I would agree with Robyn that the way humans behave towards all living creatures is influenced by how they are shaped by parents/cultural views/their own life's experiences. This in no way excuses people for bad behavior or absolves them of responsibility for their actions, but I have found that the best way to change a behavior is to understand it first from the other beings point of view.
In turn I feel it is important to realize that when we wish to offer alternative ways of doing things /present a different way of thinking to others with whom we do not agree that we both teach by example and very importantly do not attack or judge. No one learns in an atmosphere of judgement & very often the act of doing so makes people unable to even "hear" what you are trying to get across. It can be very challenging to remain neutral in situations where we perceive an animal is being unfairly treated or abused, but if you set up an "us vs. them", then no one benefits or learns... least of all the animal. Believe me, I have learned the hard way, that by being judgemental & self-righteous (no matter how "justified " I feel in the situation) no one wins...especially the animal. I have to remind myself constantly in my business that humans write the checks & make the choices. If I want to truly help the animal, then I need to have the human "on board". One of my Taoist teachers often reminded me that we teach best the things we need to learn the most. I absolutely love the TTEAM approach to both establishing better communication / understanding our animal friends AND have found that the same principles have served me well in opening up new avenues of communication with/ understanding of humans too . Kaaren
