A matter of when, not if

Sometimes I find myself being very shy on my own blog. I feel like all I can really blog about are puppydogs and rainbows, otherwise I am going to disappoint a lot of people with my opinions. But I mean, this is my blog, right? So can I be truthful with you?

Because I heard today about the Sea World employee who was killed today in Orlando by a killer whale. First off, I am truly sorry to hear that something like this has happened, and my sympathy goes out to the victim's family.

However, as we all know, killer whales do not typically live up to their name. It's always been one of those silly things- despite being called "killer", they are generally quite gentle. But it certainly raises a question of, what the heck are we doing, corralling animals in to small spaces, "training" them to make money for us? We've been paying to be entertained by animals for centuries (Circuses, Zoos, Seigfried and Roy), so we don't think anything of it. In fact, most of us are innocent people who just want to see cute, cuddly-looking animals that we'd never get to see otherwise. But does that make it all okay? What makes a normally docile animal attack? Maybe we are showing our love for animals in the wrong way. If we truly love them should we make them stay in small enclosures, demand them to perform and entertain? What do you think? I'm afraid I don't know the "right" answer. But what I do know is that a lot of these incidents are not a matter of if, but when.

Of course this would then bring up the question of animals as pets, because if animals aren't for our entertainment, then should we even have pets? Well, I know that is an equally tough question, and my opinion may differ from that of others. My view is that as long as the animal is not confined to small spaces relative to their size, then it's okay. But if it's a rabbit that spends 22 hours of its day in a cage, then yea, I kinda take issue with that.

But yea, what do you think about the way we use animals?