If you haven't been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, chances are you have heard about the deaths of Harambe, the gorilla, and the euthanization of alligators in search for a 2-year-old boy. The people who were tasked to save the children in the respective situations had to make the very difficult decision of killing the animal(s) in question.
Even though they are both two drastically different circumstances, both situations have a common denominator: a little boy was not where he was supposed to be. Animals had to die due to both of these events, but I believe their deaths are completely justified.
I agree with every step the officials took to make those decisions, and I applaud them for their tremendous acts of courage to stop at nothing to save the life of a child.
We were made in the image and likeness of God, which means we have an inherent dignity that needs to be protected and upheld.
In the case of Harambe, we all read that the tranquilizers would take over ten minutes to completely affect the gorilla to put him to sleep, which would severely put the child's life in jeopardy even more. It was not possible to calm the gorilla down either; the child was dragged around by its feet. Therefore, the only option was to kill him. It's perfectly okay and reasonable to be saddened over the death of the gorilla, but we must rejoice in the fact the child was saved!
I know this whole event happened a few weeks ago and has been justifiably overshadowed by the recent terrorist attack in Orlando, but the most recent animal attack was the one straw that broke the camel's back for me. A little 2-year-old boy died because an alligator dragged him into the water at Disney World. The search crews were looking for hours for the baby, and they had to euthanize and cut open various alligators in the lagoon to see if any of them had consumed the boy.
I was scrolling through Facebook when I noticed someone posted responding to the incident, and she was extremely mad the officials had to kill them. She said, and I quote, "Humans are the worst!" because the family was technically in the water when they weren't supposed to be.
What? Hold on. We're the worst? What about the alligator that dragged the child into the water away from his parents while they were screaming in terror? I can't even begin to imagine how terrifying that would be and my heart goes out to them. I found the status to be so ridiculous because the parents are in such a period of mourning!
Although the parents should have been more cautious as to where their respective children were located, the fact remains that two children got put into harms way, and one of them died because of it. First and foremost, we need to express sympathy to the family for their loss instead of accusations and criticisms.
Unlike animals, humans have the ability to deeply forgive and extend mercy. The fact that we can deliberate about these matters does put us in a higher position than the animals, so we must exercise that stewardship properly and rightly for the care of both mankind and the animal kingdom. If you were hurt and angered by the death of the animals, remember that the officials were doing the best they could to save the lives of the children. Now that the dust has settled, take comfort in the fact that one mother was reunited with her baby, and another found peace in knowing her son's body was found intact. This would not be possible if it were not for the deaths of Harambe and the alligators, respectively. The best way to heal and move on from these incidents is to extend love and forgiveness for all those involved.
Rest in peace, sweet angel.
