“They (coyotes) cannot forget their freedom, and they will not lick the feeding hand that bars them in. Their self reliance and free exercise of their intelligence belongs only to the conditions of freedom. Their spirits wither with the clank of chains.” from The Voice of the Coyote by Frank Dobie
Other intelligent and socially complex species share this same experience as Coyotes…..
This book you see here the Last Chain on Billie touches deeply on the words of Frank Dobie. I highly encourage everyone to read this book. The author, Carol Bradley follows the life of Billie, and Asian elephant stolen from his mother as a baby, and details the 50 years of abuse and suffering at the hands of the Circus. But it is also about the lives of hundreds of these highly intelligent social beings (like Coyote) who have experienced the intolerable suffering at the hands of humans.
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH WILD BEINGS HAS A GREAT DEAL TO DO WITH OUR PERCEPTIONS OF OURSELVES……Why is it that as a society we allow the imprisonment and suffering of wild beings? We allow their imprisonment for our entertainment…..like Elephants and Killer whales, and we allow the slaughter of those who are free like Coyotes and Wolves, punishing them for their freedom……
WHAT DO WE WANT TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN? Taking our children to be entertained by imprisoned and suffering wild beings teaches our children one thing……it teaches about relationships with them that express a deep lack of respect for who they really are…..and for who we really are.
