People love to humanize animals. I’ve watched some humans treat their animals better than they treat their family. Over 60 billion dollars was spent on pets in 2015, this includes food, vet care, accessories and more. For the most part pets are loyal and loveable. Anyone who has a dog knows that when you get home the dog greets you like you just got home from the war, unlike a child who will soon tire of the parent.
We should be able to understand why so many people want justice for Harambe. I think some people think this powerful animal is like a stuffed toy. Just in case you have been under a rock for the last week or just not interested in national news, Harambe is the silverback gorilla that resided in the Cincinnati Zoo that was shot and killed. A 3-year-old boy made his way into the gorilla’s space and his life was in danger, the little boy’s life not the gorilla. If you do know the story perhaps you saw a small portion of the video, the portion where the gorilla seemed to be holding the little boy’s hand or maybe the part where he pushed the little boy into the corner. But then the gorilla grabbed the boy by the foot and swiftly dragged him through the water. It was a scary sight.
I can only imagine how that mother felt. I’m sure she was asking herself how did my son get away from me and into the paws of the gorilla. That is what I keep asking as well. How was it so easy for the child to get into the gorilla’s space? Doesn’t the zoo test every angle to make sure that the gorillas cannot get out and humans cannot get in?
There is a large portion of the population that wants justice for the animal and they want the mother charged. These animals are not human they are wild animals and they look at humans as food. Does anyone remember the story about the lady who kept a large chimpanzee as a pet for years? She even served wine to the chimp. One day a friend who had come to the house frequently came over and the chimp was loose the chimp attacked her and torn off her face.
Here is another story a little closer to home. Remember the mother who reportedly daggled her little boy over the painted dog cage at the Pittsburgh Zoo so he could get a better look. The mother lost her grip and the boy fell into the cage and was eaten by the painted dogs.
A lot of people think the Cincinnati Zoo issue is racial because the family is Black but they wanted to charge the mother in the Pittsburgh story as well and she was White. What they didn’t do in the Pittsburgh case was dig into the background of the father who was not there when the incident happened just as the father in Cincinnati was not there. The zookeepers did the right thing. They saved the child.
(Email the columnist at debbienorrell@aol.com)
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