The Emotional Roller Coaster of Taking Action

The Emotional Roller Coaster of Taking Action
Reading Time: 6 minutes

The Emotional Roller Coaster of Taking Action. Image: Pixabay

Reading Time: 6 minutes

The emotional roller coaster of taking action

Bear Necessities

About 15 years ago I took groups of travellers across India by train.  Of course I took them to the splendid Taj Mahal, and afterwards to the nearby abandoned city of “Fatehpur Sikri”.  

The first time I drove to this ancient city I noticed a line of men with miserable looking bears tethered by a short chain attached to rings in their noses.  It broke my heart to then witness giddy tourists queuing up to have their photo taken, oblivious to the bear’s suffering.  

They were beautiful Sloth bears and sat almost lifeless, clearly depressed.  I felt great anger at the Tourist’s lack of compassion in pursuit of their selfies.  But what could I do?  

What actual difference could I make? Free the bears, but what would I do with them?  Screaming at the tourists and Bear Owners insensitivity would get me nowhere.  

And if I am honest, what would cause me the least amount of pain?  The more you tend to do, the more you find out which can be hard to stomach experience has taught me.

I knew if I turned a blind eye doing nothing would gnaw away at me.  It’d feel worse than the perceived anger and opposition I might face when taking action against those complicit in the cruelty. 

So, I wrote an email to the Tourist Minister.  Perhaps just “slacktivism” but it was a gentle first step.  I explained how I felt so inspired by the Taj Mahal but then straight afterwards witnessed these beautiful creatures treated so badly was extremely upsetting.  I appealed for something to be done about their situation.  

3 weeks later when I returned with my first group I’d pre-warned them at how upsetting it might be to see the conditions the poor bears were in.  

But they’d all vanished.  A pang of fear shot through me.  What if, because of me, the Bears had been all confiscated and killed, or were in a cage somewhere living an existence far worse than they’d been living if that was possible.  

What had I done?

Sloth Bears
Sloth Bears. Image: Sharon Michelle

A few days after that I was contacted by Kartick Satyanarayan, a wonderful man who worked for Wildlife S.O.S.  He informed me that because of my email his charity were asked to get involved.  They ran a scheme with the Bear owners, taking the Bears to live in safety in exchange for training in a new profession such as driving.  The Bears were a main source of income so if they were taken away, the Bear owners would simply get new ones and the cycle of abuse simply continued.

All of the Bears from the road to Fatehpur Sikri had a new home in a sanctuary and I was invited to visit them.  My heart soared.  I went to see them on my next tour and ever tour after that taking my travellers with me and they loved it!

The Bear Sanctuary is home to mainly Sloth Bears.  Some had visible scars where they had been mistreated.  A few had clear mental scars simply rocking back and forth, or round and around in circles all day long due to trauma and neglect.  

But most roamed about their large enclosures often playfully interacting with the caretakers who they clearly adored.  Every Bear’s personality is assessed when they arrive and matched to a group where they will fit in and be more happy.  Each bear was fed a kind of porridge cooked with their personal taste in mind.  Some liked honey so had honey, all preferences were catered for.  I felt joyous to witnesses the obvious care for the Bears.

To find out more about this brilliant place see: https://wildlifesos.org/locations/agra-bear-rescue-facility/

Sitting Ducks

It’s extremely difficult for me to take action at times as anything concerning nature and animals is an emotive issue for me as I care deeply for their well-being.  In the UK we are one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.  I constantly struggle with the loss of nature on a mind blowing scale that’s occurred in my lifetime.  How on earth did we let this happen?  

Recently I’ve caught 3 groups of young lads using catapults at ducks and ducklings in a small pond in my local park.  It’s been distressing to me each time.  They were being targeted just for “fun”. 

Each time I challenged the boys using catapults and they ran away like cowards.  Each time I’ve reported it to the Police knowing they, like all public services, face a lack of resources and if it isn’t a human screaming or bleeding it’s unlikely action will be taken.  

But I need it to stop.  It hurts me to know it’s happening.  The Ducks can’t stop it.  With trepidation I contacted other local nature reserves to find out if they’d had similar incidents and they confirmed what I feared, it’s happening and is becoming a trend.  Alarming yes, but the knot in my tummy was telling me this might be the case for a while now and I needed to face up to the facts.

But what could I do that would prevent this from happening?  I felt overwhelmed and disappointed in the human race.  I wanted to give up and pretend it wasn’t happening, leaving it to someone else to do something about it but worried that no one else would.  

My first attempt at reporting it to my local council who manage the park was demoralising as the Officer I spoke to clearly had a severe case of I’m-not-motivated-itis.  He would ask the CCTV operators to monitor the area but that was pretty much all he could do.  I know there is no CCTV that covers the pond and knew instantly I was being fobbed off.  

But his negative attitude was just what I needed.  I’m stubborn and love a challenge.  I felt energised and intended to show him what could be done.

I contacted the RSPB, the UK’s national bird charity.  They advised me it’s a crime to injure or kill wildlife (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981).  I contacted the RSPCA (prevention of cruelty to animals) who informed me reports of wildlife being targeted with catapults is on the rise.  They are now going to look into this to see what can be done.    

I contacted my Local Government Councillors with suggestions to urge them take action and help prevent wildlife being targeted with catapults.  Within an hour I had a reply from Sophie, a local Government Councillor telling me she was appalled and was taking this seriously.  

A person in a position of power telling me this treatment of nature was unacceptable.  Telling me action would be taken was really important to me as I struggle to cope with what seems to be widespread inaction, particularly by those in power.  Elections are coming up and cynically I wasn’t sure I believed her, but I almost cried with relief and hope.  

A few weeks later I had an update from another local government councillor called Jules.  They had met with the local Police, and the council community safety team to discuss strategies to deal with the catapult problem.  They involved a local hero who runs a Swan and Duck Sanctuary who has dealt with this growing issue for years.  He’s started up a petition to make carrying catapults in public illegal. See:

Make the sale of catapults/ammunition and carrying catapults in public illegal – Petitions (parliament.uk)   If you live in the UK please sign it.  It all counts and makes a difference.  It’s actually the least you can do.

The local councillors started a public campaign which has had a good response.  There are new eye-catching signs up all around the pond letting people know the birds are being targeted and if anyone sees it to call Police straight away.  The 2 culprits I reported most recently have been caught by Police (did not expect that at all but am thrilled!).  There are now regular patrols at the pond, and Officers are going to speak to the schools to tell the kids targeting and injuring wildlife is a crime, and about the consequences of being caught harming animals.  

Jules ended her email to me with “I hope this reassures you that action is being taken and hopefully this will have some impact.”  It absolutely reassured me.  It absolutely had a positive impact.  Especially as a part of me believed nothing would be done so there was no point in reporting it. 

To everyone who has taken any kind of action.  Thank you.  The petition signers, protesters, writers complaining to councils and government officials, and especially to all the organisations and individuals working tirelessly to protect and rescue wildlife.  You all give me hope because you care and take action.

If you see something that upsets you please don’t give up, especially before you’ve even started.  You don’t know what the outcome will be.  It could be a tough ride but one that might make you feel a little better.  Nature is depending on us.  We can make a difference.

Read other articles by Sharon:

Read All About It

The Elephant In The Room

Trees & Growth

Writing / Contributed Articles / World

Paying Respects

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2 comments

  1. This is such an inspiring article, thank you. I’ve signed the petition and fingers crossed it gets passed.

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