Zoo

Back from the part of Virginia

I was from, you know, real rural, coal mining...

You didn't get to experience much in the way of culture.

It was really quiet and easy living, but you just had nothing to experience.

When something like the internet came along,

it really changed things and opened things up a lot.

If you can't be there, you can at least see it or read about it.

Hey! Hey! I need the phone.

It was just... Different perspectives and...

And whole different outlooks on life.

Over several years of talking to people online,

there was some of 'em that actually helped me out,

told me, "why don't you move out this way? There'll be more opportunities for you."

They decided to send me some money...

And basically just said, "move".

I was elated, and at the same time, terrified.

Mom, I'm going away for a while.

I'm going to be going to, uh, Washington.

I could see that it bothered her,

that I would be moving so far away.

But at the same time, she was really supportive.

The first call we got was in the afternoon.

I remember it clearly.

It seemed so...

Strange to get that particular type of call on that day.

We don't get a lot of sun here in the Pacific Northwest...

So you notice it when it's a nice, sunny day.

It makes you very happy.

And that particular call made me very unhappy.

So, at some point, I said, "is this a bestiality case?

Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

And he said, "yes".

And I said, "so what do you need us to do?"

Before I even had the concept of being zoo,

I'd had a feeling that a traditional family life

was something that I would never do.

I don't need a high level of emotional interaction...

Whether it be human or otherwise.

I function fine, I think.

You could probably ask three zoos and get three different definitions.

I guess the main thing would be someone that feels they have a whole lot closer affinity

to non-human animals than their own kind.

It doesn't necessarily exclude caring

for fellow humans and friends in the same way.

We talk to quite a few people

all over the world via the internet.

Unfortunately, most of the people

that were part of our little group were white.

But we did have quite a few other friends who are black.

There was a Hispanic that came out to visit once.

Actually, a couple times.

I talked to people out of Poland and Germany and Japan.

I even talked to soldiers that are currently in Iraq.

This gives them a chance to kind of connect back

with the old world that they knew back here...

Even if it's the same old world that sent them over there

to survive that environment.

I worked for the same guy since I was 23.

He's a member of the National Horse Association.

He had some top-quality show Arabs.

I did the maintenance.

I got paid good.

Clean the stalls.

His tractor would break down or...

Manure spreader would break down or something like that.

He was gone all the time.

He was going back and forth from the West Coast to the East Coast,

because he was building a new home and a ranch there.

If you could grab all the mail and put it in there, I'd appreciate it.

Also keep the horse...

They were my so-called friends for 20-some years.

If there's anything else, our cell phones will be on, so...

When this broke loose,

the last thing he said to me, he told me I was a very bad person.

We were friends for all those years and all of a sudden I'm no good

just because I love the horses?

On the bus, I've spent a lot of time in thought.

Why am I this way?

There has to be a purpose.

That part, I don't know yet.

Trying to balance religion and being zoo...

A lot of that is faith.

Growing up Baptist in a fairly religious household...

I held certain beliefs to my heart.

God doesn't hate anyone.

You treat your fellow man right.

You don't hurt other people.

And for the most part, you'll... You'll be okay.

I always treated my animals as part of my family.

They ate before I did.

Look at the videos that they took of the horses.

Did they look neglected?

No.

It's the love of animals.

That's what zoophilia is.

It's just like if you love your wife or your kids. It's the same thing.

I took better care of my animals than I ever did care for myself. Look at me.

I'm... Here I am, going to be 53.

When I had a bout with cancer

and felt really, really badly,

There were many nights that I went down and spent with my horse.

It's just a very comforting feeling.

They do this little soft, blow-y thing.

And they know that you're there.

And the time passes so fast.

The night is over before you know it.

I could go down there and just hang on her.

She was my strength.

She was my legs.

She was my heart that wouldn't beat right,

and I could just cry and talk and hang out.

It was exactly what I needed at the time.

See, I grew up in the city. I'm a city boy.

And I always wanted to be a farmer.

Well, the job gave me what I wanted.

As I say, I started when I was 16, right after my mom died.

Some reason, it just happened one day, and I kind of liked it.

I didn't even know it was zoophilia until I got on the internet.

I've been on the internet since 2002.

That's the first time, ever.

I had AOL to start with.

It was really interesting to meet all these different people.

And to this day, they're still friends of mine.

There was never any money changed hands.

- Hey, what's up, fellas? - Hey, there.

- How's it going? - It's going all right. How you guys doing?

There was people offered me money.

Oh, I'm just going into the country for a while.

You should go to Pioneer Square. It's going to be crazy, man.

- Oh, maybe. Next time, right? - Be safe.

No, I wouldn't accept money from anybody,

because then it's prostitution.

That's against the law.

I knew that bestiality wasn't illegal in the State of Washington.

A lot of the times they just want to come out and see.

"We want to see if it's possible."

"Maybe I just want to grab a horse by his nuts

and to feel his balls. How do they feel?"

"They're, well, they... They're warm."

The horse is still the biggest thing out there on the internet.

I'd invite them to my home, you know,

and I'd treat them like any other person that was in my house.

I did summertime barbecues.

Thanksgiving.

I'd do Christmas dinners.

One year, we did a turkey and a ham.

The invite was on a weekend and in the evening.

Hello?

Hey, we're here.

Well, how was your flight?

The flight was long, but we're fine. Right now we're getting...

A Friday night, we'd meet

and if I felt like it was okay for you to come out, I'd let you follow me home.

If I felt like there was something about you that I didn't like,

I'd say, "we'll meet again",

and I'd never meet with them again.

"We don't do this right off the bat. Sorry."

When I met Mr. Hands, we did talk on the phone a little bit.

And that's when he lived in Seattle.

He was basically curious, like everybody was curious.

And he had a good personality. So I invited him out.

I was just astounded at the beauty.

You have that wildness, but then you have civilization too.

They're just kind of meshed together.

Us humans are so conditioned

from the time we are born to start categorizing.

And even if they're unconscious, or even subconscious,

we start categorizing.

Animals just not going to do that.

We'll be landing in Seattle in just...

You're either a good person or a bad person.

...The biggest of all munitions companies,

Lockheed Martin Corporation, playing an important behind-the-scenes role

in developing support for Bush's war with Iraq.

Yes, they did.

They played a very influential role in, uh...

In various organizations that looked like they were simply

public interest, public education organizations,

but which had long advocated a war with Iraq

ever since the 1991, uh, the first war with Iraq.

It's been to their... That is, war is the business.

What I mean when I say it's not private enterprise,

is that it's much more like state socialism.

You have only one customer.

The customer is not particularly interested

in getting the best possible use of his money.

He's much more interested in simply...

Getting the contracts filled.

Moreover, there is a huge circulation of elites today

in the sense that most of the operating positions,

appointed positions in the Pentagon today,

are executives from the military-industrial complex.

Whereas, by contrast,

any number of the high officials in these companies

are retired high-ranking American military officers.

Well, I want to thank you

for being with us, Chalmers Johnson.

His piece appears in this month's... "Harper's".

Squeezing a Profit from the Wreckage in Iraq",

As well as David Bacon whose piece appears in "Progressive" magazine.