When I get angry at people who don't demonstrate love and care of their companion animals, I have to remind myself that it's a behavior and a skill we are not born with. Like parenting, how we learn to treat animals is largely a product of what is modeled for us in our formative years.
From the time I was 3 years old until I graduated from high school, our family had a series of cats for pets. They were treated with the same love and affection as, hmmm... well, come to think of it, with about the same attitude as my sisters and I were regarded. Except if we had an "accident", our father didn't rub our faces in it and then throw us outside into a snow drift.
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| Compassion - Schulstifung |
With that type of modeling, it's not a big surprise that when I became a mother, I was not very good at it; and the same was true of my initial pet caretaking. I was never overtly cruel, but both as a mother and a pet owner, I was passively neglectful and insensitive to some basic needs. God & Co., when I look back at those times I cringe and feel such shame. But how was I supposed to know better? Thank you for the divine intervention that showed me areas where I was so lacking, the great desire to be a better parent and compassionate pet owner, and the mentoring of caring people who were so much better at it than I. It was being on the receiving end of compassion that taught me the most about extending it to others.
It seems that as we're working on rescues in the short-term, the best contribution we can make to the long-term well being of animals is to raise awareness and model compassion and sensitivity, particularly for our children. Help me to be ever mindful of this, and to offer compassion instead of judgment to those still working on that learning curve--including myself.
Much obliged,
xo
Liz
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