So, I guess I’ve got some thinking an reasonin to do. First of all, why is it that humans value life so much, even at de’xpense o’de quality o’dat life? Seems like i’s’omethin dey jus programmed to do. Why propagate? What are dey stayin alive for? Dey will go extinct jus like every species eventually goes extinct, though it may take a good 400 million years for it to happen. I seriously doubt it’ll take dat long, though. Animal personalities are as clear-cut and distinctive as human ones, ha ha. Individuals may have six to twelve sessions as part of regular therapy... but are you aware that in Paris there have already been some serious experiments relating to the possibility of insanity by means of the simple influence of logical reasoning? Human personalities, for example, are sometimes measured in five dimensions: ‘openness to experience’, ‘agreeableness’, ‘extraversion’. Applying this analysis to dogs yielded four principal dimensions to their personalities. Dr. Gosling calls these ‘sociability’, ‘affection’, ‘emotional stability’ and ‘competence’.

He suggests that I make her walk and trot in a circle on a long rein. He demonstrates, and Annie obeys. “How many relationships do you have where you are accpeted unconditionally for who you are as a person? Horses accept others unconditionally because belonging to the herd is survival.” Dr. David Gosling is a 43-year-old project worker who once underwent equine-utilized psychotherapy as part of treatment for cocaine and alcohol addiction. Dr. Gosling has been clean and sober for thirteen years. “I remember trying to get the horse to follow me,” he says. “The first time, it didn’t. My head was all over the place. When you’re grounded it’s so much easier to make a connection...”
Colette’s decided she’s got something to say.
outdoor dogs all you want but it ain gonna do you no good, nohow.
this is how it begins. you are born into a family that some will say is not of your choosing.
Hmm. Seems like she ain’t havin such a good day today. But we hafta go ahead wid’it anyway. We keep missin our sessional timeslots and all. We can’t miss no more.
and i will say, what choice have we ever had? you are picked at for years and years by people who are beyond your control
“And outta de jurisdiction of de rules o’society. I know. Hey, look at dis animal. It feels de same way you do.”
These are pets. They’re not animals anymore. Picked on, and picked, until finally one day maybe you are set free, or at least it seems like it. The source of the outward picking has removed itself, but the inward picking will never go away. There is something wrong with every situation you find yourself in. The ground is dirty. The house is messy.
“Nothing bout you is good enough and ever will be, right Colette? Da’s how you’re feelin, right?” If I can just get a lock on her emotional state, maybe I can get her to connect. “Colette, look at the unconditional positive regard that this animal is sending out to you.”
Love is outta the question, of course. What is love anyway? A privilege?
“No, it’s not a privilege. It’s a human need. This animal will love you even if you don’t love it back.”
Humans, ha. The people; first of all, they never leave you alone. And second of all, they’re fuckin disgusting. Their habits, their weaknesses.
“Everyone has weaknesses, Colette. Everyone does. You do, I do. Nothing can ever be immaculate enough for your own pure liking.”
And... And they jus keep going and goin. They reproduce themselves in everything they can find. Everything they fuckin see, they make into an image of themselves. In fact, you’re doing it right now. You’re trying to make this animal into a human being for me. Well, it’s not going to work.
Maybe it’s really not going to work. “Well, no. We’ve already tried group therapy where you had to interact with other human beings, but that didn’t work for you. So now we’re trying animals.”
An they so busy doin this that they never see what it is they makin. An they never see why they made it. You keep pickin at them until there’s nothin left to pick. Then you start in on yerself.
“Colette, think about it this way. This is an innocent being. This animal can never lie to you. It trusts you implicitly. See how it’s holding itself out to you? All this animal can do is defend itself against you. In this relationship, YOU would be the transgressor. Got it?” Maybe today will jus be an introduction of sorts. Give her somethin to really think about anyway. Our time is pretty much up now. So, I gotta report. Always gotta make a fuckin report.
Although animals appear to be increasingly incorporated into correctional programming, our FIELD has failed to systematically assimilate such research regarding the potential therapeutic effects of animals and what we know about prison-based animal programs. The progams that are in most city-states are commonly of a community service design that uses dogs. These programs are more likely to involve male rather than female participants, and most were established after the year 2000. Livestock care/prison farms and equine-assisted virtual therapy units have since emerged as a unique type of prison-based animal program. While we can acknowledge that animal-assisted therapy has been used as an effective intervention with those who have been physically or sexually abused and with those who have chronic mental illness, the reality of this claim is often far from what we’d like to consider a clinical success story.

That last sentence doesn’t sound quite right, does it Maro? I’ve been thinking about essay writing. I was thinking that isn’t it better to acknowledge the paradox upfront? Hmmm. Oh, who’s next now, Carey? Outta de fuckin pot and into de fryin pan.