Tomorrow, Joe, Ellie, and I are headed to the beach, a birthday party, and packing. SUnday, Ellie and I are flying to see my parents.

I'm deep cleaning the house and going out to buy an interview outfit!!!

And then I have Monday off and it's an interview and then probably chill out and try not obsessive over if I blew it.

This not being Tatiana's first attack on a human being does say to me that putting her down was most likely for the best.

I don't agree. This was not a domesticated animal, but something wild and enormously dangerous to humans by design. Humans chose to put this animal on display, and once that happened, a contract is in place between the humans and the animal that no harm should come to it, period.

It's all on the zoo, here. The animal bears no responsibility.

Are all of her ads/flyers/whatever in English, bonny? That could be a barrier.

Good point. She's been working with some bilingual folks to help bridge this problem.

She came over for a session this afternoon and I think we may have had a breakthrough. Rather than looking for people in need of a job, she is going to look at her potential employees as a target audience and begin looking for people who love to clean. Granted, there are far fewer of them, but she doesn't need or want a huge pool to fish from. Just a small band of dedicated folk who want a good work experience in conjunction with their interest in cleaning.

We joked about asking for referrals to people with ocd tendencies. Joke! Really. I know better than that. BUT, there are folks in the world who love to clean. I know because of my own dish washing issues...

Anyway, I'm hoping the shifted perspective will help her move past the frustration. Forward movement in any direction has to be better than stunned immobility.

Does anyone remember Binky the polar bear?

I'm not blaming Tatiana in the "you naughty cat" sense Allyson, but since she was a proven danger beyond the level normally associated with big cats in captivity, I think it's better that she was killed than risk another tragedy in the hands of a zoo that obviously wasn't up to the challenge of keeping people safe from her.

Humans chose to put this animal on display, and once that happened, a contract is in place between the humans and the animal that no harm should come to it, period.

It's all on the zoo, here. The animal bears no responsibility.

I loudly and vehemently agree. Contract. That's the world for it. Humans bought that ticket and must shoulder the price.

Oddly enough, exactly why I'm starting the pet coaching business. The things I see that people DON'T know that get blamed on their pets...makes me alternately sad and furious. The only acceptable solution is to provide that info in the best way I know how.

I should say I started out life pursuing zoo science and gave up out of disgust and rage at humanity's capacity for inhumanity.

Long way of saying, "What Allyson said."

Cashmere, have you considered having him wear mittens any time you aren't right there watching him?

weekend

tonight: reading through cookbooks for a menu this week, packing up a couple of boxes to mail next week, taking things to storage room

Sat/Sun: mac's swim class, some shopping for home stuff, groceries, cooking, filing, maybe listing some stuff on ebay, maybe watching netflix movie or old Heroes eps

a zoo that obviously wasn't up to the challenge of keeping people safe from her.

My DExH bought (for a huge sum) a police dog from Seattle that was about to be killed for biting its second handler. Why they charged him 4k for a dog that was a day away from the needle, I'll never know.

Still, he worked with that animal for weeks and could never get near it. Finally, he hired a vet to blow-gun tranquilize it. Discovered a prong collar rusted into its neck, under its black fur. The police unit and the two handlers never seemed to notice METAL stuck in the dog's neck. Obviously not up to the task of caring for that dog.

After an operation and some rest, he became the very best dog in my ex's site/personal protection business.

The tiger should have been moved somewhere it COULD be cared for.