I’ve been wondering and worrying about animal feelings my whole life. It’s no secret in my family that I had a small infirmary in the backyard shed where I would nurse half-eaten prey (mostly birds) that my cat brought home or the occasional whole bird that had fallen from its nest.
As I dunked small pieces of Wonder bread into water and then into birds’ mouths, I offered words of encouragement - even though the odds weren’t good. Don’t worry, you’ll be okay. You are strong. I knew they needed every positive thought I could muster. There I was, an anxious child in a dark shed offering deep breaths and optimism to dying birds in shoeboxes, in the hopes…
Of course, this childhood behavior is often the subject of family gatherings, and who can blame them. The stories always begin the same: Remember that time when Erin tried to save…
I remember each time just as vividly as I remember the National Geographic animal photographs that broke my heart as a child. Sitting alone on our front door steps, magazine in hand, I cried for clubbed seals, massacred elephants, and captured whales. Why can’t they just leave the animals alone, I wondered.
And so, it should have come as no surprise to have heard my daughter’s voice rise above a crowd of laughing spectators who were watching a fisherman’s sand shark catch flail helplessly around on the beach. My daughter’s strong voice shouted the words I was screaming in my head. Just leave him alone! Put him back in the water! With her voice, the crowd suddenly became somber, and the fisherman returned the shark to its home. Her words had reeled the humans back to the truth of what was happening: suffering.
As I continued my walk on the beach, I thought about the backyard-shed moments that my daughters had experienced growing up. I thought about all of the wondering we had shared over the years. Poor little bird; I feel so bad for that dog; that isn’t fair that they have him in a cage, why can’t they just leave him alone…should we say something?
Yes, you should say something. Isn’t that what you would want someone to do for you? To wonder about animals is to open our hearts to the feelings and suffering of others. We are all one. So, go ahead and say it. Feel it.
Poor little bird.
Then, do something.