I don't know whether to laugh
or to cry.
Here is a heading from the
newsstand version of the obituary
of recently deceased, prominent circus animal trainer Gunther
Gebel-Williams:
A claw-scarred face,
missing teeth and an unconditional love for big cats.
Let's see now, he loved these
animals unconditionally, but they don't seem to have felt quite the same way
about him.
His original teeth and their
replacements were knocked out more than once. His face had been
scratched so much by the claws of huge cats that his lips were covered
with lumpy scars that in cold weather sometimes made it nearly
impossible for him to speak.
Could it have anything to do
with the fact that he "taught"
lions to ride on the backs of
skittish horses, leopards to jump through flaming hoops held by the
gleaming teeth of tigers, and elephants to take calm, leisurely walks
through roaring traffic in the nation's busiest cities...
Could it have anything to do
with the fact that despite his reputation as a trainer who didn't use force
(and who knows if that is even true), he somehow forced these animals into
acting in ways diametrically opposed to their most basic instincts?
He loved these animals so
much, but he was comfortable with the fact that in the 23+ hours a day they
were not performing, the animals were kept in tiny cages, or chained to the
ground. They were denied the ability to perform virtually any of the
activities that millions of years of evolution had hard-wired into these
animals, including their needs to exercise, roam, forage, play, socialize
and mate. [more info]
But he "loved"
these animals -- "unconditionally" yet -- according to the
newspaper.
I don't know whether to laugh
or to cry.
