Elderly animals 

It seems counterintuitive that older animals suffer after being alive for so long. 

Angela Walley spent a year in New Jersey taking care of both of her parents, making the decision not to photograph any of them anymore due to their condition. A year after, she visited relatives’ properties, finding a horse named Pete, which she photographed. She was amazed, turning it into a project. There were points where she got emotional, realizing that aging is not easy, many of the animals she photographed seem tired. The images taken by Angela are proof of survival and how there are no physical limitations. Caregivers take comfort in the images after their animals have passed, it gives comfort to who their animals once were. She relates it to being able to find joy in life before we get to a point where we no longer have the ability to. 

Elephant cruelty 

It seems counterintuitive that elephant circus shows, in reality, are cruel. 

The three year old elephant named Kenny was scheduled to perform, but felt under the weather. Instead of being by his mothers side, he was being held captive and forced to practice tricks for the audience. Federal regulations state that animals are supposed to be clear of sickness and medical attention in order to perform, but none of this was happening, causing kenny to develop diarrhea and bleeding, and later on, his death. For many years, this has been going on with other elephants, where they aren’t receiving medical attention and they are allowing the show animals to die under suspicious circumstances without publicly announcing anything. There were anonymous tips towards authorities of these actions, causing culpable companies to receive fines, but still, these actions have been kept clandestine. 

End- of- life care

It seems counterintuitive that end-of-life care is not about wishes, it’s about the right thing to do. 

Charles, his dad and his sister found themselves in a difficult situation, debating on the following steps for their mothers well being. Three days prior she had been admitted to the hospital for nausea, suddenly worsening and ending in a coma, even having to receive CPR for nine minutes. Charles being the medical of the family, has the weight on his shoulders. Everyone is expecting him to make the right choice, when no one prepares him to make a decision over someone else’s life. Even knowing all of his mothers end of life wishes ( not being artificially kept ) He debates on whether his mother should or should not be placed on an end-of-life medical care, which in fact, costs around one-fourth of all medical spendings.