Animal abuse and change

                       A little word about animal abuse

                          a.k.a The fault in our choices

Aniamal abuse is such a broad topic to examine, and so, I will most definately not touch on every single point of it. But since, I am largely interested in animals, especially in connection with human beings, I want to say a few words about it and give some clarity to those, who might not have heart about it.
If you'd ask me, here's were we've failed. Which is of course very arbitrary but based on a glimps of facts.

In a common sense, we tend to find under the category of abuse: negative physical and psychological actions. Yet, that isn't the actual problem . Genetical manipulations are the source of the biggest probem. It simply isn't that straightforward. That's why, we gradually decidet to ingnore that fact and turn our heads to look at the insanely cute puppy faces.

Let's grow a puppy!

Mutations are a natural event that acccures every so often, creating, for example, new breeds of dogs.
A century ago, we decided to take things in our own hands and have some fun. We created just the right breeds of dogs for haunting, for old ladies and for kids. So now, surprisingly, 90% of all breeds, had their beginning in petri dishes. Not that big of a deal it seems. Yet, that caused, that:

60 % of Golden Retrievers die of cancer,
1/3 of King Charles Spaniels have sculls that are too small for their brains,
Great Dames are so huge that their hearts can't support their bodies,
Bulldogs (after a century of inbreeding) : their noses are so squashed, they can barely breath. Their heads are so big, they can only give birth by cesaeran section. Their tails can become ingrown. They basically all have hip displasia. Average life expectancy is six years.

It could all be fixed if they'd allow dogs to cross breed, but they won't, because, then they might not look as cute as we like them to.

Solution for a individual : Farely simple. Let's just turn to the animals in shelters and adopt a pretty dog- by mother nature backed puppy.

Nurturing and speing animals? Is it needed?

Helps to stop overpopulation. They are simply to many animals that are left on the streets, get deseases, die. There are not enough people to take care of all of them. Period.

Hunting is a good thing.

Hunting helps to preserve the wildlife animals. The money, people pay for the permission to hunt goes into preserving land. The real cause of whole species being whiped out from the ground, is harming their habitat and changing the purpose of the ground for our selfish reasons. It's a self feeding cycle. 1/3 of the wildlife animals live now on private grounds.

Sometime I'll share my opinion on supporting people in third world countries.Which. Oh BOY! Has surprised me when I have put my foot in the freezing topic.

"The monkey, the lion and the selfish human..."

As a kid, I have seen zoos as the heaven on Earth. On a sunny summer day I would go there
with my family to see all kinds of monkeys jumping around, a big majestic lion that seemed to look
deep in to my soul, elegant giraffes on field. I could hold a spider or snake with my bear hands.
Finally after getting tired of walking, we would make a stop in a restaurant or get ice cream
at a stand. Nothing better than that. Right? Yet, eventually there came a moment when I saw things
in a different light. Even clearer, when I became a volunteer. Let’s examine what I have observed
and if there is any change that has to be made.

Zoological gardens like to describe themselves as the modern arch. Their saving endangered species,
educate and do research. Alright. Let’s go with that. Yet, what I found to be true is that for the most part,
only a small group of animals there are actually endangered. So the major amount of the species
would be perfectly fine in nature. BUT that eventually would cause the closing of zoos. Not many
people would be interested in seeing only a few types of animals. But that ultimately would solve
the problem of a much needed space ( taking under account, that the funds stay the same).
Here we can clearly see, how zoos are for people, not for animals. This case is in direct relation to
the one mentioned above.

Every species in the garden has only so much place to live. And that’s the biggest problem
when it comes to saving their lives. While talking to the vet of the zoo, I realized how big the problem
actually was. In their natural habitat elephants tent to walk 25km on average. In captivity they hardly
reach that number. One article describes it best :”Hard surfaces with floors covered in urine
and faeces can cause infections around the pad. A cracked or infected fat pad can’t absorb
pressure effectively making the outside part of the foot more prone to diseases. The most-common
problems are toenail cracks, sole overgrowth, trauma, osteomyelitis, ankylosis of the joints
and osteoarthritis. It is estimated that 50% of captive elephant deaths are caused by these
afflictions.” Also “Another study into the quality of zoos in the UK found that 80.4% of a sample
of elephants kept in enclosures with hard ground had foot problems ranging from cracks to infection.” 

Girraffes are also an interesting example. Have you seen that often on fields they tend to lay down.
Their bent they long legs and lay for hours. Thatdoesn’t happen in nature. It isn’t a natural thing to d.
They are very cerefoul about where they are and most importantly, predatours could be hiding nearby.
So in conclusion: we discovered behavioural changes and a possible source of deseases.
We need better enviroment architects in gardens.

Apart from psychical issues, there are also mental ones. And every animal can be affected.
Thats the point I am not sure about. If we take as an example animals that were born in captivity,
can we be sure that their are fine with being in a limited space?I haven't found ascientific study, that
would lift that argument. What I also found to be true, is that they are simply getting lazy. The food
was always handed to them, rather them hid, like it should be. Zookeepers have notime to do
that,or to interact with the animals. It does bother me. The animals don't have to do anything.
But the coworkers can't do anything either. We would need more people for the care,
but the issue is underpayment. Educated people,after studies, are payed so bad, they can’t even
afford a small apartment. I remember one story. One day, we went with my colleque to
get big stones for the aquarium. We were struggling, but ultimately we got the rocks onto the barrow.
While we were pushing it up the hill, we heard a dad saying to his son” Listen, you better
go and study, otherwise your going to push rocks for a living” This shoock me. I almost let go of the barrow.
That’s how people see zookeepers. That definetly has to change.

*Disclaimer. This was observed in a zoo I've been working at. So it might slightly differ
from other zoo-gardens.

You get the idea. The way how zoos work, has to change. But it is not going to be an easy fix.

You cant simply show the executives a bunch of statements and there we go.

Let's show some human decency.

So, what can be done? For the most part, we could start to be more respectful

towards the animals. It drives me insane, when not only kids but adults too, do try to attract
the attention of them. Screaming and banging on the glass are only a few examples. In a pararel world,
that behaviour could be excused, beacuse they are paying for ultimately seeing the animals. But such
an approach is incredibly stresflull. One zoo had build the place, by making the visitiors see the animals
from above. This had two outcomes. First, the animals were away from people, so weren’t bothered
as much and made for a easier sight of the species. Second, it caused a mental issue. The animals
were looked at from above, so they felt even more the captivity aspect. Why then don’t build
it differently? Put the cages higher, make the people be lower. That would’t be possible for every
species, but a try to remodel the gardens, by giving them the natural habitat they need.
What about the feeding? They do get fresh food but predators get freshly killed animals. I wonder if that
aspect could ever be changed. It wouldbe a glance od naturality by giving the predators
the opportunity to hunt. But that might be too far reached. 

In conclusion.The problem is greater, then it seems to be. What has been done, can't be changed anymore. But we should try to understand and educate ourselves. So that positive change can be made. This time easier, coming from a place of experience.