environment affects you and the symbiotic relationship with all life. For us to truly be free we must give freedom in all that we do for the earth, non-human animals and fellow mankind… Freedom is what every living form of energy aspires for…

Mark Lee Davies – founder of Haus of Conservation. 

HAUS OF CONSERVATION