Posted on 03/09/2021 4:42:59 PM PST by nickcarraway
Edited on 03/09/2021 6:50:06 PM PST by Jim Robinson. [history]
Two giraffes died Monday after a barn caught fire at a zoo in Reston, Virginia.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue responded sometime before 6 p.m. and saw fire coming from the roof and both floors of the two-story barn at Roer’s Zoofari.
(Excerpt) Read more at wdtn.com ...
This is horrible!
I agree about loving our animals. I feel awful and I didn’t even know the giraffes. A truly horrific way to go.
Well, maybe that makes you somehow superior to someone who might benefit from it.
Even if the zoo is using ‘grief counseling’ simply to show that they ‘care’ (and I doubt that) it may do someone good.
(People come back from war with PTSD; I guess you wouldn’t have needed that either - but others might.)
Where do these “grief counselors” come from? And how are they always on call?
That’s a good question. I suspect federal funding to states (pork).
This is really sad.
Celebrity tragedy not so much.
They are probably mental health professionals who have agreed to be available - the same way that people with horses and SAR dogs make themselves available for search parties when someone is missing.
It is horrible; but not just for the animals.
People who work caring for animals as a profession - in zoos, research, or as trainers - have more than a personal relationship with them. It is their life’s work, and most are highly dedicated to it.
Nobody who has simply lost a single pet animal or even several knows what it’s like to care for many animals, over years, as a profession - papers have been published about the emotional impact and depression that these people sometimes experience. It’s no different than with professional firefighters, emergency workers, soldiers, or police officers who deal with horrible crimes. Sometimes they need help, and the fact that this zoo is offering ‘grief counseling’ is a good thing.
(I know these animal-care communities intimately. Outfits like ‘PETA’ seem to think that these are all heartless people who don’t care about animals at all and exercise no high standards in their care; but that couldn’t be further from the truth. And people here on FR who make fun of the grief that the zoo people may experience over a tragedy like this barn fire aren’t much better.)
One that is trying to keep tropical animals warm when the temperature drops below freezing, as it did last night in Virginia.
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