http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU0a3_A-4lo
HELP ME HELP THE PETS OF HOMELESS PEOPLE: please go to https://pethelpersporttownsend.org and also visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-surgery-for-injured-pup
TEXT OF THE TALK IN THE ABOVE VIDEO: One summer day many years ago, as I sat on the grass in my yard enjoying the sunshine, I was entertained by a fuzzy bumblebee peacefully gathering pollen from the clover blossoms. I used to be afraid of bees, but as I watched, it occurred to me that this little creature was no threat – he (it was a male bumblebee) was simply doing what bees love to do. I moved close and marveled at its softness, its whirring wings, its gentle buzzing. And my world changed.
In awe, it came to me that this little one may have a different body and brain, but his or her essence is the same as mine. I realized that animals have the same inner state of being that I do, that they have equal importance and an equal right to life. This was my brother.
If a person has differently colored skin from yours, or speaks a different language, or has different needs from yours, would it mean they have less value, should have fewer rights, or that you can dominate or mistreat them? Of course not. And what if they have fur? What if they have scales, four legs, or long ears? Does that mean they have less value, should have fewer rights, or that you can dominate or mistreat them? Of course not. Our brothers and sisters come in all forms. Some look different, behave differently, or are differently abled.
We humans, even when there is no obvious difference between two people, will find one somewhere. Such as in eye color, which has – unbelievably – been used as a cause for discrimination in some cultures. And in South Africa during Apartheid, if you did not have freckles, you were considered “colored” and therefore had fewer rights! Is there any hope that we humans, who hold onto such ridiculous attitudes, have any hope for treating beings of other species better than we treat our fellow humans?
We think of animals as less intelligent and able than ourselves, but in fact they are intelligent and abled in other ways. Dogs and cats probably think we’re pathetic because we can’t smell or hear well by their standards. Eagles and vultures would laugh at our poor eyesight. Whales would wonder why we don’t speak their complex language well. Dolphins and seals would scoff at our inability to navigate as well as they do using their natural sonar. And all of them probably are much better than we are at what we call extrasensory perception (we call it that because we think we don’t have those subtle senses), are certainly far more adept at body language, and certainly have more inherent instincts than we.
We think we own dogs, when in fact they consider themselves our protectors. Perhaps some dogs may view us as having so few survival skills that we keep them around to help us with what we can’t do, and think their food and shelter are how we pay them for their services. But they also have a fierce loyalty to us that hardly any human ever equaled.
Do animals love? Well, we could ask, do humans love? If you love someone, what exactly do you love? Do you love them because they contribute to your life in some way? Usually, yes. It would be rare indeed for someone to love another who did not add some value to their life. So it could be said that what you love is how valuable they are to you. Love is seldom unconditional. So is it the person we truly love, or is it really just one’s self?
An animal’s love is often unconditional, or at least less conditional. They don’t ask why you’re wearing that, or why didn’t you do such-and-such, or why did you let yourself get old and less attractive? No, they just love you.
If you hear the cries of a giraffe mother whose young one has been taken from her, or witness how a chimpanzee will revisit the site of her son’s disappearance year after year as the troupe makes its annual migrations, or see how a herd of rhinosceroses does a ritual around the body of a dead member, you may begin to see that they, too, have emotions. To assume humans are the only creatures capable of emotion is absurd and arrogant.
Perhaps we humans are not the pinnacle of creation we think we are. We are just part of a world occupied equally by other beings who share this planet. How we treat animals and how we regard them is a testament to what kind of beings WE are. If we want to prove ourselves deserving of our high opinion of ourselves, we ought to treat other beings well. I think whatever we do to any creature, we do to ourselves.
How can we not see the beautiful soul in a mouse? How can we not see that the need for basic food and shelter causes suffering? How can we not hear the plea in the call of a lonely kitten? How can we have favorites (as in “I like mammals but not rodents”) when they are all living beings?
This was recently shared with me:
Muir Among the Animals — quotes from John Muir
The world, we are told, was made especially for man – a presumption not supported by all the facts. A numerous class of men are painfully astonished whenever they find anything, living or dead, in all God’s universe, which they cannot eat or render in some way what they call useful to themselves. . .
Now, it never seems to occur to these far-seeing teachers that Nature’s object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of them, not the creation of all for the happiness of one. Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? … The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge. A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, pp. 77-79
The murder business and sport by saint and inner alike has been pushed ruthlessly, merrily on, until at least protective measures are being called for, partly, I suppose, because the pleasure of killing is in danger of being lost from there being little or nothing left to kill, and partly, let us hope, from a dim glimmering recognition of the rights of animals and their kinship to ourselves. The Wilderness World of John Muir, p. 314
None of our fellow mortals is safe who eats what we eat, who in any way interferes with our pleasures, or who may be used for work or food, clothing or ornament, or mere cruel, sportish amusement. Fortunately, many are too small to be seen, and therefore enjoy life beyond our reach. The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, p. 69
Magnificent bears of the Sierra are worthy of their magnificent homes. They are not companions of men, but . . . Bears are made of the same dust as we, and breathe the same winds and drink of the same waters. A bear’s days are warmed by the same sun, his dwellings are overdomed by the same blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with heart-pulsings like ours… John of the Mountains, pp. 82-83
A queer fellow and a jolly fellow is the grasshopper. Up the mountains he comes on excursions, how high I don’t know, but at least as far and high as Yosemite tourists. I was much interested with the hearty enjoyment of the one that danced and sang for me on the [North]Dome this afternoon. He seemed brimful of glad, hilarious energy, manifested by springing into the air to a height of twenty or thirty feet, then diving and springing up again and making a sharp musical rattle just as the lowest point in the descent was reached. Up and down a dozen times or so he danced and sang, then alighted to rest, then up and at it again… Braver, heartier, keener, care-free enjoyment of life I have never seen or heard in any creature, great or small. The life of this comic red-legs, the mountain’s merriest child, seems to be made up of pure, condenses gayety. The Douglas squirrel is the only living creature that I can compare him with in exuberant, rollicking, irrepressible jollity. . . To him every day is a holiday; and when at length his sun sets, I fancy he will cuddle down on the forest floor and die like the leaves and flowers, and like them leave no unsightly remains calling for burial. Sundown, and I must camp. Good-night, friends three, — brown bear, rugged boulder of energy in groves and gardens fair as Eden; restless, fussy fly with gauzy wings stirring the air around all the world; and grasshopper, crisp, electric spark of joy enlivening the massy sublimity of the mountains like the laugh of a child. Thank you, thank you all three for your quickening company. Heaven guide every wing and leg. Goodnight friends three, good night. My First Summer in the Sierra, pp. 139-142
What Can You Do to Support Animals?
- Volunteer at a local shelter or rescue center
- Donate to local shelters and rescue organizations
- Never pay to play with baby animals at a zoo
- Don’t patronize privately-owned zoos
- Feed the birds
- Plant bee-friendly gardens
- Stop to help injured animals. Call your local rescue organization for assistance.
- Adopt your pets from a shelter – don’t buy them, especially from any pet store.
- Adopt senior or disabled pets, which otherwise might be euthanized.
- Always provide warmth, shelter, water and adequate nutrition to your pets. Bring your dog in side when it’s cold outside.
- Keep your cats indoors. The average lifespan of a cat allowed to roam outdoors is 2 years. The average lifespan of an indoor cat is 15 or more years.
- Teach kids the value of kindness to animals.
Soul of Compassion 