Blackie on her rounds. (Found at Mira Images)
They say that animals don’t “feel”.
Meet Blackie. At least that’s what we called her, as kids. It may even have been her real name, it’s been so long I’m no longer sure.
That’s Eddy Miller on his rounds with her. Hadn’t thought about Blackie for many years, despite the large part she played in my childhood, so imagine my surprise, if not joy, at stumbling on this image of her online!
She had been doing the job so long that she needed nothing more than the sound of empty bottles being loaded and she would walk, just as far as would be required to drop off the number of bottles in a crate, and stop, waiting patiently for the next chinking cue.
She knew every kid on the street, which ones would offer a rub, and which ones were most likely to harbour the kind of tidbit that horses probably shouldn’t indulge in, yet, not wanting to appear rude, would accept graciously. Despite a wonderfully, easy-going disposition she was no angel: many a prize rose met its demise when Eddy wasn’t watching, causing all sorts of ruckus when caught in the act.
In 1983 a new ruling was brought into force regarding the pasteurisation of milk. The equipment required was too expensive for Eddy to even consider investing in. At one stroke of a mandarin’s pen, an era ended and Blackie was out of a job.
Not that you could tell her that. First day of her “retirement”, crack of dawn, she was at her usual place expecting to be harnessed up. And the next day. And the next…
Whatever passes for confusion in horses, turned to whatever passes for depression. She so missed her routine, that within a few days she had stopped eating; and a few weeks after her forced retirement she was dead.
It is, of course, considered fanciful to believe that animals have the same feelings as humans. Yet, are not humans merely animals?
As a child I came to believe that Blackie died of a broken heart. Nothing I have learned in the years since have suggested a more plausible alternative.
Stepping Stones 
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This is so sad. But I definitely agree, humans hold themselves as something greater than animals, but we really are just animals. It’s upsetting that no one realized what was happening and at least walked her on her daily routine just to make her feel better.
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Very interesting article! 🙂
(I’m a vegetarian, largely because i see that animals feel, much like we do.)
When i take Tweetie (one of our parrots) out to exercise (as i do every day), i always ask her how she is doing. She always says one of three things: “Pretty good!”, “Better!”, or “I don’t know.”
We never taught her any of those answers. Inevitably, if i talk to her earlier in the day about meditation and going beyond thinking and thought… her answer will be “I don’t know.”
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Reblogged this on Sun in Gemini.
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Thank you, Steve. Much appreciated. xx
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A pleasure, Running Elk.
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What a heart-breaking story, but lovely in its pathos.
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Thank you, Alethea. 🙂 xx
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Reblogged this on Kate McClelland.
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Thank you, Kate. Appreciate more than you can know. 😀 xx
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Awww you’re very welcome :0)
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Every living thing with a brain can think and feel, and not so sure about trees and plants either!
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I have to agree on that! Proving it might be tricky, but I can’t help suspecting that plants, too, have a much richer emotional life than we could ever imagine. 😀 xx
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I have a kind of proof of that. One of my bonsai trees has convinced me or its favourite place. If I put it anywhere else, it sulks and starts to look ill. Move it back, and it perks up immediately.
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That is wonderful!
(I may steal this proof… ) 🙂 xx
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be my guest!
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Reblogged this on Chronicles of an Orange-Haired Woman! and commented:
This moved me enormously and is something I have always felt myself.
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Thank you, Ali. Always much appreciated. 🙂 xx
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Always a pleasure. I love reading your posts. xxx
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Hugely moving. I entirely agree. We tell ourselves that we are imagining the emotional responses animals so clearly show, and think ourselves so clever as a result. For so-called higher creatures, we sure miss the obvious on too many occasions. Reblogging. xxx
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It certainly feels like the most terrible of betrayals. Can only imagine if we had not become so isolated from nature that we’d (possibly) have retained a much more sensible relationship with our fellow creatures. xx
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Exactly. By setting ourselves up as, in some way, higher, we have lost out hugely in terms of true connection. So sad. xxx
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Repeat comment from the reblog that led me here:
~~~~~~~~~~
Use the search box on my blog for “Jaak Panksepp,” father of affective neuroscience, who has some pretty good research supporting his assertion that ALL mammals feel. [“Is Activation “Seeking System” Dependent?” has the best info, btw.]
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to educate a world!”
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Thanks Medelyn. Look forward to learning about Jaak’s work. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Stuart France.
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Thanks Stuart. Always appreciated. 😀 xx
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It is just another inconvenient truth we have allowed ourselves to deny. Think of the upheaval involved if this truth were accepted and acted upon…
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A very pretty pickle, indeed! 😀
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Indeed…
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Animals feel, absolutely no doubt. Just watch a dog start wagging his tail when his owner approaches.
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Aint that the truth, David! 😀
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I agree, Sue. Animals are very sensitive – we had a dog that spent hours looking for his buddy, after he died, and was depressed for a long time. What a sad story.
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Poor puppy. We have a friend who’s dog looks for her buddy every time she is at the vet for checkups, as that was the last place they saw each other. Our fellow creatures are so much more emotionally aware than society allows itself to imagine.
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Agree with all the comments. So sad! In some ways, animals are MORE sensitive than we humans who feel so superior!! Thanks for posting this piece. The more we can spread the word, the better. xx Ellen
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I believe they are, Ellen. Attuned to even the slightest nuance of mood; unlike our human companions who seem more than happy to trample over us to get what they want out of the interaction… no wait, is that cats? 😉
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Reblogged this on Sue Vincent – Daily Echo.
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Thank you. Much appreciated, Sue. xx
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xxx
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A double tragedy, both for Blackie and for those who persist in denying the emotions of our fellow creatures.
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Indeed. I’ve never really understood why, what seems so obvious, is so readily denied as mere anthropomorphisation…
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Me neither, H. Finny, we let them have characters of heir own… but not emotions. Wouldn’t have thought you could have one without the other. x
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