However, in the broader view, I can’t improve on this statement by Jean-Michel Cousteau:
Cousteau makes the point that these whales are living in a highly inadequate environment; one that conflicts with their instincts, and neglects their emotional needs. We are, indeed, driving them crazy, and under the circumstances we should be surprised these incidents are so few.
I firmly believe that such animals as whales, dolphins, elephants, and chimpanzees should be left alone in nature. And yet, I live with cats, and in the past, dogs. How do I reconcile this?
It’s simple. There are wild animals and domesticated ones. Then there’s cats; who are actually a blend of the two, but expressed in a way which makes their lives with us more, not less.
Whales, dolphins, elephants, and chimpanzees are not only wild animals; they are wild animals who live in communities with highly developed interactions which supply their emotional needs. These territories are wide-ranging enough that they need a lot of space; in the case of aquatic mammals, a whole ocean. Duplicating their environment properly becomes so problematic that we might as well leave them in their original one.
However, I certainly don’t subscribe to PETA’s extreme view that all pets are slaves, and should be set free. Domestic animals are usually so different from their wild ancestors that they will not do well in their original environment. PETA then kills them.
That’s a strange attitude for people who want ethical treatment of animals, isn’t it? I suppose if there aren’t any animals living with humans, there isn’t any ethical problems. That attitude would solve child abuse by sterilizing everyone. Soon, no problem!
This isn’t making ethical decisions.
This is avoiding making ethical decisions.
Dogs are highly domesticated. Whether they started as wolves or jackals (opinions differ) they are quite different from their ancestors, thanks to living with us for hundreds of thousands of years. No one who encounters a well-loved dog can sustain the belief that they aren’t happy about it.
While cats, perhaps because of their shorter time span with us (about 10,000 years) are not that different from their more wild relatives. Many breeds, such as the Norwegian Forest Cat, have moved from domestic to wild to domestic again in a relatively short period of time. But, like dogs, they are not suited to being released “into the wild.”
They are not adapted to the semi-human environments they find themselves in. Lack of prey, disease and parasites, and human mistreatment make their environment far from a wild paradise. Cats, like dogs, are best suited to live as pets.
So our home is their natural environment. Their lives with us, marked by affection, abundant food, and medical care, is what they are designed to enjoy.
So let’s leave the wild alone. And the wild we have already brought into our homes?
Let’s enjoy that. Both of us.
Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more ways to get our cat to be affectionate in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my CAT AFFECTION posts.
PETA is so schizophrenic that I sometimes wonder if they’re secretly funded by the meat and fur industries, just to make animal lovers look like nutcases.
I first heard of them 20 years ago when they did the “Fur is Murder” campaign, which I agreed with. I thought that it was funny when they’d throw red paint on people wearing fur coats. Then I thought more about it, and asked myself “Since people who wear fur are usually rich, how many tossed out their painted coats and went and bought a new one? Did this campaign cause the sales of fur coats to go up?
Yeah, pets are “slaves.” That’s what human slavery was like–people would be kidnapped, and forced to be fed and housed and fussed over and never have to do anything except whatever they wanted, while being told how cute they were. Hey, if that’s true, where do I sign up to be a slave? Sure beats working!
These are the same people who protested a cow chip throwing contest on the grounds that it “insulted the dignity of the cows.” Look, if you poop in the same field you eat in, I’m pretty sure that the concept of dignity is alien to you. And yet they kill 97.5% of the animals they take in. That’s apparently “dignified.” And they equate the misery and horror of human slavery, which still exists in this world, to being a beloved house pet.
If you love animals, donate to the Humane Society or the ASPCA, not those hypocritical wackjobs at PETA.
I think it’s the other way round – I’m a slave to my cat!
I do not know the facts about the whale and it really seems cruel to me that the whale has to stay in such a small enclosure but I heard a report this morning that it cannot be turned loose because it wouldn’t make it. But I agree that it shouldn’t have been captured at all.
I also am of the opinion that cats should have the opportunity to go outside because that is their natural way, to climb trees, chase squirrels and go after birds. But I also think that it all depends on where you live. It is very dangerous for a cat to go outside if you live in a place near the street. Of course I deal with feral cats and they would rather die than stay in the house. So I think it all depends on the particular animal.
.-= Marg´s last blog ..Did you know that goats are ruminants?? =-.
Before linking, or lending any credibility, to a website and its purported facts, it’s a good idea to find out who’s behind it. I thought it suspicious that I could find no contact information on the petakillsanimals.com website, so I did a whois search for its owner…which is none other than the “Center for Consumer Freedom” in Washington, DC, a front group for restaurant and tobacco lobbyists. You can read more information about them here: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom and here: http://consumerdeception.com/mediabacklash.html.
While PETA’s views are sometimes extreme (as in their “pets as slaves” argument) and some of the things they do to garner media attention are counterproductive (did any sane person REALLY think Barak Obama killing a fly had anything whatsoever to do with animal rights??), I don’t believe anyone who loves animals should be siding with a dishonest lobbying group who couldn’t care less about animal suffering, over PETA.
Thank you Karen, I appreciate your vetting that information. I’ve removed the link.
However, PETA doesn’t pony up for spaying/neutering in any shelter I know of, or otherwise support actual group troops work in any way. They do as much harm as good with their extreme views.
Those with truly humanitarian goals do not appreciate the way PETA manages to equate sticking up for animals as being a loony.
Pets are our slaves, their ancestors chose living with us because they were easier. They Realized , that if they help us, that we may in turn, provide food and protect them from the other animals. On the other hand, some people think that their pets are their slaves.
.-= Siberian tiger´s last blog ..White Siberian tiger =-.
The woebegone whippet that ran away at Kennedy Airport after “winning” best of show, did not seem to want to stay and given the chance most dogs would run for the hills. Open the front door, take off the leash, remove the fence and then count the number of ‘Pets” that would stay around. Selfish people will make any augment to get there way.
You probably know by now that Ms. Brancheau was not the first person to be killed by Tilikum. He used to live in Victoria BC and killed a young woman when he got too rough playing with her, dragging her to the bottom of the pool and messing around until she drowned. I don’t think that Tilikum killed either woman maliciously or because he was crazy though. It is simply that orcas are HUGE animals that hunt by grabbing their prey and dragging it down, and they play the same way. Put a huge animal like that in a tiny space and expect it to play nice? Not likely. The fault was never with Tilikum – it is with having these magnificent animals caged into tiny spaces and expecting them to be satisfied with jumping around for fish treats, when what they NEED to do is swim for thousands of miles and live with their pod. Our Sea World was closed down after Tilikum killed the first girl. He should have been released back to the wild (it has been successfully done) – but he was such a good breeder. Putting other humans into his tank after he had already killed someone was negligent in my opinion.