Attending a college with an emphasis on animals and conservation, I started to notice a common trend among the animal majors. This recognition started with the realization of just how many LGBTQIA+ community members were involved in the animal majors. Then, as I looked around my classes, I noticed how female dominated they were. This got me thinking, and I began asking other animal majors about themselves. What I found both surprised me, and made a lot of sense at the same time. The vast majority of people I spoke to had one thing in common. They all knew what it felt like to be judged.
Like I mentioned, there were tons of LGBTQIA+ members, and they all know how it feels to be judged and unaccepted for who they are. There were victims of bullying, eating disorders, those with troubled home lives and financial struggles, sufferers of mental illness, and so many more. And a majority of us are women, who have experienced judgement from the time we were born. Every single one of us has a story to tell, and it made me wonder. Why did we end up with animals?
The answer to that question was really quite simple. Animals don't judge. Millions of people around the world have pets, and every single person is convinced their pet is the best pet in the world. And every single one of them would be right. Our animals are always there for us, for whatever we need. When we are happy, they are happy and play alongside us. When we are sad, they are there to support us when no one else will. Our animals learn things about us the way we learn about them, and they always seem to know exactly what we need in every situation. They don't care what we look like, what decisions we've made, or who we love, so long as we love them, too.
So how does this translate into a career working with animals? Well if someone has experienced trials, and have had their pet to be there by their side, it would only make sense that they would want to be a vet. They would be able to work with the pets of others in order to keep them healthy to provide that love and support to their owners. That person would be able to save the lives of animals who have been less fortunate and give them a second chance to love and be loved.
What about the conservation and zoo people? They are the same way, just with wild and exotic animals. They know what it's like to have society turn away from them, or to simply not care, and they want to protect wildlife from that. Working in those fields, people are able to educate others on preserving wild animals in order to protect them. And whether working in the field or behind the scenes of a zoo, the animals in your care still don't judge you.
Every single person has a story to tell, and for some of us, we find more comfort in animals than we do in other humans. There are even people out there who will judge us for choosing to work with animals, but it doesn't matter to us what they have to say. Working with our animals, we feel unjudged, loved, and accepted for who we are.
