The manatee was swimming around in Florida’s waters, when Trump supporters lured, then detained the animal to scratch a slogan into the animal’s back. The Trump supporters etched the word “Trump” into the algae on the manatee’s back. It was an act that must have taken a while to complete. The letters were 12-14 inches in height. The animal was discovered within days of the Capitol insurrection

Even though the animal appears to have been unharmed, we don’t know what harassment took place while the animal was detained. It’s possible that the animal didn’t resist because it was hurt or injured. The idea that an animal is nothing more than a billboard, a lifeless prop humans can etch slogans onto is what makes this incident horrifically disturbing. The animal was harassed, violated but more generally, it was made to stand for a human ideology that has no concern for any obstacle that stands in its way, even if that obstacle is a living being.

A “hands off” approach in Florida means that people are prohibited from harassing manatees – ie chasing, touching or riding. After this incident, there have been calls for a strict 100 percent hands off rule for approaching manatees. Human behavior towards animals clearly shows it’s not always in animals’ best interests to trust humans.

The figures show that animal abuse and human abuse is a revolving door. Domestic abusers abuse dogs and companion animals. Serial killers start with small animals. We must never make the mistake of seeing the suffering of any living being as meaningless. Violence is violence. The entitlement of the people involved in harassing this living creature only communicates the hideous violence of the Trump ideology and its lack of regard for any creature that gets in its way.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/12/us/manatee-with-trump-on-its-back-trnd/index.html

https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article248668315.html