I'm irked, to say the least. This past week has marked my breaking point with an issue that I see as one of the most foolish and ignorant ones of our time. I witness many people placing animals lives above those of humans. It disgusts me and I cannot fathom what led us to view animals as equal counterparts here on Earth.
On May 28, a young boy got himself into the enclosure of Harambe, a 17-year-old Silver Back Gorilla living at the Cincinnati zoo. After the boy was tossed about for a few minutes, the zoo decided that the proper action was to kill the animal to ensure the safety of the boy. This has caused outrage, especially online, with some saying that the parents should be held accountable, some the zoo, with tons of other opinions and ideas trailing behind. The one that really grinds my gears is the one that follows: The Cincinnati Zoo should not have killed the animal and just waited it out or tranquilized it instead. Ludicrous. I understand that such a beautiful animal should not be slaughtered for no reason, but are we really going to put the gorilla's life above the safety of the child? It makes me see how a large number of people have their priorities wrong. Should the child have been there? absolutely not, and the parents should be punished accordingly. Even though this is true, the situation presented itself and the proper action was taken to ensure the safety of a child. A great animal died because it had to, not because of improper judgment.
You're probably wondering why this makes me so angry, or why I should care. I'm angry because we live in a world where we tear up at the sight of a stray dog on the street wanting food but turn up our noses at the man needing his next meal down at the corner. We pour thousands into house pets but give pennies on the dollar to humans in need. We see neglected pets and feel remorse, but would look at a man in the same situation and call him lazy or worthless to society. I'm "inhumane" to harvest a deer, fish, or other game as a sport and to feed myself, but another killing on TV is something we shrug off as a "fact of life". We praise Ray Lewis for being one of the greatest players in history in the NFL after evidence pointed to him being guilty of murder, but Michael Vick went to prison for almost two years and was shunned for killing dogs in a dog fighting ring. We are compelled to help the ASPCA after a terribly sad advertisement but scoff at commercials wanting donations to help underprivileged children in third world countries. The list goes on and on.
My belief is that God created animals for our use. He blessed us by giving us fish, deer, cow, birds and countless other creatures that provide us with a multitude of life-sustaining substances and products that we couldn't live without. He commanded us to be wise stewards of everything in our lives, and that includes the animals that share the planet with us. That does not mean, however that we put the needs of an animal before those of a human. When we do this, we deny humans the ultimate respect of being created in the image of God. Animals are crucial to life, but we must put the life first.
My best guess as to why we do this would be that helping an animal is easier than helping another person. We can put our own feelings on animals, and do not have to sympathize with what it may be going through like we do a human. There is less time investment and less emotional investment.
By reading this I challenge you to put humans' needs above those of animals and prove me wrong.. I challenge you to see the Cincinnati Zoo incident as a tragic one that had to be done, rather than viewing it as a thoughtless action. I challenge you to take that money you were going to spend on that dog sweater and instead give it to someone in need. I challenge you to be human in the way God intended and put your fellow man above your own interests.
