. Beasts and men, being Carl Hagenbeck's experiences for half a century among wild animals;. Animal training; Menageries; Zoological specimens; Zoos. MY LIFE IN THE ANIMAL TRADE 31 and I had come to the conclusion that the prevalent mode of procedure was not only cruel, but also stupid and ineffectual. Brutes, after all, are beings akin to ourselves. Their minds are formed on the same plan as our minds ; the differences are differences of degree only, not of kind. They will repay cruelty with hatred, and kindness with trust. What, there- fore, could be more foolish than the senseless manner in
. Beasts and men, being Carl Hagenbeck's experiences for half a century among wild animals;. Animal training; Menageries; Zoological specimens; Zoos. MY LIFE IN THE ANIMAL TRADE 31 and I had come to the conclusion that the prevalent mode of procedure was not only cruel, but also stupid and ineffectual. Brutes, after all, are beings akin to ourselves. Their minds are formed on the same plan as our minds ; the differences are differences of degree only, not of kind. They will repay cruelty with hatred, and kindness with trust. What, there- fore, could be more foolish than the senseless manner in which every spark of intelligence was driven out of the hapless pupils ? I knew full well from long and intimate association with the lower animals that their understanding develops wonderfully by close friendship with man, and I was convinced that far more could be achieved by gentleness and sympathy than was ever accomplished by tyrannical cruelty. This, however, was not my only discovery. I had also found from experience that animals of the same species differed most remarkably in character, and from this I inferred that if the talents of each animal were to be fully developed, individual tuition during training would be absolutely essential. Here again we have a point of similarity to ourselves. These, then, were my ideas upon this not unimportant subject, and about twenty years ago I proceeded to put them into practice. I established a circus in Hamburg in 1887, and before long I found a trainer whom I induced to adopt my new methods of educatino- the animals. I met this man (whose name was Deyer- ling) in England, and as he happened to be unemployed I engaged him on the un- derstanding that he should work on my system only. I at first showed him what Hagenbeck's first circus. I proposed to do by training dogs and cats to perform tricks without ever resorting to force (except in cases of gross disobedience), and I then expressed to him my opinion that if. Please note that
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectzoologi, bookyear1912
