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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