I'm not sure I've often shared my love of animals on this blog. I have always had a curious passion for them, which my mother said I inherited from my father. After all it was he who tried to domesticate anything from wild monkeys to white mice, when it was just not done in our country. Most of the few charities I support work with animals, but many think I have not got my priorities right. How can I spend my money on non-animal tested products when there are hungry people in this world? In other words how can I give more importance to animals when there are humans to be helped! I always reply, with a smile, "But someone's gotta think about them!" But I wonder is there a straight answer to this dilemma? After all who gives us the right to value one life over another and decide a human life is superior than that of an animal. Can we even compare the importance of lives? Should we even try? Isn't it inhuman?
I help animals because not many people think about them as our equals or even understand that they have a life just like us and unlike humans they can not help themselves. As far as I understand it is really us that are responsible for many of the issues that animals face, if we don't help them, there really is no one that can.
Often zoos make me sad. You can clearly see that the animals are not in their best spirits, and honestly I wouldn't be either if I was removed from my home and locked up in a cage. But I do understand that sometimes it is necessary. Many of the animals in the Toronto Zoo are endangered, many don't exist in large numbers in their natural habitat anymore or don't breed enough. The people at the zoo really try their best to make sure these animals don't go extinct and can live as peacefully as possible in an artificial environment.
I go every other year to the Toronto Zoo. It is an experience that makes me really happy. In another life I would have liked to work with animals, preferably monkeys, apes, bears and big cats. But in this life spending some time with them, petting, feeding and caring for them makes me happy enough. They have a polar bear family, a group of African penguins (I thought they only lived in south pole!!!) and a school of sting-rays at the zoo that's new to me this year. If you're in Toronto I would really recommend a look-see.
