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A plea for a prisonerby Johanne Vaillancourt Translated by Marlène Picard (Mooghie) |
Humans have always loved to run everything, be it cities,
people, nature or animals.
One day, human felt the need for company other than that of his
fellow men. He therefore decided to adopt animals. The pets were
born. But the human... being who he is, he naturally had to impose
his way of being and living. Yep! This is how human is; it is
natural for him to impose, to use power and domination. It was
inconceivable for him to only "tame" animals by letting them
be...themselves. He had to control them, dominate them and most
importantly, to take away what is essential to every being ...
freedom.
The parrot unfortunately could not escape this desire for
conquest. A victim of its great beauty, human had to have as a
decoration in his home the freest animal of the creation: the
bird.
When human caught the bird, the most "human" thing he could
conceive was to put him in a cage. HIM, the bird, that in its
habitat had always enjoyed flying in territory miles long, would
now be forced into perpetual idleness; human would impose upon
him a mode of operation that in many ways was contrary to its
survival instincts. He had, to survive in the world of humans,
betray its own nature and his most natural modes of
communication. Everything that was essential to survive in
nature was denied to him in the world of the human.
Then, came a time when the human wanted to make the bird ITS OWN
creature. It had to speak like human, eat like human at times
chosen by human, it had to occupy itself with human toys; in
short, it had to become similar to the human.
The bird has no rights in the world of humans. It can never
protest or complain of its condition. It have to be ready to
play and entertain human whenever he feel the need of it. And on
the other hand, the parrot who tries to claim too often a little
attention must suppress its desires or suffer the consequences.
The bird has no right, no claim in the world of humans; it must
wait for the goodwill of its MASTER.
However, parrots are recalcitrant prisoners. They are rebels and
they remember too well the days of freedom. Thus, they develop
in captivity behaviors that were previously unknown to their
ancestors: feather picking, obesity, aggression, stereotypical
behaviors, cannibalism and other aberrant behaviors.
Boredom and idleness are the worst enemies of the parrot that we
claim "domesticated!" What can HE do to fill its days, the
animal that was so active in nature? With humans, there is
nothing to do ... Nothing!
So, HE observes. The whole "blessed" day, HE observes and waits.
His life as a companion parrot is structured to the same rhythm
as that of a prison: rhythms of getting up, eating, sleeping... HE
watches and waits for his Master. HE is waiting for him to deign
grant a small hour of attention in a day. But, what should HE do
the other 23 hours??
Please, I beg of you, human who now read these lines: be kind to
your parrot. No sentencing is crueler than life imprisonment for
HE who have committed no crime ... HE who is innocent!
© Johanne Vaillancourt 1997 (french) - 2011 (english)
Photos
Psittacus erithacus timneh,Olivier Wecxsteen
Amazona ochrocephala ochrocephala, Olivier Wecxsteen
Psittacus erithacus erithacus, Olivier Wecxsteen
CHRONIQUES
DE
PERROQUETS
Jouer avec son perroquet
Socialisation et apprentissage par le jeu
Johanne Vaillancourt
536 pages
