Giving psychoactive meds to pets has become a pretty common practice, but I never considered whether zoo animals need them too. Apparently they do, as National Geographic documents. I only question one of Nat Geo's examples:
"Polar bears are notorious for pacing," explained zoo veterinarian Doug Whiteside. "They wander in the wild for long distances and probably have this internal drive to walk, and zoos can't provide them with the huge distance."
Whiteside said Misty significantly reduced her pacing when she was given the drug [Prozac] in 1995. She only had to stay on it for five months to cure the disorder. [emphasis mine]
Let me guess: Soon zoos will administer drugs to cure them of other annoying internal drives, like those for food, water, sleep, and sex.
The obvious correlation (to me at least) is with children in classrooms. The wry take: Yes, drug the animals/kids into submission for the convenience of the people around them! Maybe I'm glib but that's a bit of malarkey. Indeed, zoos and classrooms are both manmade constructs that go against the grain of natural instincts. But in today's world, they are both necessary. We can't have lions running around the city, and we can't provide fully individualized kinetic educational experiences for each child, as much as John Dewey's ghost (and I) would like.
Humans did not evolve to sit at desks for eight hours a day staring at a lecturer/book/computer, but culture has evolved to that point, and our monkey minds need to keep up somehow. If I need artificial means (Ritalin) to maximize my potential in an artificial environment, so be it. I'm at peace with that.
micheal moore did an episode of tv nation about a dog who had an obsessive relationship to a log..
the dog was eventually given prozac so he could break the logs hold on his pysche.
It's okay I guess, just so long as we leave meditating up to humans.
I didn't think animals had the capacity to demonstrate neurotic behaviour until I adopted the family dog and realized she's a giant bag of nerves.
ps: I don't think anything humans do is natural anymore, that's why we like nature shows, it's all nostalgia.
Posted by: mir | October 11, 2005 at 09:21 PM
I think everyone, pets included, could use a little more TLC, and a little less serotonin reuptake. Your dog, Miriam, could maybe use some Beano to boot.
Posted by: Matt Hutson | October 12, 2005 at 01:06 PM
watch what you say about lola...
(okay I started it)
.. the beano idea has merit.
Posted by: mir | October 12, 2005 at 07:24 PM