Honoring Rocco

Pittsburgh PA is grieving the loss of Rocco, a K-9 police dog who was recently stabbed to death during an arrest. A funeral was held in the city for Rocco, complete with a bagpipe procession and full dress blues. Over 1200 people attended to pay respect to him.

Prima facie this outpouring of grief seems like a victory for nonhuman rights. After all, it is extremely rare that nonhumans are paid tribute to in such a manner. My remarks that follow are in no way intended to convey disrespect toward Rocco or anyone grieving for him. 

When I heard about Rocco, I found myself asking a lot of questions. What is it that makes Rocco different from the billions of nonhumans who suffer violent deaths at the hands of humans? Was Rocco different because he was trained by humans to perform tasks for humans that helped save humans? Is it the bond Rocco shared with his partner? Why do we pay such homage to one nonhuman while, at the same time, overlooking the suffering and death of billions of others? What is it that makes Rocco's murderer any more guilty than anyone else who kills a nonhuman?

The short answer is species bias, or speciesism. In all of our dealings with nonhumans there is a presumption that we matter more. Since Rocco served us in a way that seemed to honor this prejudice, he was given a hero's burial. But all nonhumans who die at the hands of humans are serving humans in one way or another. How they are honored, or more commonly forgotten, is calculated within the parameters of speciesism. 

I don't believe Rocco's funeral is a victory for nonhumans. In fact, I think that in the long run it only exemplifies anthropocentric norms. Was Rocco a hero? Perhaps. But honoring him shouldn't be about his service to humans. Honoring Rocco should be about his inherent value as a being whose life (like countless others) matters.

The most common response I've been hearing in discussions about Rocco is that this sort of fanfare is held for all police officers. Well, that's not entirely true, but even if it is true on occasion, those formal funerals certainly aren't as well publicized. The fact that Rocco is a dog is what makes it "newsworthy." In any case, the whole thing reminds me of the fanfare that is staged for soldiers killed in the middle east. No fanfares are being held for the civilians that are being killed. It's a hurrah for the military, not the actual soldiers. It's all about who matters more according to the powers that be. Iraqi civilians matter less than U.S. soldiers and "beef" cattle matter less than a K-9 police dog.

Just like Rocco, billions of nonhumans are violently slaughtered by humans. They are murdered by criminally backed packing house workers. Their funerals consist of unceremonial "processing" and "packaging."

Their headstones are plates and forks. Their graves are our stomachs. I am glad Rocco was honored! What a beautiful example of human - nonhuman kinship. It is the lesson of this kinship we need to take away from his tragic death and begin to honor all of our nonhuman brothers and sisters. Thank you Rocco!