When it’s difficult to know how to react…

Only one case, but many aspects to analyze: why can people buy, sell and keep exotic animals? How are the police expected to react when wild animals are released close to a residential area? How can a man let really dangerous animals to be in close contact with people, and thus, putting both in danger? Those are questions that came to my mind after my mum told me about what happened on Wednesday, 19^th in the United States. What basically took place is that a zookeeper left the cages open intentionally, freeing around 56 wild animals in Zanesville, Ohio, committing suicide afterwards. The thing is that 50 of these animals, among them lions, bears, tigers, and monkeys were killed by the police in order to protect the people. My first reaction was: “How could they kill them? Why didn’t they hit them with tranquilizer darts?” I got even more furious when I heard that 18 Bengal Tigers, which are not prolific, since only approximately 2000 specimens are left in the world, were among the dead ones. Then, I got to know that these darts do not have a quick effect, so the police was asked to shoot them to death. However, maybe the ones that had gone far away the community could have been saved. I know that humans are before everything else, but it is unfair that animals are always in a disadvantageous position. If animals were not taken from their natural habitats, these atrocities would not occur. It is not the animals’ fault to be dangerous; people make them be like this by putting them into close contact to us. They would not be a danger if they were in the forest, where they belong. What I want to say is that these beautiful creatures paid for the human’s mistakes, once more. I think it is time for the government to regulate this issue by prohibiting the private ownership of exotic animals, and also their commercial use.

You can read the piece of news following this link: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/10/19/zoo-keeper-kills-himself-after-setting-exotic-animals-free/

The Queen’s Day

“The best present for your mum! Buy the newest iron!” “Don’t forget the Mother’s Day, we wait for you in “Fashion Store”…come and get the best clothes for your mum!” “We know you love her, so, the best thing to do is to give her a bunch of precious roses!” All these and more are the advertisements that we mostly hear on TV and radio nowadays. Everything is about buying. Everything is material. The thing is that I don’t think our mothers care about what we give them in their special day, or if we give them anything at all. I know that this day is a nice opportunity to praise them for everything they do for us, by presenting them with something. But this “something” doesn’t need to be an object or a present, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be given just in this particular day. We have to demonstrate to our mothers, everyday, that we are really thankful for all they do, suffer, and leave aside for us. You know what I mean, they stop living their own lives to live ours. I cannot help bringing my mum as THE perfect example. Yes, I’m proud of her. She is the best mum I could have had. Sometimes I stop and think how nice she is with me, and I just convince myself more and more that she is great. Just to mention some of the things she does because of me: she phones me every morning, that is, 5, 6, 7 or 8 o’clock because I usually oversleep. But that’s not all: she calls me once, and I tell her “Si ma, ya me levanto”. 5 minutes pass and she calls me again because she knows that I am sleeping again. And then again, and again until I get up. Poor mum, she is extremely patient, I cannot do this to her. I know I have to change, but my tiredness is stronger than me L.You know I am not from here, so, that means that I have to pay the rent and the food, besides of the copies, etc., etc. She works really hard to be able to provide for me, everything she earns is destined to me. She doesn’t buy clothes for herself, in order to buy some for me. I am before herself in her life. She gives me everything in an unconditional way. Therefore, I try to return something to her by studying and valuing what she does for me. I know that I have to stick to my responsibilities and try to give the best from me, in order to finish the career as soon as possible and to show her that her effort is not useless. And this, consequently, gives me the strength to go on and not to quit, because I know I owe this to her. Besides, I know that this effort will give me the possibility to help her some day. It is like a chain, you see? I tell you some other things about her: she calls me many times during the day to see if I’m okay; she is sad when I am feeling that way, and she is happy if I am; she suffers more than me when I have an exam, and is the first to ask me “cómo te fue?”; she is there for everything I need; etc, etc, etc, etc…the list is endless. I am not exaggerating. But I’m missing the most important thing: she gives me LOVE, and this is the best present I can give her everyday, because the Mother’s day is everyday.