Bridging gaps between humans and animals

hello everybody

my name is emily i am from vancouver

british columbia canada

and i’m here today today to talk about

building a metaphorical bridge between

humans and animals did you know that

there are millions of domestic animals

all over the world that face

torture abuse neglect starvation

and exposure each year millions

a large percentage of these animals will

end up living on the streets

and will never know the comfort of a

home

every living thing elt for short was

established in 2016.

it is a non-profit organization that

exists to rescue animals faced from this

tragic fate from the streets of darus

alum

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i moved here a little over two years ago

to work with elt

it was supposed to be a three-month

stint of consulting but it turned into a

two years and apparently counting

journey of a lifetime

what initially got me hooked is elt has

around 150 rescue dogs and about 100

rescue cats

unlike any other shelter i have seen

around the world

not one of the animals at elt is kept in

a cage they are grouped into sections

but within those sections

they are free to roam around and are as

happy as ever

and i know what you’re all thinking how

in the world could anyone have that many

animals

well when they’re happy and well taken

care of they’re somewhat easy to handle

lots of food and 24-hour staff is highly

recommended

all jokes aside elt exists because a gap

in tanzania

needed to be filled with limited

resources came a lack of education

regarding animal welfare

which leads to a lack of understanding

or empathy for beings that are different

from us

before elt there were minimal resources

for animals in need and further minimal

resources for humans wanting to help

animals in need

many people around the world still have

misconceptions about animals and their

behavior

and further have yet to recognize that

animals have feelings

emotions and desires similarly to human

beings

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just like us animals want many of the

same things

food love the occasional cuddle

and comfortable and safe shelter

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to help change perspectives we must come

to the realization that we are not so

different from these beings

pet owners in the audience raise your

hands

that’s it only one two crazy

wow three that’s crazy

okay well for the four of us in the room

i’m sure we can all agree that having a

pet is the best thing that’s ever

happened to us

having a pet is like having a furry best

friend that follows you around

is extremely happy to see you like

overwhelmingly happy to see you when you

come home from school or work and just

loves you unconditionally always

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having a pet cat or dog also harms helps

you to form a deeper understanding

for the needs and wants of these animals

it is having a pet that creates empathy

for animals within oneself

for those of you in the audience that

have never had a pet or have never had

any interaction with an animal

you can pay close attention to these

slides

you will see each and every dog on these

slides has different interests different

personalities

different tastes in foods and more just

like us

these beginning slides are some of our

rescues when they first

come into the center and as you can see

they’re just covered in mange they’re

emaciated they’re sick

and they’re sad they look broken but as

we carry on to the process of

rehabilitation you see their eyes start

to brighten up they become happy

they start to smile like they have this

face where their mouths open and they’re

physically smiling but you see these

little guys like they’re just

heartbroken and lost and all they want

is love

dogs especially dogs have a really hard

time holding a grudge

and they really really rely on human

contact cats are a little bit easier

they can kind of fend for themselves in

the street but it’s important that

you know they are fed and they find

comfortable and safe shelter

that dog that was covered in mange in

the last post that’s her now

it’s incredible the transformation

anywho i myself have always been an

animal lover

i was raised with dogs birds bunnies

hamsters

cats you name it and my parents also

raised my sisters and i

vegetarian they wanted us to know

growing up

that it was extremely important to be

kind to animals

that being said in canada we’re

extremely sheltered

most forms of animal abuse are hidden it

wasn’t until i turned 16 when i watched

the documentary earthlings

that i truly understood the tragic lives

domestic and farm animals face

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earthlings is a documentary with a

plethora of information it’s about

pets food clothes everything to do and

every way that we exploit animals

it’s extremely sad i’m going to be

honest it’s really tragic so if you’re

an animal lover

it will probably break your heart as it

did mine

but the hardest part after watching

earthlings was me going home

every day being like what can i do to

make a difference

about five years ago i traveled through

bali indonesia and saw every street

corner littered with sick

injured abused stray dogs

i was overwhelmed with anxiety thinking

that i would never be able to help them

in hindsight there’s so much i could

have done for those lives that needed

saving

and since working with elt and meeting

the people that have set

literally every other goal aside to

improve the lives of domestic animals

i now recognize that we all have the

power within us

to be the change the world needs to see

how many times have we said to ourselves

i am just one person

how can i make a difference how could i

possibly be the change the world needs

to see as just

one human being well it takes only one

person to be a catalyst for change

one person to trouble trailblaze the

path for others to help make the world a

better place

educating oneself and informing your

peers of the knowledge you’ve acquired

to do some good in this world turns one

person into many people and so on there

is a domino effect

it has been a challenging year for all

of us with the kovid 19 pandemic

and what we need to do now more than

ever is to come together and help bring

more peace and love into this world and

the best way to do that is to be kind to

one another

humans and animals alike

working with animals more specifically

in the field of animal rescue is nothing

short

of fulfilling rewarding and at times

heartbreaking

every living thing has taught me to

build a bridge and make a connection

between myself and animals

in ways i didn’t realize i was capable

of

sometimes it takes pushing yourself way

out of your comfort zone

and in my case working an extremely

unconventional job extremely far away

from home

but it makes me happiest because in my

opinion there is nothing more rewarding

in this life than kindness

thank you

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