ThirstyFish

Artists: David Guinn, 2004


Please read the two posts introducing the Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program and The Mural Mile before you follow the photo tour. You can also begin the tour with the First Mural.

"Gimme Shelter" covers the East side wall of the Morris Animal Refuge. The shelter was founded in 1874 by Elizabeth Morris. The Morris Animal Refuge offers preventive, protective and adoption services for abused, neglected and abandoned animals. It also promotes public awareness of animal issues through humane education.

One would presume that each and every person would have the desire and capacity to live with tenderness, compassion, integrity, and wisdom. Let's setup a simple Gedankenexperiment. Let us assume that two children experience true hunger. By the time they are adults, they are both well off. One of them becomes a compassionate person, trying to eradicate hunger, while the other turns into a selfish bigot. Why? Even after having had similar experiences, why does one person develop the desire and capacity for compassion while the other person become perverse, cruel and even violent?

Animals are sentient beings. They are able to experience pleasure and pain. We are human, only when we are humane.

Song of the Day: Perfect Disguise (BBC Radio Session) - Modest Mouse (2004)