the animal vs the individual

There is an ongoing argument around my neck of the woods that pretty much says "all pit bulls are evil, crazy, killers"  "no they aren't" "yes, they are" "no they aren't".... and so on and so on and so on.  You get the gist.

I'm not in the argument---I'm a cat person.

But the logic of the argument is exactly what I'm talking about.  Most people will squash every spider they see.  They will us insecticides, traps, guns, whatever they can get their hands on to kill something if the creature they see is a "bad" animal.

What is a bad animal?

• predators that might eat something we can sell at market
• predators that might think we look like food when we are in their territory
• predators (not otherwise specified--they kill to eat so they are bad---think about that one)
• animals that sting
• animals that electrocute
• animals that bite
• animals that think you look like a diner
• animals that think you look like their next home
• animals that cost you money by sharing your space and causing damage
• animals that stink
• animals that look gross
• snakes, all snakes, evil snakes
• birds that crap on your property
• birds that like to eat fruit and berries off the trees and bushes
• birds that like to eat lap dogs
• all insects except ladybugs and butterflies.
• animals that are bigger than a car and not restrained

I'm sure there are more.

Then we see these stories, or videos in which one animal is best friends with somebody or saves a child or whatever, and we become fans of that individual.

Humans love to categorize.  We assume that things belong in categories.  There is no evidence that we humans have ever considered that the categories we make are just man made constructs to help us store information in our brains.

Obviously, we don't just do that with animals.  We label everything, then put it in a category that has a judgement attached.  We miss all kinds of good things by doing this, from foods that look funny to religious wisdom from other beliefs.   We like our categories to have an unspoken good/bad attached to their meaning.  It is the basis of all kinds of atrocious behavior.  It is the basis of hate crimes, of man made extinctions, of wars, and it is the reason you can't get a decent tomato at the supermarket. (bruised tomato-bad, perfect tomato good, try shipping that 3,000 miles)

I currently hate zoos.   It hurts me to go to them.  I have heard that the people at the zoos get attached to the individual animals they care for, and visa versa, and hope that is true.  Every single life form is an individual.  No matter our instincts, or brain function, we are not all identical.  If you doubt it, talk to a set of identical twins.  We treat every creature as if it is just another of its species.  Why can't we see that every creature is also an individual, living its own life, experiencing, learning, and being unique.

The planet is not our sandbox to do with as we wish.  We need to share.  We need to respect our co-life forms.  We all need each other.

 And who knows what great  inter-species friendships we have all missed.