I touched a leopard.... I stayed five magic minutes petting a 6 month old gorgeous wild cat and this made me incredible sad.
He was attached to a elegant wood table, chain in the middle, his stage, his altar. I saw him when I was leaving a market and couldn't believe that he was real.
Without thinking I kneed in front of him in reverence, put my hand on his head and brought that beautiful baby closer to me, like if I could protect him somehow. No resistance... he was so full of drugs that he didn't even try to open his eyes.
Supposedly he belonged to a zoo and was being (ab)used as a promotion. The cost to take a picture was 100 bath. Very attractive for tourists wandering thru that insignificant street in Thailand. I refused. With my heart heavy I walked away feeling the most useless person on this planet.
