Sara Orero Tomás 1

Criticism and practice of english literature

2022-2023

Mark Twain, dog's best friend, and animal rights fighter

Abstract

In this paper, animal studies will be explained from the base of the short story called “A dog’s

tale”, written by Mark Twain and published in 1903. The essay will talk about three topics that

I have highlighted because of the importance that the writer gives to certain aspects, starting

with the intelligence of the protagonist’s mother, who is very vain but endowed with great

intelligence which is intriguing because back then animals were seen as beasts used for

experiments. Secondly, we will see experimentation on domestic and wild animals, a cruel

reality that is described in the story. Finally, the third point will talk about animal abuse and

the mistreatment that animals received inside the house. I will also make a brief comment on

how Mark Twain defended the rights of animals in his writings and speeches in which he

encourages respect for animals and openly criticizes his rejection of human cruelty. The

objective of this paper is to guide about the reality of animals, both in laboratories or in their

own homes.

Keywords: mistreatment, Mark Twain, cruelty, beasts, rights of animals

1. Introduction

Animal abuse has existed for many years due to the need for human domination, as we can

see this control over our own race in racism, homophobia, sexism, etc...These innocent

creatures have to suffer human cruelty every day, they are turned into coats, food, objects of

experiments and even so they continue to be mistreated by blows. That is why Mark Twain

shows this suffering in the short story called “A dog’s tale”, this writer was an important

activist who acted in favour of animal welfare.

In this short story Mark Twain is trying to make people understand because of everything

that animals go through from the point of view of a single dog; the blows, the laboratory tests,

and also, the hunt, although it does not appear in the story, the writer totally disagreed with

that kind of activity. He was one of the defenders of animals throughout history, his love for

animals and his rejection where so high that he once said that man is the only race capable of
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harming others for pleasure or for his own convenience.

Both in history and in reality, the excess of dominance and superiority that humans exercise

over these innocent beings is remarkable. In first place this paper will talk about the

intellectually of the animals relating this with the intelligence of the mother of Aileen, with the

help of some resources that will help me to support my ideas. In second place I will talk about

the laboratories that use animals for their experiments, in which they end up dying or being

affected by infections or diseases, this being one of the most inhumane things. Finally, I will

end my paper exposing the animal abuse.

2. The capacity of the animal brain

“Four studies he examined looked how dogs solve spatial problems by modelling human or

other dogs’ behaviour using a barrier type problem. Through observation, Coren said, dogs can

learn the location of valued items (treats), better routes in the environment (the fastest way to

a favourite chair), how to operate mechanisms (such as latches and simple machines) and the

meaning of words and symbolic concepts…”

In this article extracted from the American Psychological Association we can observe the
level

of intelligence belonging to a dog. They have the ability to learn a large number of words and

solve simple operations “such as 1+1=1 or 1+1=3”, which places them at the level of a two or

three-year-old human.

We can relate this fact to the story due to the intellect of Aileen’s mother, who had an

Intellect of this level or even higher, which we can see on page 166, where the protagonist

Talks

specifically about the dog’s knowledge. The curious thing is how much Mark Twain highlights

this canine intelligence throughout the story, since dogs have long been seen as beasts that

only served to protect the home or for hunting. Therefore, at that time it was not normal to

attribute this type of qualities to a dog except for a small group of scientists or animal

advocates who dedicated themselves to the study of this subject, such as Margaret Cavendish.
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“One theory is that dogs “tell time” by using their sense of smell. They keep track of how
much

particular scents fade, and remember that specific things happen when a scent reaches

a certain level of faintness.”

This fragment taken from the animal cognition website talks about one of the most developed

aspects of the dog, which allows them to double their intelligence thanks to this quality.

Compared to the story, I think Aileen’s sense of smell was an important factor in the fire

happening to save both, her and the baby.

From my point of view, dogs are not only guided by a developed instinct, but if they receive
a good education they can do more than expected.

3. Laboratory punctures

“Morphia is seldom used alone; but, in some cases, it is used after chloroform or ether. That

morphia is a "real anæsthetic" is certain, for there are deaths every year from an overdose of

it. Again, it is certain that an animal, so far under the influence of morphia that it lies still,

cannot be suffering, for the drug does not act directly on the muscles but on the higher

nervous centers.”

This fragment is from an extract of the book “experiments on animals”, written by Stephen

Paget were talks about animal experimentation, in this case, the use of morphine in

animals, perhaps one of the least harmful drugs injected into animals, but the reality about

laboratories is that the percentage of animals that end up surviving after all the tests they are

subjected to is very small.

“Approximately 115 million animals are experimented on every year, while only 13% survive”

This quote was extracted from a short documentary that shows the cruelty with which

animals were abused. It also shows statistics that show the immensity of the problem, the

millions of animals that are used for experiments every year and the few that survive. They are

usually subjected to injections containing diseases or substances that are lethal to these
creatures, or they are also used to test cosmetics in a totally inhumane way.

In relation to Mark Twain's story, we can see the similarity with Aileen's puppy, which is

brutally tortured inside the laboratory and finally euthanized.

4. Humans, the
dog’s worst enemy

This painting by Daniel Segura Bonnett shows in a very harsh way the mistreatment that

animals, especially dogs, receive on a daily basis. They are treated in such an abusive way

because man feels the need to exercise power over a defenceless animal, to have dominion

over other breeds gives them pleasure, which is the greatest cruelty, the human being may

have made very important scientific advances today, but all the damage he has done is

irreparable.

In the story we observe this cruelty with the action Mr. Gray takes as soon as he sees what

has happened, the first thing that crosses his mind is to hit the animal with a cane.

5. Conclusion

In the future, this work could be taken up again in a more explicit way and also adding data

on another place where animals are cruelly treated, the livestock farms. The short story that

has been briefly analyzed contains the issues that most affect animals and which the writer

denounced the most. As an important animal activist, Mark Twain decided to expose all these

injustices in "A Dog's Tale", where cruelty is the main topic.

 Works Cited

Amanda Pachniewska. “Can Dogs Tell Time?” Animal Cognition, 3 Nov. 2016,
https://www.animalcognition.org/2016/10/12/can-dogs-tell-time/.

American Psychological Association. (2009, August 8).

Canine researcher puts dogs’ intelligence on par with 2-year-old human

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2009/08/dogs-think#

“Animal testing documentary” YouTube, uploaded by Chloe T, 10 may 2017

https://youtu.be/Ze5-vFoqlPc

Paget, Stephen “Experiments on animals”, London J.Murray, 1903

https://archive.org/details/experimentsonani00pagerich/page/344/mode/2up

Segura Bonnett, Daniel “Embozalados” 2008

https://www.elespectador.com/actualidad/la-criminologia-y-el-maltrato-animal-420533/

Twain, Mark “A dog’s Tale” Mark Twain’s Book of Animals edited by Shelley Fisher Fishkin
University of California, press 2010, pp. 165-174