I'm a kid who cares about the future of other kids. Not an everyday sight. But everyone must understand that what our generation knows affects the future.
This lesson: Children.
What we want is a cruelty-free world. An animal-friendly world. But from what I see, we would need a major breakthrough in the next year or such.
When a girl sees a spider, they yell "KILL IT!" When a boy sees a dead possum, they poke and prod it. Why? Because of our strange society. A lot of kids are taught that hunting is fun or fur is fashionable. Too many violent video games. Too many cruel fashion products. The adults are responsible for their kids growing up nice.
I have a story that sums up all of this. When I lived in Northglenn, I lived in a pretty mean neighborhood. The adults where ok, but the kids where patrolling the streets and flinging plastic all over. One day, I was walking my dog and I came across a group of girls messing with a large crawdad. I asked them what they were doing and they said they were taking the crawdad home to dissect. I told them every reason why they should not hurt the crawdad. I tried to move the crawdad. When I was trying to move him, they oldest girl, she, stepped on him! I heard a crack and his guts came gushing out! This girl was ROTTEN! TERRIBLE! SICK! Then she picked him up by his legs and walked home, dropping the crawdad all the way. The stupid little monster didn't even consider how he felt!
It doesn't end. The girls with her were 9 and 6!
Parents. Teach your kids to be compassionate.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Lesson 2: Expel The Rumors
Rumors are bad. They give you a bad reputation. In the animal world, they are excuses.
This lesson: Expel The Rumors.
You can give me a list of what people THINK about animals like pigs, bats or rats, and I can pinpoint every myth on that page, which should be half the page.
I can only think of a few major pig myths (good thing) which are:
1. Pigs are mean
2. Pigs are dumb
3. Pigs are messy eaters
4. Pigs are dirty
All are NOT true. Pigs are very sweet animals, unless put under the stressful conditions of factory farms. Pigs are also said to be smarter than dogs, and plus, no animal is "dumb". Pigs do not "eat like pigs". They like to push around their food to release it's taste and smell so that they can really enjoy their meals. And the only reason pigs roll in mud is because they have no other way to cool off. And, pigs are actually very neat animals: they have a section in their homes where they eat, a section where they sleep and a "bathroom"!
I have heard all the bat myths.
1. Bats suck blood
2. Bats carry rabies
3. Bats are dirty
4. Bats get stuck in your hair
5. Bats are rodents
Bats are BY FAR one of the most misunderstood creatures on the planet.
Most of these myths are science-based. Any ordinary nerd could tell you that only a few species drink blood, and they only prey on animals like chickens. Bats do not carry rabies. Like any other mammal, they can CONTACT rabies! Bats are not dirty. Why would they? They just fly out of their nice caves at night and munch on bugs! And bats getting stuck in your hair is an old wive's tale. As their bad as their eyesight is, they can see. And big one, BATS ARE NOT RODENTS. Not close. In fact, they are so unique, they have their own class!
Rats. Hated for centuries. They spread disease- wrong.
1. Rats spread disease
2. Rats are dirty
During the Black Plague, it was not rats who spread the disease. It was ticks who got onto the rat's skin and jumped off near humans. Blame the ticks! Them! Not Rats! Anyway, rats aren't the CLEANEST animals on the planet, but the don't wallow in filth all day.
Some people think fish are brainless and have no feelings. Listen to these.
1. Goldfish have a three second memory
2. Fish feel no pain and have no feelings
It has been proved that fish remember and feel. (You know: The ol' maze project.)
There is a story from an old African magazine about two fish, Blackie and Big Red. Blackie was a deformed goldfish, and Big Red took him under his wing, I mean fins. Big Red would carry Blackie around on his back and swim him up to the surface to eat.
Summed up: Lot's of myths out there.
This lesson: Expel The Rumors.
You can give me a list of what people THINK about animals like pigs, bats or rats, and I can pinpoint every myth on that page, which should be half the page.
I can only think of a few major pig myths (good thing) which are:
1. Pigs are mean
2. Pigs are dumb
3. Pigs are messy eaters
4. Pigs are dirty
All are NOT true. Pigs are very sweet animals, unless put under the stressful conditions of factory farms. Pigs are also said to be smarter than dogs, and plus, no animal is "dumb". Pigs do not "eat like pigs". They like to push around their food to release it's taste and smell so that they can really enjoy their meals. And the only reason pigs roll in mud is because they have no other way to cool off. And, pigs are actually very neat animals: they have a section in their homes where they eat, a section where they sleep and a "bathroom"!
I have heard all the bat myths.
1. Bats suck blood
2. Bats carry rabies
3. Bats are dirty
4. Bats get stuck in your hair
5. Bats are rodents
Bats are BY FAR one of the most misunderstood creatures on the planet.
Most of these myths are science-based. Any ordinary nerd could tell you that only a few species drink blood, and they only prey on animals like chickens. Bats do not carry rabies. Like any other mammal, they can CONTACT rabies! Bats are not dirty. Why would they? They just fly out of their nice caves at night and munch on bugs! And bats getting stuck in your hair is an old wive's tale. As their bad as their eyesight is, they can see. And big one, BATS ARE NOT RODENTS. Not close. In fact, they are so unique, they have their own class!
Rats. Hated for centuries. They spread disease- wrong.
1. Rats spread disease
2. Rats are dirty
During the Black Plague, it was not rats who spread the disease. It was ticks who got onto the rat's skin and jumped off near humans. Blame the ticks! Them! Not Rats! Anyway, rats aren't the CLEANEST animals on the planet, but the don't wallow in filth all day.
Some people think fish are brainless and have no feelings. Listen to these.
1. Goldfish have a three second memory
2. Fish feel no pain and have no feelings
It has been proved that fish remember and feel. (You know: The ol' maze project.)
There is a story from an old African magazine about two fish, Blackie and Big Red. Blackie was a deformed goldfish, and Big Red took him under his wing, I mean fins. Big Red would carry Blackie around on his back and swim him up to the surface to eat.
Summed up: Lot's of myths out there.
Lesson 1: Every creature deserves respect, no matter how small.
This is the first week and first lesson in compassion.
The lesson: Every creature deserves respect, no matter how small.
Have you ever smashed a bug just because it was a, well, bug? Lot's of people don't understand that that bug had a reason to be a bug, and that s/he felt pain. I just had a long lecture with my "friend" about how killing a bug because he was doing nothing was stupid and heartless. I asked her how she would have felt if a bug stepped on her for no reason. Her reply was shocking: "The bug wanted to die!" I told her other things and she came up with myths in reply, like Prairie Dogs "Carry" rabies. (FYI, that is not true. Just because they are rodents, they do not carry disease, but they CAN contact disease.)
Yesterday I saved a fly. Some people could care less about that fly. But this fly was caught in a net, and he was buzzing frantically to get out. Not even my fly-catcher dog Bella, would attack him. She felt pain for the fly too. What I did: I grabbed a string and put it next to him. He grabbed on and was pulled out. Then he flew away happily.
I can think of other times when I saved bugs and other people did not understand my intentions, like when I saved a beetle from drowning or when I saved a moth from also drowning. ( I'm a little mad that a lot of the kids I know think that killing is the answer. I will save that for another lesson.)
To sum it up, I think that EVERY creature feels pain and deserves respect.
The lesson: Every creature deserves respect, no matter how small.
Have you ever smashed a bug just because it was a, well, bug? Lot's of people don't understand that that bug had a reason to be a bug, and that s/he felt pain. I just had a long lecture with my "friend" about how killing a bug because he was doing nothing was stupid and heartless. I asked her how she would have felt if a bug stepped on her for no reason. Her reply was shocking: "The bug wanted to die!" I told her other things and she came up with myths in reply, like Prairie Dogs "Carry" rabies. (FYI, that is not true. Just because they are rodents, they do not carry disease, but they CAN contact disease.)
Yesterday I saved a fly. Some people could care less about that fly. But this fly was caught in a net, and he was buzzing frantically to get out. Not even my fly-catcher dog Bella, would attack him. She felt pain for the fly too. What I did: I grabbed a string and put it next to him. He grabbed on and was pulled out. Then he flew away happily.
I can think of other times when I saved bugs and other people did not understand my intentions, like when I saved a beetle from drowning or when I saved a moth from also drowning. ( I'm a little mad that a lot of the kids I know think that killing is the answer. I will save that for another lesson.)
To sum it up, I think that EVERY creature feels pain and deserves respect.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)