Touching Animal Souls

What is motivation.  Where does my drive come from.  Love.  Ok. It is demanded that love is unconditional. Yet attachment is inevitable.  In your lifetime I thought the celebration of you was unconditional.  That it was a celebration borne in giving glory to your manifestation.  Turns out my desire to acknowledge your glory has a personal joy in it that is selfish.  So every day I am without your physical presense is a day I need to let go. That is so hard.  Your physical glory was so much bigger than me.  Your glory lent light and purpose to my life.  I miss you.  So much.  Feel broken without your physical wholeness.  Lifting my head of my pillow with vigour and direction and energy is the lesson your loss is trying to teach me.  And I am not sure I am big enough to learn this lesson.  

There is sn enormous guiding light in my life.  Inspiration to do what I am intrinsically driven to do. Because he has always done just that.  Today he and I admitted to each other that we are both hard-shelled softies.  And as animal people who have committed to living in service to our charges this is a hard life to live.  But we would have it no other way.  I still have loads to learn from my mentor.  His unconditional caring and enormous generosity to those around him is a lesson I am yet to totally get.   I am talking about my Dad. He is a vet. (I am not because I am not smart or  emotionally strong-enough). He is well over 70 and still practising.  His practise is at his home.  Recently he has been suffering with a bout of ill health.  He has been in and out of hospital and we have all been very worried about him.  I travelled to his home a good 700kms away to visit and spend time with him.  Again he amazed me. ...

I had the honour of accepting an award for the amazing dolphin Gambit. Last night eThekweni municipality hosted the 8th annual 'Living Legends' award ceremony at the international convention Centre in Durban. The ceremony was lavish and attended by celebrities and politicians and those in the know.  I felt out of my depth but had prepared with make up and even nail polish for the occasion.  What an honour to be there for Gambit. So no matter the discomfort 100% commitment was required. A lovely video depicting Gambit's role in the South African Association for Marine Biological Research preempted the call to stage.  A Hollywood style setting. Then it came time for the acceptance speech. I looked across the large room and was blinded by the lights. And I felt blank.  I did not say all I wanted to share.  I did not honour Gambit enough.  Not that one ever could.  So. Here goes.  These are the words I would try to use to put the legendary Ga...

  “Our quality of work is their quality of life”   GABRIELLE HARRIS Animal Behaviour management & Guest Experience   South African Association for Marine Biological Research Direct Tel: +27 (31) 328 8222   Fax: +27 (31) 328 8188  E-mail: gabby@seaworld.org.za 1 King Shaka Avenue, Point, Durban 4001 KwaZulu-Natal South Africa PO Box 10712, Marine Parade 4056 KwaZulu-Natal South Africa       P " Please consider your environment responsibly before printing this e-mail "    

Just had to share a story with you about my beautiful cat Hermione.  She is a rescued Feral – got her when she was pregnant 13 years ago.  She was wild then, but gradually tamed down.  She is very ill at the moment with cancer, and has had an op to remove a part of her nose.  But the best patient ever.  Patiently lets me nebulise her twice a day and will let me give her tabs without restraining her. About six years ago some new dogs were brought to our home (we already had 4 that were easy with the cats).  These three dogs were being looked after for a friend, and were not as cat-friendly.  Our property is large, so I was not too concerned.  Until the middle of the night when I woke up.  To see two of the cats sitting at the foot of the bed looking at me, and Hermione sitting on my chest peeing – it was very deliberate, and has never happened again – I got her message loud and clear.  The cats did not feel safe outside ...

25 years ago today my life turned upside down.  A deep unconditional love was revealed when I witnessed your birth.  It was the start of a journey of miracles where I began to learn about the bullshit of myself. I was shown how to be true.  I learned that caring is not about wanting but about giving.  I learned how to trust without giving myself away. When I see you again cannot come soon enough.  Miss you so much.  With huge gratitude for sharing your enormous spirit.  You changed mine and so many lives. Sent from Samsung Mobile

Rats in Africa are saving tons of lives 1   Everyone's least favourite rodent has been tasked with cleaning up the lethal leftovers of war.   Land mines kill thousands every year, but these rats have been trained to save lives by sniffing out the scent of explosives.   The group responsible for training the rodents is APOPO – which stands for   Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling in Dutch, or Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development in English.       2   Using positive reinforcement that is respectful to the animals, these African pouched rats are taught to identify explosives and then alert their handler.       3   They're perfect for the job – they're highly intelligent and have a keen sense of smell.   They are small enough not to trigger mines, yet large enough to be easily identifiable in the field.   No rat has been killed in a minefield.       4   They can cle...