Posted by Avram Freedberg
I’m distraught.
A 200 lb., 14-year old Chimpanzee who is a widow’s pet (He eats with her at the table, toasts her with a wine glass, gets on the computer to look at pictures, uses a water-pik before going to sleep at night) badly mauls the woman’s friend to within an inch of her life. If she survives, her life will be forever changed, since the worst injuries were to her face and hands. The pet is killed by police.
I feel sorry not just for the injured victim but for the animal and, even more, for the lonely widow who lost both her best friends.
Why does it make me want to write? I guess because I love animals and this kind of incident reminds you that there are dangers with animals. I know that I forget this occasionally. After being sensitized to the beauty of a loving dog by our dear Cricket, I couldn’t wait to see the barking doggies who were running towards me when we walked along the shore in Newport, RI, behind the big shorefront mansions. Only when they got close enough for me to see their bared teeth and foaming mouths did I realize the danger they posed. Lucky for me, there was an electric fence.
I like my fantasy where animals love you in a world where people often don’t. So, I must realize that parrot beaks can be dangerous, dog teeth can do damage and horses hooves, teeth and body mass are sometimes accidents waiting to happen.
Nonetheless, I want to love these animals and be loved by them. There’s nothing like coming home to a dog than comes to greet you excitedly at the door. Nothing like a talking bird saying hello or calling your name. Nothing like stroking the velvet nose of a beautiful thoroughbred race horse or hugging its head and having it snuggle you.
So, I’ll try not to put myself or others in danger while enjoying the benefits of loving animals and being loved in return. The reward is more than worth the risk.
