The Play in a Pet Store

Tell us about a time you went to a zoo, aquarium, pet store, or animal shelter. What did you notice about the animals who were inside the cages? How do you think they felt about being there?

 

“Um, I had one story in mind and then I… listened to the music because… even though it’s a really pretty piece, it kind of almost sounded like gears and mechanical and something that was driving forward, like a machine. So it kind of made me think of this one time I went to a pet sore. And I was looking at all the little puppies from the Chihuahuas up until the little baby grey hounds. And, it was like the second that you walked past, you saw that it was almost like they were putting on a show. Uh, an act, and you had the different actors playing their different roles – it was something straight out of a cartoon, and I walked by it too because, they’d be lying in their beds and then all of a sudden they saw me come by and the little Chihuahuas would get up and they’d shake their little tails and they’d role over on their back and show you their belly, and then the grey hound would just come up and give you those puppy dog eyes like ‘you should be buying me right now.’ And the next two – they had to have been brother and sister, because they’d literally be chasing themselves around the cage. And you saw this act go on, and you’re like, you know, it was so cute and adorable and you wanted to buy them all, but then I thought to myself, “they’re just playing for me right now, like this is not what this really is.” And like, just to see, I kept going, and then the act stopped. And they all went back to their little beds and they all sat down until the next person walked by and then the whole act, the whole kind of machine, just started over again. And sure enough, the little puppies would roll over on their bellies and the puppy dog eyes, and the tails, and the brother and sister would be chasing around the cage. It was just, uh, it was kind of enlightening… everybody thinks that a dog and the cats are just stupid little animals that kind of go basically on instinct. But to me, that’s a deeper level of understanding, that if I act this certain way, not in my normal character, but if I act this way, that uh, I will get a certain response from these people, they’re gonna want to take me out of this cage and want to take me home with them. So it was neat to see that deeper level of consciousness occurring in this kind of machine of the pet store. This play of the pet store.”