
One of the advantages of this semi-hidden journal is that nearly nobody lands to these pages to read it, so I feel free to write whatever I like, being not necessarily politically correct.
I have never liked being politically correct, but this is another story.
I have been posting my photos on PBase for many years so I also deeply enjoy browsing the site to see the photo galleries of other photographers. There is a broad variety of different style of photography and, as it’s logical, there are things I deeply like and others which I appreciate definitely less.
But it’s not interesting only from a strictly photographic point of view; it’s also a great opportunity to think over about people’s attitudes, about ideas and approaches to life.
A few days ago I stumbled upon a gallery of photos dedicated to rats as pets. Don’t misunderstand me, I have nothing against rats and I do think people can have a special liking for every kind of animals. If one feels like keeping at home a kangaroo or a crocodile or a polecat as a pet there is absolutely nothing wrong, of course if the animals have at their disposal a suitable environment and are treated like the respect that every animal deserves.
Respect, this is the key-word.
What made me think over was not the fact that a person had a special liking for rats, but the way the rats were displayed in the series of photos.
They were ridiculously disguised with small costumes, to mimic other animals, or human characters.
I found that terribly melancholy, nearly sad.
I could not help thinking of this basic misunderstanding which makes people claim they love their pets deeply, while in reality they treat them as unconscious dolls or puppets, playing with them as if they were Disney’s cartoons, without any respect for the nature of the animals.
Animals are neither children nor dolls; they are animals, with their instincts, their reactions, and their needs. Loving animals means, in my opinion, being aware of their nature and respecting it, without transforming them in
toys.
Of course animals can interact with humans, but always from their instinctive point of view, if the animal is sociable and traditionally used to live in a pack, like dogs, the relationship with the humans will reproduce from the point of view of the animal the hierarchic roles which exists in a pack and a mutual interaction, if the animal has not any gregarious instinct like, for example, felines, then the relationship will be necessarily different and so on.
But I’d like someone could explain me what has to do with love for animals making a fool of them, dressing them up in a “ funny” way and then to sigh in an enraptured way “ How cute!!!!!”
I have never liked being politically correct, but this is another story.
I have been posting my photos on PBase for many years so I also deeply enjoy browsing the site to see the photo galleries of other photographers. There is a broad variety of different style of photography and, as it’s logical, there are things I deeply like and others which I appreciate definitely less.
But it’s not interesting only from a strictly photographic point of view; it’s also a great opportunity to think over about people’s attitudes, about ideas and approaches to life.
A few days ago I stumbled upon a gallery of photos dedicated to rats as pets. Don’t misunderstand me, I have nothing against rats and I do think people can have a special liking for every kind of animals. If one feels like keeping at home a kangaroo or a crocodile or a polecat as a pet there is absolutely nothing wrong, of course if the animals have at their disposal a suitable environment and are treated like the respect that every animal deserves.
Respect, this is the key-word.
What made me think over was not the fact that a person had a special liking for rats, but the way the rats were displayed in the series of photos.
They were ridiculously disguised with small costumes, to mimic other animals, or human characters.
I found that terribly melancholy, nearly sad.
I could not help thinking of this basic misunderstanding which makes people claim they love their pets deeply, while in reality they treat them as unconscious dolls or puppets, playing with them as if they were Disney’s cartoons, without any respect for the nature of the animals.
Animals are neither children nor dolls; they are animals, with their instincts, their reactions, and their needs. Loving animals means, in my opinion, being aware of their nature and respecting it, without transforming them in
toys.
Of course animals can interact with humans, but always from their instinctive point of view, if the animal is sociable and traditionally used to live in a pack, like dogs, the relationship with the humans will reproduce from the point of view of the animal the hierarchic roles which exists in a pack and a mutual interaction, if the animal has not any gregarious instinct like, for example, felines, then the relationship will be necessarily different and so on.
But I’d like someone could explain me what has to do with love for animals making a fool of them, dressing them up in a “ funny” way and then to sigh in an enraptured way “ How cute!!!!!”