Yesterday I held the sweetest 3-month-old baby boy. I watched in amazement as he shivered when I lightly rubbed my finger over the bottom of his foot. He showed me how he could kick his legs and wave his arms, and I called him a little wiggle worm. He had wisps of curly hair and such soft skin.
The baby had been removed from his mother because she threatened to harm him.
Since that experience, I have found myself wondering what will become of that precious, perfect child.
Will his mother convince the court to return him to her care? Will he be bounced around from place to place, and never learn to depend on others for support? Or will he be adopted into a loving family who will offer him many opportunities throughout his life?
Will he be a lifelong ward of the state, graduating from social services to corrections? Or will he become a valued member of society who pays back tenfold all he has been given?
It’s really not a choice for him, is it? He is helpless, vulnerable, and has no control over where he ends up or what he faces as he grows older.
The same is true for many animals. This week a friend on Facebook talked about holding baby animals at a petting zoo, and how it was a wonderful experience for her.
But was a wonderful experience for those babies who had been taken from their mothers, never to see them again, in order to be made available for public viewing? Is it a wonderful experience to be held over and over again by different humans, to have their photos taken, to be poked and prodded and pinched by children and adults alike?
And what will happen to them when they’re too old to safely be held by humans? Will they spend their entire lives languishing in a small cage on permanent display the way the Louisiana State Legislature and Governor Jindal say Tony the Tiger can? Or in conditions even worse?
Will they be killed in order for their pelts and body parts to be sold on the black market? Or will they be one of the few fortunate souls that end up in a sanctuary such as Big Cat Rescue?
People sometimes look at me and say thank you for the wonderful work that I do. But I don’t feel wonderful. Sure, I’m grateful that precious baby will not be harmed by his mother today.But what does tomorrow hold for him?
And what does tomorrow hold for so many precious babies, of every species, that we cannot protect from humanity?
Dogpaddling Through Life 
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Thanks Roy.
sure thing!
Another excellent post.
Thanks.
that’s the question I ask me too. we sing the awww-song for little lambs although we know why they are there… I hope the best for this little baby and for all babies… Thanks for a great post, I hope a lot of readers will ponder about your post today and they will remember it. I do.
Great post, and excellent points. Sharing this!
Thank you.
Reblogged this on Jeanne Owens, author and commented:
This post raises some excellent points, and just felt I had to share it.
Thanks Jeanne
Early this month I went to a mall with a friend. There was a huge crowd of people standing around and we worked our way over and saw it was an exotic animal petting zoo. You pay money and get your photo taken with baby tigers, lions, even a monkey. It made me so ill I left and have never been back to the mall, although I did write a letter to them explaining why I felt it was distasteful and a letter to the city.
I wish more people considered the consequences of their actions and what their money is supporting.
Sadly, many think of how it connects them to animals but don’t think of the animals at all.
Hard to click “like” on this heartbreaking sober (but must be communicated and faced) post. There’s really nothing to say, but rather to pray for the safety and mental well being for as many as possible that they land in a healthy home and stay there to begin with. Thank you.
I would have to agree.
Truth, Jenn. We can only pray that all babies – human and otherwise – have a safe passage in life, and grow up to be productive, loving members of society.
And accept that for some, that won’t happen.
For me, the title of this post is my comment as some will indeed suffer so much. Thank you.
Karen
This makes me think about the meaning of “lives”…..humans lives and animals lives…all of them should be respected….
All life is sacred, and should be treated as such.
You’re right, it is not their fault and this makes me wonder about the world we live in – there’s so much heartache out there. Just the other day, I was on facebook and one of our friends posted about how their neighbor had two dogs that they had left in a crate in the heat with no water. We had a 90 degree day and they had to call Animal Control, who came by and gave her a warning. I’m sure there’s lots of procedures and rules/etc. to this that I do not know of but I felt very sad knowing those dogs were going to continue to live with an owner who was proven to be irresponsible.
And as we become more and more of a Libertarian nation, people like that will be able to act without so much as a warning.
My eyes filled with wetness when I read this. Your absolutely right. Save him today, who knows about tomorrow. There is so much wrong with the people in this world on so many levels, it really is sickening 😦
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I don’t believe there are many bad people, but I do believe it’s the same few that all of us working as professionals end up dealing with.
What a thought provoking post and true post. I worked for many years in human services. My heart was always drawn to the people who were considered “Behavior issues” (not always, but many times, acts of aggression, rage and frustration were due to lack of a supportive and loving enviornment in the beginning of thier lives ) If you are never taught or experienced coping skills, gentleness, kindness and love, how can you share it with others?
Pawsum posty. Meez can tell yous dat NO cat big or small likes bein’ poked and pwodded by hoomans. And altho’ sum of us like ow fotos bein’ taken it’s not da way wees wanna spend ow whole lives. As fuw bein’ taken away fwum ow muddews, it’s not vewy nice. Sumtimes there’s no uddew option. And ifin wees lucky wees get a moommy like meez mommy dat unnewstands all ow needs and helps us. But not fuw da big cats. They don’t get da kinda life meez got. And so fuw them….dat’s no life. Fanks fuw da posty.
Luv ya’
Dezi
It never hurts anyone to take an honest look at their actions and motivations. Sometimes we need to look at things differently that we once did.
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