Denmark is a most civilized country, reputedly progressive and benign. But the fairy tale has hit the wall after the killing of a healthy young giraffe in a Danish zoo. The "sentence" was executed "to prevent inbreeding". Afterwards it was butchered and fed to a lion. Onlookers were treated to some panem et circences Danish-style.
It is hard to understand how the zoo keepers did not consider other options, such as giving the giraffe to another zoo, for instance. The gross spectacle was shocking. The public comes to see animals respected and does not have to witness such a breach of ontology. Some will say that the indignation is pathological, given that viewers absorb daily death, starvation and genocide without a glitch. I do understand, but we also have to obey by the higher standards we expect in our own midst. When institutions start to destroy the foundation for their existence, something is wrong.
This "zoo story" brings to mind the zoo in Baghdad after Saddam Hussein's downfall. Animals, both domestic and wild, deserve respect, love and/or awe depending upon the situation they find themselves, willingly or not, in. A zoo is supposed to underscore a civic message. This incident was not some laissez faire but a sloppy execution-style killing which is the opposite of what zoos are supposed to be.
And yes, I agree, we have become almost dangerously anaesthetized, overdosing on the horrors which are devastating what is left of our collective indignation.
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