if animals were just things...we could do anything we want to them, without considering their feelings or their needs. but if we believe animals are sentient feeling beings..it all starts to get complicated when we struggle to figure out things.
the trick with dealing with complicated stuff tho is to peel the onion down to the simple basic core...strip out the bullshit and flack, tear off the emotional baggage attached...see what the real issue is, decide what you want the ultimate goal to be and start planning and building a solid solution.
it's a process...it can't be a fly off the handle, knee jerk, run with the ball reaction...it is not a super hero I can fix anything endeavor. it is a careful thought process starting at the beginning and following thru to the end, careful step by thoughtful step.
because we cannot see into the minds of others, because we cannot find every right answer on google..we absolutely have to be able to think for ourselves and we have nothing to think with if we cannot shut up and listen....to body language, to actions, to words, to possibilities, to research and knowledge, to life experience, to gut....and still KNOW that we absolutely do not know it all.
most everyone has seen avatar..i like that line where the wise woman basically said...man is not capable of learning because we are already full of knowing it all...there is no more room in the learning cup.
for me..despite gawd knows how many years of this...each day is a new day. yes I know a ton of stuff...probably enough to fill an encyclopedia...but I do know that one encyclopedia is nothing compared to the millions and millions of other encyclopedias, I have not read, already out there.
if animals are sentinent living and feeling creatures, they should at the very least, be able to count on us to try to carefully and thoughtfully think things thru. lets face it..the saints are all here because they have already been down that thoughtless and careless road, why would they want to go there again?
Carol (and everyone): The Fifth Estate on CBC at 9pm has the documentary of the Journey of the Elephants on for an hour. I'm watching it now (early) as we have satellite TV and it's amazing. It's about the challenge of moving 3 elephants from the Toronto Zoo, to California to an elephant sanctuary successfully (so you know it's a happy ending). Just in case you're interested. It was just done a few weeks ago.