Smudge sheep posing with her good friend, humanimal Jill Tedeschi.
Safran steer mugs for the camera with a new friend during an event at our Southern California Shelter.
Humanimal Breezy Rondilone shares a special relationship with Maria goat.
Humanimal Brooke poses with pal Themis chicken.
Marjorie goat pauses to take a photo with a new friend during the 2015 Pignic at our New York Shelter.
Happy
National Selfie Day!
Whether or not you enjoy taking them, you’re familiar with selfies — pictures you take of yourself
with either a smartphone, webcam, or (if you are a really cool photographer
with mad skills) your own camera.
Humanimal Chad Richmond poses with his buddy Yoda llama.
Selfies are staples of social media, and often they’re taken with animals; when they’re taken with farm animals, they’re sometimes called “felfies.”
Zuzu goat poses with a friend at our 2015 Hoe Down.
As
with any type of photo, however, you should always take into consideration who
wants to be in the photo and who might prefer not to be photographed.
Humanimal Breezy Rondilone smiles with pal Albert donkey.
Just
as some animals on our sanctuaries do not like to be on tours (and we respect their wishes), there are
many animals who really do not want to be in a “felfie.” There are even multiple stories of animals who’ve actually died because of ill-advised selfies and a
person’s insistence on taking a photo with them at all costs.
Farm
animals
— especially birds, rabbits, and sheep
—
are prey animals and have a
strong flight response. They panic when they feel captured, and they can succumb to
heart attacks or collapse from exhaustion when chased. Many of the animals on
our sanctuaries are also struggling with heart disease or other issues, so even if
these animals do not run away from you, they do not want to be picked up.
Some animals, on the other hand, just can’t wait to get their photos taken. (We’re looking at you, Goodwin, Zuzu, and Otto goats!)
It’s important to remember the potential for human injury as well. For
example, a cow might swing her face to brush a fly away. The selfie-taker is
inevitably distracted by the process of snapping the selfie, and might not get out
of the way in time. And turkeys tend to be curious about human eyelashes; they
don’t intentionally harm the selfie-taker, but they could inadvertently cause
injury if the person is pressing his face near the turkey’s in order to take a
selfie.
The
bottom line is, if you enjoy taking selfies, do so wisely when it comes to farm
animals. Never force an animal to be in a selfie with you. Never pick up an
animal you don’t know; let her come to you. If she doesn’t, rest assured
that she does NOT want to be in your selfie!
Or, you can save the selfie for yourself, and take photos of the
animal by herself — showcasing that beautiful, unique, quirky individual all on her
own.
Sophie pig really knows how to make a photo memorable!
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