Running With Sherman Quotes

“And as a team, we were fantastic; we forged a bond that would allow us to dominate the planet. With canines at our side, we became masters of the universe; these new companions were our night watchmen, our GPS guides, our first-wave assault team. In the battle for existence, they gave us the crucial competitive edge that allowed us to persist while our rivals, the Neanderthals, faded to extinction.
After that, well, hell! There was no stopping us. From then on, we couldn't make enough animal alliances. We persuaded horses and elephants to carry us into battle, and hawks and ferrets to kill rabbits and drop them at our feet. Wildcats became tame and protected our grains from rodents. We learned to saddle reindeer and herd geese and yoke yaks. Animals didn't just feed and protect us, they inspired us. We studied them, drew them, revered them. Religions worshipped animals as gods; moralists looked to them for life lessons; seekers chose them as their spirit guides. We named our tribes and babies after them. Egyptian pharaohs went to the grave
with them.
Then we forgot them.
The romance that had burned for ages was snuffed in a heart-beat, historically speaking. We had animals on the brain for more than 300,000 years-and then, out of the blue, Edison and Ford came along and stole our hearts. As soon as we had electric lights and affordable cars, we moved indoors and locked the animals out, We don't need guard dogs or plow horses or fresh kill anymore; we hunt freezer aisles instead of forests, fire up the Prius when we need a ride, rely on screens when we crave companionship. Man's best friend became a major pain, an intruder who craps on our sidewalks, barks all night, and has to be confined to cages in the back bedroom and little prisons in our parks. Coco and Cuddles are now another form of trash; according to the ASPCA, more than four thousand abandoned cats and dogs are destroyed every day, just to make space for the six million that are dumped at she-ters every year.”
― Christopher McDougall