Motorists: slow down! That’s the message being trumpeted by animal lovers after a heartbreaking scene early in January of 2020.
Home to all manner of wildlife including a special herd of ponies, the gorgeous New Forest National Park in England also happens to be home to roadways. It’s hard to say what events transpired in the evening hours of January 8th, 2020. The end result was a pony named Hazelhill Scrap, left on the side of the road, struck dead by a passing car in the fading light of the day. Her grieving family stood vigil over her body all night long, until the owner had enough light in the morning to take on the task of moving the body.
When stories like these surface, we’re reminded that animals have a whole world of their own, and they do grieve. Some argue that animals don’t have feelings, but there is too much evidence to the contrary at this point.
Grieving Animals Act A Lot Like Grieving People
Remember the tear-jerker story out of the Pacific Northwest with the mother orca who for over a week swam with her baby’s lifeless body all throughout Puget Sound? The entire world looked on in sadness. Our hearts went out to this poor mama, who couldn’t let her baby go just yet. The hardest part about it for me personally was that we couldn’t talk to her. We couldn’t support her any way. We just had to let her go through it and let her family help her. We all know grief when we see it. Doesn’t matter who it’s passing through. (1)
I’m thinking about all the times when elephants have been documented showing some display of emotion. Back in 2015, there was the heart-rending story of a little elephant who died in India, and her family who kept vigil for 12 hours. (2) But that’s just one example… Elephants, in particular, are well-known for their family ties and loyalty to loved ones. We have many, many touching stories like these. Animals absolutely grieve. And what’s interesting is that it looks a lot like human grief.
Grieving Animals Need Care
In fact, some of the very same coping mechanisms that humans use can be used to encourage healing in our furbabies. Equine Wellness Magazine suggests that you let the family members see the body, which is exactly what many humans want after they’ve lost a loved one. (3) Many sentient beings need that closure. We’ve thought for a long time that these sorts of things are unique to the human experience, but it’s very clear that’s not the case at all.
Indeed, primates, birds, and even species many of us have never heard of… they’ve all been observed grieving a family member. (4)
While it is terribly sad to witness, and we never want to see another being in grief and pain, it’s such a great reminder of the very small distance between “us” and “them”. Compassion for all living things begins with an understanding that all beings feel on some level. While we may not be able to identify with precisely how they feel, we can understand that they do. When that understanding blooms, we have compassion. We slow down. Take more care. We know there’s more to life than meets the eye. Because we learn something new every day.
