On Wednesday, a neighbour gave me the little dead body his cat unfortunately killed and brought to him. He felt bad but thought I'd like to see it. Incredibly, its a Feather-tailed Glider - it was still struggling to survive in the narrow corridor of weed-infested bush behind our houses.
Some people get angry about cats, and it is awful to see a cat not controlled. I suppose it is just about learning that we need to build cat enclosures. As a new culture in an Australian environment, we are slowly learning (she says optimistically...) that we need to protect our unique plants and animals. That's why I thought I'd tell the story. Most people I talk to have never even heard of a Feather-tailed Glider, let alone seen one in their backyard - but they and lots of other amazing creatures are still trying to survive our ways, and 'growth'. But time is running out.
I find the topic of our culture vs the environment interesting. For example, we actively breed (in a way, genetically modify) specific traits we feel a want or need for. 'Animal Assisted Therapy' (AAT) advocates put up a good argument that animals bred just for affection and obedience (such as our human-raised and trained puppies and kittens) can offer some amazing benefits to elderly, lonely, disabled, and sick humans (see attached photo of cat nuzzling up to an elderly man: 'Exploring the benefits from animal therapy' from De Pets).
I'm fascinated when I see advertisements for cat food - commonly with slogans such as: 'He'll love you more', and I wonder if we have a need in our culture to look at:
· how we meet our needs for affection,
· to learn to care for another,
· to feel like we can 'make things happen' - or have some control over something,
· and learn self-control.
Studies have shown that 'animals', '...could be catalytic agents in therapy and could aid in the orientation and connection to reality, particularly for those suffering schizophrenia or autism' (pioneering psychiatrist, Boris Levinson). Levinson also stated that 'pet animals in homes could restore healthy communication in the families of disturbed children'. He contended that companion (and residential) animals teach responsible, independent behaviours and non-gendered care-giving.
Our culture feels such a strong need for the affection of 'genetically modified' and artificially controlled animals, that if a person was to purposely kill or harm another's family 'pet', it is called 'inhumane', is a crime, and in additon, the offender could be fined $1000s for negligent infliction of emotional distress. Yet, here is a cute little Feather-tailed Glider almost wiped out as a whole species because of family pets, and attitudes of indiference to 'bush'.
Our culture feels such a strong need for the affection of 'genetically modified' and artificially controlled animals, that if a person was to purposely kill or harm another's family 'pet', it is called 'inhumane', is a crime, and in additon, the offender could be fined $1000s for negligent infliction of emotional distress. Yet, here is a cute little Feather-tailed Glider almost wiped out as a whole species because of family pets, and attitudes of indiference to 'bush'.
Its also interesting that it is illegal to pick a wildlfower - yet when a Bull-dozer drives through bushland - as I've just seen twice in my area in the last 2 weeks - it is not just beautiful wildflowers that are destroyed forever, many little animals are also squashed - Feather-tailed Gliders, Sugar Gliders, Blue-tongued lizards, Water Dragons, Leaf-tailed Geckos, Owls, Blue-Wrens, Fungi galore... the list goes on. Its a total massacre! Who's paying compensation for the infliction of emotional distress on all the people who see this - such as you and me - and the future generations?
My question is: do we need to look at how we treat each other living in our natural environment so we can feel ok about ourselves, meet our affection needs, etc? Or do we continue to use genetically modified cats & dogs to do this for us?
