A couple of years ago, my daughter realized that most of the presents that one receives at a birthday party are forgotten and thrown out within months. She very quickly got on board with the idea of asking for donations to a charity in lieu of presents. (Yes, we were very proud!) For the past few years she has collected donations for the local animal shelter on her birthday. The idea has caught on with several of her friends (not just because of my daughter, but I hope she influenced them some), all of whom have collected donations for the animal shelter. Almost every project the neighborhood kids have dreamed up over the last few years has benefited the animal shelter. This year, as her birthday was approaching, my daughter confirmed that she wanted to collect donations again. When we asked if she wanted them to go to the animal shelter, she replied that, although the animal shelter was great, she wasn't sure that was what she wanted to do. Everybody around her always donated to the animal shelter, but weren't there people who needed help too? She asked, "Isn't there a place you guys donate too that helps feed the homeless and helps them find jobs so that they won't need help anymore too?" First of all - yes, children do pay attention to what their parents do even when you don't think they're watching. Second - how about that thought process from an almost-13-year-old?! She doesn't just want to help people, but she wants to help them reach a point where they don't need help any more. Yep - proud dad here!
If you've read these blog posts over the last couple of weeks, you already know that I think my daughter is one of the most awesome people in existence, but that's not really the point here. Rather, I've been thinking lately about that decision of helping humans instead of animals. (Yes, I know humans are animals - that's beside the point here. If you want to start a biology argument, I promise I have back-up that will take you down!) I support my daughter's decision to help people 100%, but I can definitely understand arguments on the other side. A stray dog or a feral cat is pretty much helpless in a world not built for them. Don't people have a lot more of an opportunity to pull themselves out of the bad situations they're in? While a human can understand the need to seek out a shelter for a hot meal or a safe bed, an animal can never understand that opportunity. I can definitely see the logic behind those arguments which cause people to oppose welfare and guaranteed health care and similar programs, although I disagree with those arguments vehemently!
On the other side, however, I have had many opportunities to interact with the people that these programs are trying to help. Unfortunately I have allowed myself to get so wrapped up in the minor issues of my pretty cushy life, that I have not spent much time working directly with the hungry and homeless as an adult as I did when I was younger, but those experiences are still very real to me. In high school I worked at a wood lot where we chopped and delivered firewood to people that could not afford to heat their homes. The best parts of that experience were the weekly deliveries to the people in need. They were amazing people who worked so much harder than I did every day, and they still needed help just to get by. In college, I spent many nights working at a local homeless shelter. With hours of unstructured time hanging out with the guests at the shelter, I got to know several of them pretty well. The one thing I came to realize more than anything else was that there is no "typical" homeless person. Everybody had a different story. Many were well-educated. Most had gone through situations that were completely beyond their control which helped to land them in their current predicament (kind of like the stray animals above). Almost all were working hard to find a way out of poverty and hunger.
So who deserves our help more? Humans or other animals? Do you choose humans because we should help our own species first, or because they are capable of understanding their situations and suffer psychologically as well as physically? Do you choose animals because they have no way of helping themselves? We haven't even touched on the question about helping animals that aren't cute and furry! I am sure that we do not all agree on the answers to these questions, and I hope that we never do. As long as we disagree, we will hopefully continue striving to help every creature that needs our assistance. Who knows? Someday I may be the one needing help, and hopefully one of the children from a family for whom I chopped wood years ago will be in a position to help me.
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