Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY!!!

Animals.  You have to love them.  Well, unless you're a sociopath.  Anyone who cannot find some beauty in an animal HAS to be evil.  When it comes to the domestic types, I am partial to dogs.  It's not that I don't like cats....I think kittens are darling!....grown cats do scare me a bit, as they tend to be a liiiitttttllllleeeee too smart, but bottom line...I'm allergic to cats.....and they have been known to sit on babies chests and suck the life out of them....soooooo....for me.....dogs it is!!!!  My menagerie includes 4 dogs....a large 45 lb. mixed breed (he IS NOT and WILL NOT  be called a "mutt"), Sparkey (namesake for the blog), a 15 lb. Jack Russell Terrier, Petey, an 8 lb. Hairless Chinese Crested, Oliver and a new addition to the brood, Jeff's 35 lb Miniature Golden Doodle, Tucker.  Now Jeff knows that I think Tucker is a little "ree ree" (politically incorrect term for slow), but he is just about the most darling, walking teddy bear of a dog that you could imagine.  So, as you can tell, dogs are just my "thing".  They're pretty spoiled....4 dogs sleeping in a king size bed at night with their two owners and Oliver wearing Ralph Lauren cashmere sweaters during the cold months (after all, the poor guy IS hairless!)...but nonetheless, I love them like children.  It's weird though, because I often wonder if they "get it".  Do they know that I love them as if I gave birth to them myself?  Do they think it's weird when I kiss them on the lips?  I don't know.  Initially I think....no......but if you were to watch Planet of the Apes....you start to wonder.  In Planet of the Apes there was that weird role reversal.  The apes were the owners and the humans were the pets.  I can remember a scene where a few of the "human captives" are in a cage and a little ape child comes to pick out her pet.  She puts her face to the cage and ALL of the humans run to the corner an cower.  Hmmmm....is that what it's like for Oliver when I go to plant a big kiss on his lips?  It really made me start to think.  I mean, if you think about it, here on Earth it's Planet of the Humans everyday.  Is this how they feel or have they been so bred and domesticated that they really think that they're human?  Well if you look at Domestic Pets and compare them to Wild Animals....there is a difference.  No matter how much you try to treat a Wild Animal like a Domestic Pet....it doesn't always work out.  Oh sure there was Grizzly Adams who lived in the wilderness and tamed wild bears and had them living with him like children.  But then on the flip side, what happened to Siegfried and Roy?   Well, if you don't remember, Roy almost ended up as dinner for a 7 year-old white tiger.  To that I say....good for the tiger!  Domestic Pets and Wild Animals are two different things!  Think about your dog....or your cat.  For the most part, if these animals were not living in the comfort of your home....they may be dead.  We live in urban cities that do not provide for animals to just cruise the streets for food and shelter...not to mention CARS....the two (domestic pets and cars) usually do not make for a good combination....unless the dog is riding IN the car.  Otherwise.....it usually amounts to......Car - 1   Dog/Cat - 0, aka roadkill.  Wild Animals are called "WILD" because that's what they are.  They should NOT be bound by cages and strutted around like first grade "show-and-tell" finds.  Again, I say, "Good for the tiger!"  he should have done it a long time ago.  Now the BAD thing, they probably put the tiger down.  For WHAT you might ask?  For doing what tigers do....prey, kill, eat (like Julia Robert's movie).  Killed for being a tiger.  I hate to say it, but when the trainer at Sea World got attacked and eaten by Shamu the Killer Whale...yep, you guessed it...I was cheering for Shamu.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone getting killed or losing their life, but it is TORTURE for these animals to be treated the way they are.  To put a Killer Whale in a "cage" of that size...considering they're used to living in the oceans....would be like a human living in a closet for the rest of their lives (some Gays do that, but it's by their choice and a COMPLETELY different blog topic).  It would be torture.  When given the opportunity....one day...they're gonna strike back!  I really hate it when you watch the news and you hear about a Great White Shark that has been spotted of the coast of a Florida beach and there is a HUGE initiative to track and kill the shark.      H E L L O people....that's where sharks live!!!!  WE are intruding on THEIR space.  What......, you want them to buy a condo in Miami and live in the pool?  Or when you hear about a Brown Bear in Aspen that has been spotted and it MUST be found and put down or tourism will fail.  Ummmm.....people, news flash....Brown Bears live in the mountains.  Sorry skiers, sorry surf boarders, sorry Siegfried and Roy and sorry Sea World trainers....it you play with fire, you're gonna get burned!!!!  So careful what you choose for a pet...and next time your dog looks at you a little weird (I know that they're domesticated and all, but....) be scared, be very scared!!!!