Yesterday, unfortunately, a child from Israel was attacked and badly injured by a leopard (not a tiger!) during a family outing. Outrage, in the form of comments, is running high on social media, as it so often does after accidents like this. And as usual, the crowd's criticism is aimed primarily at the operators of the animal park in question: "That's what happens when wild animals are locked up!", "The leopard should have attacked the operators instead!", "Wild animals don't belong in zoos!" and so on, and so forth, and much more. Yes, the core message is undoubtedly correct: ANIMALS don't belong in captivity!..... ANIMALS! That includes, for example, cows, pigs, horses, chickens, dogs! as well as all the other animals that are put on public display every single day for various visitors, for payment, in, say, countless zoos across the Western world. Because whether you believe it or not, dear Westerner, all of those animals just mentioned were once wild too.
Domestication ↓
It was only because of the West's long-standing cultural domestication that these animals were reduced to what they are now: your daily snack, or livestock. That includes vast fields full of cows and pigs vegetating in the tightest possible confinement... millions of legal! chicks being shredded... horses cooped up in their cramped stalls for 23 hours a day, only to occasionally stand ready to perform tricks (keyword: elephant riding)... ponies running in circles all day at the fair... dogs locked up deliberately for 95% of their time, mostly in apartments that are too small, waiting for their owner to come home from work... Where has Western people's criticism of that gone? Is that species-appropriate? Isn't that at least just as tragic as what you, at every opportunity, accuse the Thais of? Isn't that also massive, shocking, constantly criticism-worthy animal cruelty?..... Heh... No! As paradoxical as it may be, the fact is that, for the Westerner, it simply isn't. Because he's always convinced that what he's used to, and what HE considers good or bad, defines a truth that applies worldwide - no matter how obvious his blatant double standards may be. Nice Westerner... Except the rest of the world does NOT want to be cured by the West! Other countries, too, have been through a long history of cultural domestication - what a surprise!... Yes, even Thailand! Animals you know to be wild aren't necessarily wild in Thailand either. Just as little is much of what Westerners do with their own animals considered acceptable in Thailand.
Disrespect ↓
The decisive difference, and the whole point of this short commentary, however, is that the Thais don't try to forcibly lecture the West about it! Whereas the West is peeermaaaneeently doing exactly that to the Thais (or rather, to the rest of the world). What's that about? Where is that so highly praised Western understanding of general tolerance toward people who think differently? Why are you not able to accept that, around the globe and depending on the country, all sorts of different worldviews exist, and that each and every one of them deserves at least as much right to exist as your own? It's downright ridiculous that people actually try to lecture other countries about which animal species are better suited to mass mistreatment than others..... Instead of condemning animal cruelty in general and simply not supporting it, as Westerners, first and foremost in the West itself. So how about you stop accusing the Thais of things you yourselves are in no way able to do any better... Stop with your double standards and finally start respecting other countries' customs !in full!.The best tours on Koh Samui Explore now
