The Importance of Animals to Humans

Since the dawn of time. animals have played an important part in the life of man. They have provided man with a source of food, and have even been used to help man hunt for food. And even though hunting has become obsolete and is mainly, for entertainment or sport, animals are still important to the survival of the human species.

Firstly. let us look at animals as part of our staple foods. Animals, usually livestock, such as cows and chickens, are processed into food for man. The meat from these animals is essential to our diet, as they contain various nutrients that our bodies require and that vegetables cannot provide us with. Even vegetarians consume dairy products, which contain proteins and calcium that are essential for strong bones. This is particularly important to women over the age of fifty-five years, who begin to suffer from a condition that causes their bones to become less capable of supporting their weight. Artificial dairy product may- be manufactured to supplement our diet., but studies show that infants weaned on non-dairy based milk, have a slower growth rate than their counterparts who were fed the natural milk.

Apart from playing a part as a source of food, animals are also used as tools. Dogs, for example, have a keen sense of hearing and smell, which can be utilised in many fields. Hunting, a sport as previously mentioned is one such examp1e, dogs are often used to 1ead their masters to their prey or even to retrieve fallen pray. This was a more important role in the past, when the breeding of animals for food was unheard of and hunting was the only way to obtain food. Apart from this, dogs have also been uti1ised in the area of' crime prevention. Drugs, which have corrupted society, cannot, be detected by sensors, and to check every conceivable p1ace for drugs would be time consuming. Dogs are brought into the picture to help deal with the problem. These dogs are trained specially for the purpose of drug detection.

In another aspect, animals have been used to aid the handicapped . Animals are trained to rep1ace the functions that. these people have lost.. In some countries. dogs are trained to lead blind people round. In the same manner, monkeys and others of its species are trained to help paraplegics. These simian creatures are trained to fetch objects and perform services, such as to switch on the television, under the command of' their master. These people would clearly be lost without these animals and would require assistance from another person and hence 1ose their independence completely.

Let us now examine the importance of animals as a form of transport. Although animals have proved to be constantly reliable in the past, they have been partially disregarded as a form of transport due to the fact that faster modes of transport have been designed. But even these vehicles have their limitations. In mountainous regions, such as the Himalayas, access is denied to vehicles because of the steep gradient and uneven narrow paths that lead up these peaks. So animals come to the rescue! Animals, such as donkeys or llamas are used to transport supplies up the mountain.

Animals are also used in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Vehicles cannot be used in some areas, as their weight would put a strain on the ice and cause it to give way, bringing great peril to the travelling party. Thus animals are the only safe and fast way of travelling across the vast icy plains.

So far, we have only seen the value of animals solely from a physical point of view. However. an animal's biology also plays a great play in the assessment of its worth.

In the past as well as in recent years, animals have been used as test-specimens in laboratories to find cures for various diseases. The similar genetic makeup of some species of animals to humans make them prune candidates to test newly manufactured drugs. Humans could be employed to work as test subjects, but. this would give human rights activists a reason to raise a commotion. In my opinion, this is not. really a humanitarian thing to do. Hence these drugs are tested on animals to see if they might have adverse effects on a human being.

Apart from acting as test subjects, animals have helped the scientific world by allowing us to trace our origins. The various species and spectrum of animals have allowed scientists to get a better understanding of biology. For example, the study of fossils and bones of extinct creatures allow us to see the similarities between these bones and those of present animals. With these similarities, relations have been traced to animals of the past.

Man is more vulnerable than ever. The fumes from industrial plants and vehicles have burned a hole in the atmosphere surrounding the earth, and have caused the greenhouse effect. It is uncertain, but to protect our environment we just might have to resort to using our most efficient, environment friendly form of' transport - animals.