On a more serious note and tying in with the hamster-entry: it reminded me of how sorry I feel for hamsters and pets in general. I used to have all sorts of pets from hamsters to fish to rabbits to cockroaches and I just know I couldn't do it anymore.
Whenever I see a caged rodent I am overwhelmed with the urge to take it to the next meadow and set it free. Or - if it is winter - to take it back to Syria or wherever it came from. But at the same time I know of course that the poor little fellas were bred for living in cages and probably wouldn't be able to survive in a real-life meadow with its foxes and badgers and tractors, let alone Syria. You'd probably have to read lots of books (or wikipedia-entries) about hamster-breeding to find out about their natural origins and why they were 'domesticated' in the first place. Try doing this with all other kinds of pets and you'll get a knot in your brain like I do regularly. Contributing to this knot are thoughts about why I feel sorry for caged rodents but not for the hamburger I was enjoying last week. Maybe these injustices are just more vivid and thought-provoking when they're small and furry and jumping up and down in front of you? Perhaps now that we have gotten all those animals into dependence we have a sort of responsibility to be nice to them and not just send them off into their doom?
To be perfectly honest though, I'm not planning on becoming an animal-rights activist just yet. I've always been of the opinion that as long as the larger part of humanity is in such a mess, we needn't start worrying about cats and dogs. If you look around - especially around big European cities like Vienna - you'll realize that some cats and dogs are treated much better than actual human beings. Anyway, I still don't think I could keep a pet anymore. That's just how I feel, it's probably useless trying to wrap my head around it.
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