Hannah Levin
The Animal Rescue Site
The Animal Rescue Site
via sott.net
Sun, 20 Jan 2013
Sun, 20 Jan 2013
© Unknown
In the midst of the 2012 holidays, a clever and tenacious Siberian Husky in London, Ontario gave his fellow four-legged friends the gift of safety and freedom.
13-year-old Kiki had been muzzled by his owners and left in an abandoned moving van along with two cats and two other dogs. Despite having his ability to bark suppressed by the muzzle, he remained determined to find a way to call for help: he honked the vehicle’s horn repeatedly until members of the London Police Department arrived.
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- Dog left in deplorable conditions honks for help (lfpress.com)
- Dog honks horn for help (sunnewsnetwork.ca)
Reblogged this on Insomniacs II.
This story makes me so upset. These are so many irresponsible pet owners out there. I hope these animals find new homes where they’e loved and cared for properly!
It upsets me as well. Some people simply have no respect for life, human or otherwise. We have a story of an 18 month old baby killed dismembered and placed in an oven. A dolphin left to die a horrible death in the polluted waters of a New York Canal. Truthfully it was so devastating to me . I am eternal optimist and last night I saw humanity for what it is. There are those of us who care so very much. I am afraid we are outnumbered by those who care nothing at all. It is a sad thought one I try not to dwell on as I have an enduring respect for all life. MY one question is when will it stop?
When will the human race understand that we are not superior to any other life on this planet?
If truth be told we are inferior as we have an incredible capacity for evil and we wield it as a birthright. I am ashamed of what people have become.
Perhaps that is harsh, however, it is how I feel at this moment in time. The longer I report on the things occurring throughout the world the more I understand that the human race as it stands is more a detriment to Mother Earth than an asset. It is time we faced that fact……..
I have a very cynical view of our future as a species, really… but I wouldn’t necessarily say people are evil. Our entire society seems to be headed for a place where we simply don’t consider the consequenses of our indicidual actions. The sheer mass of information we are bombarded with on a daily basis has led to more and more people simply refusing to take in the information they might not want to hear, eventually turning into narrow minded, self-centered morons. I suspect that’s what most of it comes from.
I agree that for most that would be the reason. However, there are so many that simply are devoid of feelings or morals when it comes to the pain and suffering of animals. I cannot for the life of me understand that level of cruelty. It is the same level of cruelty that one faces when a someone hurts or kills a defenseless child. Some would call it an illness others would call it lack of a soul. Be it as it may to be actively cruel is more than just ignorance. Perhaps this is a topic that is too close to home for me and I am unable to see it as anything but cruel and evil.
If that’s the case, you’re certainly not alone. Humans have evolved to the point where we’ve ended up in a tricky situation, with a lot of power and ability but also the ability to reason and think before we act, which seems to cause a division in our minds. I’ve seen it so many times, and over the years I’ve learned to tread carefully around the subject, because I know it stirs up a lot of emotions in everyone (and I do mean everyone – if you dig deep enough into people’s minds, you’ll find a lot of irrational thoughts regarding our position among the other animals, and even people who initially don’t seem to care about animals at all will react very strongly when these thoughts are brought out into the light; some get defensive and suddenly start acting like angry children, others you’ll see proudly declaring their conversion to vegetarianism/veganism/whathaveyou on facebook, usually to drop it after a week or two).
I’m a veterinary student, and I spend some of my free time working with the Animal Ethics group at our student union. There is a load of controversy around the subject, and we’re often on the receiving end of a lot of cruel jokes; we’ve been called everything from the vegan political correctness mafia to a bunch of people who just complain for the sake of complaining. Some people say the group is superfluous. But the reality is, we receive a lot of emails from students, especially newcomers, who are in despair over the conflict in their minds (“I feel so sorry for the animals, I know they’re just animals, but still”) or upset about terrible things they’ve seen or heard. We learn so much about how amazing the whole apparatus of the body is, how animals have evolved and adapted to their natural environments, how they think (and how they sometimes don’t), how they react to pain and stress. And then we go out and see how rarely people seem to see their animals as valuable sentient beings, and I’m not just talking about farm animals – dog breeders will come in regularly to put puppies down because of mismarking or things like extra toes, cat owners allow their cats to become morbidly obese because “well I think it’s kind of cute when it’s fat”, rodent and rabbit owners will not come in at all until their pets have been slowly dying for days because of massive kidney stones, tumors, overgrown teeth and so on.
There seems to be so little reflecting going on in some people’s minds. We’re not trying to convert everyone into hippies, we’re just trying to get people to start reflecting and asking themselves what they’re doing and why. I’ve actively chosen to believe that there is compassion and respect for animals to be found in every person’s mind, as long as you make them stop and think; some people just need to think a little harder than others… if nothing else, it makes me feel a little bit better about the world.
Those who convert to vegetarianism and leave it after a week or two do so out of an emotional knee jerk response otherwise their conviction would last a bit longer , in my opinion. However there are some of us me in particular who cannot function without animal protein. Yes, the vegetarian and vegan “Authorities ” out there say that is not true. Well, I am sorry but in my case and I know I am not an isolated incident, it happens to be true. I am not opposed to the eating of animals as I am of Indigenous ancestry and it is all part of the circle of life. My issue is the treatment they receive. There is no legitimate excuse for the abuse that is perpetrated on these poor creatures. Free range livestock have a more normal life. Did the Indigenous Peoples not hunt? Of course they did. There was a very distinct difference . First they respected the spirit and the life they were about to take to survive. They honored the spirit of that animal. Second, there was no waste everything was utilized. Can we say the same about our society today? There is no excuse for the abuse that is perpetrated today by so called advanced beings who wreak pain and suffering upon helpless animals. None whatsoever, it always comes down to one of two things
1) Bottom line…. the more animals are shoved into a limited space the more money they will make
2) The Ignorant belief that because we walk on two feet, can speak , can operate a computer and have opposable thumbs then we are superior.
There are so many examples of the unconditional love that an animal is capable of demonstrating. A loyal dog will give its life to protect it’s human.
Is that training? No. Not all the animals that have given their lives to protect another have necessarily been trained to protect. It is an innate quality not instinct as some would have us believe. a quality that requires feeling. Yes , FEELING.
Natural instinct of self preservation, even in humans , is not to put ourselves in harms way. So why is it less? Why is it not worthy to credit these creatures with an attribute that humans seem to believe only they possess? Ego is the answer to that one.
To face the fact that animals are sentient beings would mean that we would have to accept and understand that we are not unique in that respect , not to mention others.
Are there animals that seem to be devoid of these qualities ? Of course. Just as there are human beings devoid of the very same qualities. We see them on the news everyday. Are they corralled and tortured because they are? Certainly not as they are human. That leads us the the question exactly what is being human and does it not go hand in hand with being humane?
So the difference is what ? The difference as I see it , is that humans (not all , just those who refuse to understand) cannot fathom that after being told by science for so very long that we are indeed unique and “Special”. They cannot wrap their minds around the fact that animals are deserving of respect and kindness. I might also point out that this is the same science that performs vivisections and horribly painful and inhumane experiments on animals without regard for the suffering they are causing. To them these are just dumb animals that they owe nothing to. I take exception with that concept and I always will. Call me what you will, it matter not to me. What matters to me is that in my heart I know that this is wrong on so many levels.
Even the Pope admitted that animals have souls. So then do people choose to ignore because it is the convenient thing to do ?
I wish I had the answers because truthfully i do not understand how a human being can abuse an animals as they do and justify it. No matter what way you slice it it is cruel , inhumane and an abomination with the premise of stewardship of this planet with which we have supposedly been entrusted. Having dominion over the planet does not give us the right to trash it or inflict suffering on its creatures. That is selfishness and callousness at work.
I used to be very PC about this issue, however, I have come to the realization that to be PC is to give them their comfort level where they do not have to think and they do not have to explain. When one feels discomfort they either remove themselves from that which causes discomfort or they adjust to reduce, remove or relieve the discomfort. One way or another conversation must be brought to the fore. It matters not if we are called hippies, rabid tree huggers or any of a dozen other derogatory terms.
The truth is these creatures and this planet have no voice to defend themselves and therefore we must be their voice, we must come to their defense. Right or wrong this is how I feel. Always have , always will.
There are many who sit on the fence and it is up to us to let them know that it is alright to care and to speak up when we do not agree. Just as was the case with slavery and with women’s rights. It doesn’t matter if it is socially acceptable. Societies rules have been set by humans and they can be changed. It just takes enough people to want to change them………..
Reblogged this on bearspawprint.