Monday, October 06, 2003
Yes Margaret, veterinarians are afraid of animals
What? No way! All veterinarians can talk to animals just like Dr. Doolittle and tell them that the needle won't hurt. Since all veterinarians love animals so much, they know how to read animals' minds. They have a way
with animals, right? They know the animals would never mean to hurt them, because animals love vets!
Yeah, right.
Roy Horn of the famous "Siegfried and Roy" duo was mauled by one of the tigers he trained himself. The man had plenty of experience working with these big cats, and after seeing him interact with the animals, most people would agree he had "a way" with tigers. Yet obviously he was not immune from the unpredictability of these creatures.
Anyone who has had a cat companion knows that cats have attitude. Sometimes even the sweetest cats are unpredictable, and jump on you and claw you and/or sink their little teeth into you for no reason. Sometimes these antics hurt just a little, sometimes they land you in the ER with a raging infection. Now imagine a 600 pound cat with 4-inch claws doing the same. . . Yikes. Then it's more than a cat attack; it's "mauling" or "fatal injury." Let's just hope for Roy's sake it's not the latter. . .
Most trainers of wild animals understand the risk involved in their work, just like those who operate large machinery or fly planes. There's an inherent risk associated with most jobs; even office work can lead to carpal tunnel syndrom or falling file boxes. Heck, I run a risk every time I bike to school. But we can't stop living our lives or stop doing what we love because of said risks--but we
do need to be cognizant of them.
A few months ago a friend's dog attempted to bite me. Actually, she was generously kind since she only jumped up and hit me hard in the face with her teeth instead if taking the opportunity to tear my face off. However, the dog did this without giving me any warning--no growling, no baring teeth, nothing. So since that incident, I conduct myself very carefully around the dog and make sure she's comfortable with me before I attempt to pet her, especially since her head is the size of a basketball and her jaws could crush my bones.
My friend, owner of said dog, chastised me for being scared.
"C'mon, if you want to be a vet, you can't be afraid of dogs."
Yeah, right.
Any veterinarian knows it's not just the big tigers and lions that can hurt you. Who has teeth that can tear through flesh down to the bone in one bite, and can tell when you're secretly holding a syringe with a big fat ouchy needle in your pocket? Who can smell a veterinarian from a mile away? A person? No,
a dog. Who can catch and kill a bird with one swoop of a claw? Whose bite can give you an infection so raging it may require amputation?
A house cat. Who can break your back with one kick?
A horse. Who carries rabies and has long sharp incisors that can crack through nutshells (hence, your
finger bones)?
A cute little squirrel.
These are creatures who can predict storms hours before they happen. They can predict humans' seizures. They can find their way home without reading street signs or maps. They can tell what you ate for lunch three days ago just by sniffing your face. So, of course, I
respect their ability to claw deep into my arm, latch their jaws around my face, or cripple me.
And they don't have to be 600 pounds of carnivorous tiger to earn that respect.
What an adorable hand-eater!
What a dainty little bacteria-infested mouth. . .
A beatiful bird with a finger-crusher for a face
. . .and a cute rabies vector
