Beeline: Pets are necessary in life

As part of my present studio practice I'm looking at animal conservation in zoos, and specfically focusing on two popular bears in global zoos since they began - the polar bear and the giant panda.

I was a junior member of the WWF when about 11yrs old, and come from a family who has mostly had pets, cats, rabbits, geese, fishes and a dog - at different times and fondly remembered.

I have a strong and amazingly natural bond with my boyfriend's cat Dollie (she came to him via a friend of mine who knew someone who couldn't keep Dollie when she was a wee 8week old kitten, so we went to see Dollie and fell in love with her from then on). She is 10months old now, as I write this, and sitting on my lap, and she is the inspiration for my renewed interest in the human relationship with animals, as pets.

I feature some photos below of Dollie, of which there are many, and these capture moments of her inquisitive, playful, loving, calm, cosy, and characteristically independant in herself and her close relationship with her owner and her love for giving me her undivided attention when I'm around - from her it is hard to tear ones' self away most times!

Anyway, this blog today is helping me relate my relationship with Dollie to my relationship with the zoo animals I am researching avidly, and to whom I shall be meeting (the polar bear) next week (and hopefully in sometime forthcoming to meet a giant panda). These, in my view, are now pets of the world.