Animals

After taking all of these texts under consideration, I noticed that among them we could relate the human emotions with the actions of the responsive animals. Through all of these texts, my main goal is to touch on the change in human attitudes towards animals, TNR, and homosexuality in animals. With these themes in mind, I first want to identify the similarities between “The Scarecrow” and the trailer for “Blackfish.” What I noticed within these two texts is how we are often times deceived by what is actually happening behind the scenes. Whether the animals are being “used” for nutrition or entertainment, I can infer that they are being mistreated. What stuck out to me the most was the scarecrow within the chipotle film. Before fixing the city walls, the scarecrow was noticing the animals being tortured behind them. To me, this represents our society and how we are being deceived by what is actually happening, in lots of places that range from farms to SeaWorld. In the trailer for “Blackfish,” we hear one of the catchers saying, “this is one of the worst things that I have ever done.” As guests at SeaWorld, we just care about the entertainment from the animals and buying the stuffed Shamu animals. However, has anybody ever thought about the process that brings these animals to these locations?

The next two texts that interest me were “Don’t Fear the Feral” and “Primal Compassion.” From an outsider’s perspective, I see stray cats as “homeless” animals and primates at zoos as hopeless animals. Through these articles, I noticed the connection between human emotions and the actions from the animals themselves. For example, within “Primal Compassion,” the photographer believes that when the gorilla saved the boy she had similar characteristics of a caring and protective mother. Through his images, the photographer studies the gorillas face and posture, and says that he cannot even imagine the thoughts and feelings rushing through the gorillas mind. Through this article, we see the connections between the emotions of the humans and the responses of animals. What I found interesting in the article about cats was the method of TNR, or trap-neuter-return. Though there is an outbreak of the cat species, this method created by the ACA, ASPCA, and other organizations can help control and monitor this overpopulation of animals.

            

The last theme that I wanted to touch on was the homosexuality of animals. Although the “And Tango Makes Three” children’s book just discusses this issue within penguins, is this becoming more popular within other species? It is fascinating that this author created Roy and Silo to find interest in each other. Whether this is fascinating, I find it even more interesting that this has been the most challenged book in three different years.

            

The last few articles that I struggled to understand was “20 Pounds? Not Too Bad, for an Extinct Fish,” and “Rikki-tikki-tavi.” Considering I struggled with these texts, I checked out other people’s blogs to create an understanding. What I found particularly interesting in them both is how problems arise within our world that sometimes people cannot seem to fix. Not only these articles, this can also pertain to the article with the stray cats. Though these articles troubled me, I found myself very invested in these texts and wished that I could have had this lesson during my middle school career.