Photographically, I was more drawn to taking photos of people taking photos than I was of the animals in Orlando. You can see the love people have for one another in the joy they take and hard work in taking images of one another. I loved this daughter taking photos of her parents at Epcot. Didn’t have my big camera and will be happy to be reunited with it. Up early and off.
You can look at the experience of animals in so many different ways, and this week, one of the things I learned about myself is that I love animals and need to be around them. Here in Orlando, Maria and I hung around the turtles, the alligators and the fish in the hotel, and then went to Dolphin and Sea Lion shows at Sea World and then most of Tuesday at Animal World at Disney. We saw lions, tigers, gorillas, rhinos, hippo, giraffes and various birds, went to a bird show, hung around the moneys and bats.
Humans are endlessly fascinated, touched, challenged and stimulated by animals. We need them in our lives, as was obvious from the mesmerized throngs from all over the world who came to see them. It is definitely strange that it seems to take giant corporations to bring these creatures to us. I put aside the politics of corporatism and animal rights and various other sensibilities and just decided to enjoy myself like everyone else. I was struck by people taking images of one another everywhere – with cell phones, digital cameras, camcorders. Photos with animals were especially popular. I have not been behind the scenes at these places, but the animals seemed to me to be healthy and busy. Tomorrow I return to my own animals – the dogs, donkeys, cats and chickens.
Maria shares my love of animals, and we didn’t come near one that we didn’t stop and study. I shook hands with the Captain at the bird show. It was 70 degrees today, it will be below 30 tomorrow at Bedlam Farm. My speech at the vet conference seems a long time ago. Maybe I will return to this convention, maybe not. We will see. I will definitely return to Orlando, a rich and strange and mystical place of the imagination for me, where giant corporations create alternate realities that people love. Me too. It will be good to see my own animals, and to continue to study and write about them, as they are endlessly fascinating to me. I want to work hard to understand them and to explore their thinking.
In e-mail and on Facebook, several people have raised interesting questions about whether seeing animals in captivity bothers me, or wondering what I feel about it. Perfectly good and interesting questions. Animal politics are no more appealing to me than people politics, and for the same reasons. We often use animals to feel better about ourselves, to be self-righteous and closed-minded, to batter or attack humans. I see many people exploiting animals for their own needs all the time. Many see issues relating to animals as black-and-white. I do not. Animals are complex creatures and I believe we understand very little about them and what is best for them. We often tend to see them in terms of what we think is best for us, crippled by our comparatively limited instincts and sensibilities.
I wonder, for example, about people who think it is wrong to keep animals in captivity yet have few qualms about keeping dogs in crates for years – even their whole natural lives – because it fits their own notions of what is humane and generous. It would be wonderful if all animals could live free and natural lives, but we humans have made that impossible, almost unimaginable. We will be held accountable for that, I believe. We think we know what makes animals happy, but I am not even sure animals know what happy is or means. Animals are existential creatures. I think if they are treated well – at least the ones I’ve seen – seem to worship acceptance. I like the Aquinas idea – we need to treat animals well because it is a measure of our humanity, not something they demand or comprehend.
Walking through Sea World, watching the dolphins and sea lions and birds and turtles, I was thinking this:
– How nice to see so many thousands of people, adults and children, from all over the world enjoying these animals. That seemed like such a good and rewarding thing to see.
– How healthy and robust the animals appeared – birds in good coat, the dolphins and sea lions eating good food, away from predators, fed regularly,protected from the elements, working with people, busy and engaged in simple work showing clear attachments to the people they work with. They all appeared quite healthy to me, unlike the sluggish and disconnected animals I used to see in the old zoos. Animals do not do well in crates and cages. The looked good at Sea World. And they all seemed safe. I don’t romanticize the life of animals in nature. Almost none of them live no-kill lives with easy access to food, untreated illnesses, exposure to elements.
I think it is tragic that the only non-domesticated animals most people will ever see are in zoos or places like Sea World. But better there than gone from the world, and better to see them and learn about them than nowhere.
The animals at Sea World looked well-cared for to me. So did the people enjoying them. That’s what I felt. I had a good time and I much enjoyed seeing so many other people have a good time. These are personal feelings, decisions and choices and they are complicated. They are not simple or clear.
I do not know what animals think. I will never know what animals think. On to the Animal Kingdom. I am grateful for the questions. People who cannot be questioned have closed their minds to thought, growth, and life.
