“WHERE IS THE logical fallacy in anthropomorphism?” once asked animal ethicist Bernard “Bernie” Rollin. “We assume continuity with respect to physical characteristics, then promptly deny it in relation to mental ones.”
Rollin, professor emeritus of philosophy, animal sciences, and biomedical sciences at Colorado State University, died on November 19, 2021, at 78. It’s perhaps far-fetched to think the animals are mourning his death, but it’s not the least bit improbable that animals feel and think. It’s popular common sense, actually, as Rollin pointed out.
He argued that non-human animals have a telos (“nature”), and the freedom to act in accord with this nature is an essential component of an animal’s welfare. Unwavering in his belief that all sentient animals deserve compassionate treatment respecting their “natures,” he was an architect of the 1985 amendments to the Animal Welfare Act, which strengthened standards for laboratory animal care.
In his memoir, Putting the Horse Before Descartes (2011), Rollin describes how he came to educate himself and others about the ethical treatment of animals. He authored many books, including Animal Rights and Human Morality (1981) and The Unheeded Cry: Animal Consciousness, Animal Pain and Scientific Change (1988), and more than 600 articles.
Considered to be the father of veterinary medical ethics, Rollin developed the first courses on the subject at CSU, where he taught for fifty years. The leading scholar in animal ethics and consciousness gave more than 1,500 lectures in twenty-eight countries. He won the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, among many other national and international awards. Rollin served on the Pew National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production and the Institute for Laboratory Animal Resources Council of the National Academy of Sciences.
The world will be less colorful without Bernie Rollin, who was also a weightlifting, Harley-Davidson, and horseback-riding enthusiast. Hopefully, it will at least honor his legacy by remaining a brighter place for animals. Dr. Rollin is survived by his wife, Linda, and son, Michael.