The rodeo…when I was a teenager I thought the idea of animals and cowboys seemed so exciting. I thought I might grow up to marry a cowboy one day. The movie Urban Cowboy was one of my favorite movies. Who could resist the cool Bud played by John Travolta?!
HoustonPress
Eye rolls, laughs, arguments, and comments; I’ve experienced them all as an animal advocate.
Are animal lovers rare? How would you define an animal lover? Can you be an animal lover and not get involved with animal welfare issues?
My opinion is animal lovers are not necessarily rare. Most people love them and have a pet in their family; a dog, cat, bird, or hamster maybe. I think most people are just simply unaware of the cruelty going on out there.
But there is another side, there are those who wouldn’t harm animals, but see them as “just animals.” “Just animals!” Because they are not the same as us, does not mean they have any less right to be here and to be treated with respect. Animals feel pain if you hit them, they bleed if they are hurt, they need food & water to survive, they get happy, sad, scared, stressed, & sick. I’m not seeing a lot of basic need differences. Continue reading
FacebookI didn’t plan on doing a post today, but with all of the negativity going on in the United States right now over the election, I thought this picture I found on Facebook had a great message.
Not all of us agree on who should or shouldn’t be President, but please remember to still be kind. We are all entitled to our own opinions, that is what makes us “individuals.” Don’t follow the crowd, think for yourself, and be kind!
One of my “Tuesday Tales” sparked quite a conversation with myself and a few other bloggers. The post was about my cat, Cino, and our first weeks together.
Here is the part of the post that got the conversations going:
“The next few weeks would turn out to be a pretty rough beginning for us. I had to take her to the veterinarian to catch up on some vaccinations and because she was sick. She needed to be given medication for the next 10 days (poor thing). Then I went to give the paperwork from the veterinarian to the apartment manager. She gave them back to me and said she needed to be declawed in the back. What?!” Continue reading
A few Saturdays ago, I was drinking coffee and I looked out my sliding glass window, which faces the woods. I noticed three raccoons trying to walk but kept falling over. I instantly gasped. I continued to watch them to make sure I wasn’t worrying for nothing. They continued to fall over, all three of them, as they tried to walk. A little while later I
noticed one of them trying to get up a hill and he would take a step or two and then fall over and roll back down the hill. It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch!
I assumed they were suffering from poisoning. I couldn’t stand the thought of just walking away knowing they were really suffering. I didn’t know where to call though. After checking into the DNR where I didn’t get anybody on the phone and unsure if the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center would come and pick them up (their website talks about bringing animals to them), I called the police and they did come out and look for them. They said they would bring them to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center if they could find the raccoons. I don’t know if they ever found them. I talked to an officer twice and he was having trouble locating them because they kept going in and out of the woods.
I said a prayer for them and took notes from what I learned this day so I would be better prepared if I encounter a situation like this again. I know now the police will help and I contacted the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center to see if they will pick up animals.
If any of you run into a situation like this, I hope you will not turn your back on the animal in distress, but take the time to help them. Learn from me and find out NOW what kind of help is available in your neighborhood for these types of situations so you are not spending so much time trying to figure that out while they are continuing to suffer. The sooner the animals gets help, the more likely it can be saved. After all, Animals are Feeling Beings Too.
On to another story I have. Continue reading
I sat down on the couch on a Friday night and began channel surfing to find something to watch when I came across a new show called “Hannibal”. I saw less than 30 seconds and was disgusted. Why do they keep making these types of shows? Hannibal, CSI, Revenge (doesn’t the name say it all?), etc. These types of shows make me wonder if we are giving the bad guys new ideas. Why in the world would we want to do that?
I work at a childcare and preschool and I have been told there is a toddler who use a play knife from the housekeeping area and pretends to stab other toddlers with it. I have seen children pretending to shoot guns. I’ve had a school ager tell me he wants to stab his teacher and I’ve seen children hitting stuffed animal toys. Yes, it is just a stuffed animal, but children are role playing when they play with toys. These particular children were playing veterinarian, so why did they want to hit the stuffed animal? Would if it was a real animal? Their pet at home?
As an animal lover, I have read facts based on studies that many adults who abuse or even have killed someone start their violent
tendencies first by harming animals then later move onto harming humans. It is said that these facts are not given the proper attention they should. If they did, maybe these people with violent tendencies would be helped early on and not continue on with their violence. Here are some links that will take you to some of these fact based articles.
Animal Legal Defense Fund
People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals
People Helping Animals
Huffington Post
Are people born violent? Is it the environment they grow up in? Is it seeing tv shows like Hannibal, movies, or video games that teach them this? Desensitize them? To people and animals. These are important things to think about and pay attention too.
Even if you don’t love animals, pay attention anyway, because
animal abuse will eventually lead to human violence.
When will we learn?
Animals Are Feeling Beings Too 