Why do we, as a species, when given the opportunity to see something beautiful in nature, feel such an overwhelming need to own, confine and conquer it? From tracts of rainforest to reptiles and insects, we hoard, covet, confine, and attempt to OWN everything. Every post I see of folks beaming with their exotic pet *fill in the blank* depresses me more and more. Why, when we see a photo of a spectacular animal in the wild, is our first reaction, I WANT ONE OF THOSE? Why do we take creatures we find beautiful and force them to live in confinement? I dont care if its a tiny frog or a tiger, nothing we give in captivity can ever compensate for a life stolen from the wild and imprisoned. Highly intelligent, social animals that spend their lives flying, swimming, migrating, and traversing thousands of miles a year forced to live in a cell, often solitary....why is that acceptable? Why do we find that ENTERTAINING? Why is it okay to force animals to PERFORM FOR US? Why is this multi-billion dollar industry in existence? How can any of us call ourselves animal advocates while this happens every single day? We rally around a cause--end deforestation, stop the trade in animal parts, end poaching, protect the rhino, save the elephant....then we go home to our collections of exotic animals, our pet chimps and Tupperware shelves full of reptiles, tanks filled with hedgehogs, snakes and insects, our cages filled with birds whose wings are clipped for our convenience and will never, ever have the joy of flying free. Why do we as a species find any of this acceptable and not HORRIFYING?
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 12:03:16 +0000