Subject: domestic animals and environment imbalance
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 17:51:53 +1000
seeing I am usually of just one mind, I am pretty confident I only have
one emotion about my grass at any one time - [this is a little Joke
- so don't take offence in any way.] the point is - I have some kikuyu grass
willing to roll over and die - it has very willing replacements and all
goes well, then on another slope I have WWIII with it, because the climate is
ideal for it above all else. In both cases there is no emotional
response, I have tried to do nothing, to not fight back and - I
lost, unless I eat the kikuyu I too will be skin and bone. so I try to work
around the problem as you suggested in a way, I change the balance, and sit
back and observe. even by doing nothing we are in fact altering our
future. When I stood in 'National Parks of England' last year I could
see my own homeland in little under 200 years IF I DID NOTHING. we have to
risk making small mistakes, be armed with observation
and humility and we may find ourselves in the middle of a very good
outcome. two months ago I had a stray cat move in, every little element in
the system responded bit by bit it was taking over, prepared to have
kittens and a life of domination, I realised I was becoming part of its
plan by not protecting the existing animals. It had to go, fortunately my
boys could see the wisdom in its surrender to the RSPCA. they had been
keen enough to observe its impact. A weed to me has always been a plant or
animal that does not respect diversity, Each animal (cat, dog, insect) has
to measured by its actions.
I have noticed that there is active campaigns
to de-sex dogs belonging to our outback families, I think this great and
should be encouraged. One dog may not be a threat but One whole hungry
litter would be. Cat licences are also becoming compulsory
here. April
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April
Sampson-Kelly ADPA,BCA,MCA,GradSci,PDC LC Permaculture Visions leaders in
permaculture learning by correspondence askpv@ozemail.com.au sampsms@ozemail.com.au http://www.ozemail.com.au/~askpv GOOD
PLANETS ARE HARD TO FIND
>Dear PIJ >Re Cats and Dogs >I would like to share
a thought provoking experience. Last year Lorraine >and I taught a
PC Design course in Sri Lanka. The "stray" dogs were
one >of the first things we noticed (a major obstacle on our 3 hour
night >journey from the airport). > >Dogs were everywhere,
scratching through the rubbish, often no more than >skin and
bone. My immediate response was that this was awful, and
a >problem to be addressed. I don't pretend to have come to a
complete >understanding of this situation but I did obtain some new
insights on >discussing it with some thinking buddhist
friends. They were against the >government control program,
stating that killing the dogs was not part of >their culture. Then
they explained that the dogs were merely >manifestations of the disturbed
environment. There were so many dogs, to >redress an imbalance in
the environment (loss of forest and natural >predators / scavengers, lack
of recycling systems). Reducing dog numbers >was just attacking the
symptom... something we avoid in pc, right!? > >So I would have to
agree with Philippa Howells (letters issue 66), that an >attack on dogs,
cats or grass can be energy wasting exercise without >addressing
underlying issues and attitudes. Dogs, cats and grass are
all >species that have their place in natural and man-made
systems. > >I'm convinced that in our western culture the imbalance
isn't so much an >unused waste resource (Sri Lankan scavenging animals),
but an emotional >space that wants filling. Pets respond with
love (cupboard love, but it >still feels great); the rotweiller sure gives
protection and a few macho >points. The beautiful lawn wins
the respect of our peers (unless you've >got pc friends - then you get rid
of your lawn as fast as possible). > >It seems to me that our
environmental problems are largely psychological in >nature. Now
that's a real design challenge. > > > >Rene van
Raders > > > > > > > > > > > >
domestic animals and environment imbalance,
April Sampson-Kelly, 03/15/1998