Daily Prompt: Think Global, Act Local
“Think global, act local.” Write a post connecting a global issue to a personal one.
I am going to take this opportunity to add to the post on Animal Welfare, I wrote a few days ago, with this topic. I see some people who everyday feed the pigeons, near where I live. I am of two minds on this practice. One is that you are helping the birds to survive. The other is the one I lean towards, which is we are training them to depend on us for their food. I noticed there’s a group that shows up everyday, about 15 minutes before the elderly woman, comes to feed them with a bag of bread crumbs. These aren’t as nutritious as the seeds and berries, or other natural foods that birds would search for, also they swell up when the bird consumes water. I will on really cold days, go out with some bird seed, and help them on these days. However to make sure, I’m not training the birds to depend on me, I won’t feed in the same place everyday at the same time. By doing this they get some food, without coming to depend on it. Animals are our neighbors, and suffer the same pains we do, so I try to reduce their suffering without creating a dependency.
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Excellent advice. I couldn’t agree more. In the warmer months I have been guilty of giving the birds some of what I’m eating if they can have it but seeds are a lot better for them. Perhaps I’ll buy some seeds to have on hand for them instead and make sure I’m in a different spot or not there at the same time each time I’m feeding them. I don’t want to make them dependent on humans either!
It’s a fine line between being compassionate and harming another being. It’s a balance I have to think about in my actions.
Yes, it’s easy to think I’m being kind but if I am encouraging dependency than it’s not actually kindness.
Agreed! We are brothers in animal welfare beliefs.
http://wileyschmidt.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/pay-it-forward-spring-to-live/
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