Friday, September 17, 2010

Mom's Turn

    (Mom is furry upset and angry at all da sad anipal posts she sees effurryday on her Face Book page, so we iz lettin' her borrow our bloggie.  She hopes dat our anipals will tweet and linky dis post in da hopes dat those who need to learn will see it.  Fanks yoo!  Signed, Tigger, Munchkin, Jigsaw and Patches.)

    
      So many folks on Facebook, Twitter, and of course, many, many other sites such as PetTalez, Catser/Dogster, and so forth  are concerned about the plight of homeless, abandonded and abused pets.  That is wonderful...but I feel so sad and angry and sickened that daily I read so many, many stories of animals no one wants or who have been harmed!! 


      As many caring individuals as there seem to be, we are all apparently outnumbered by cruel and heartless ones who see no wrong in tossing animals away, or far worse, who seem to get off on harming them and causing suffering.


     Folks--know this:  if you take on a pet, it is for the duration of that animal's natural life.    I can only hope that at least some of the people who truly need to see this message, do!  Otherwise, I fear I'm but 'preaching to the choir.'


     You don't throw a pet away because you tire of it or it becomes more work than you bargained on.  You adopted that animal into your home; ergo, you've made a committment to that animal for the duration of its life, just as if you had adopted a child.  Animals are not disposable any more than your children are!    (And if you do have children, then
double-triple-whammy shame on you for setting such a horrible example!!)



     If there is some legitimate reason (such as severe illness or death of the owner, or very severe economic hardship)  why anyone might no longer be able to keep or care for a pet, they must make every effort to find it a new, loving home, not toss it out to fend for itself like so much trash! And, there are agencies that can and will help with donations in the case of financial woes.  Check out this NY Times article for some references.



   Mistreating an animal is as bad or worse!  Anyone who abuses an animal should receive a taste of their own medicine!  Such people also probably have little or no conscience about harming or killing people, either!   Like it or not, we share with our pet animals membership in the same top 4 segments of biology:  kingdom, phylum, sub-phylum and class.  Ergo, we are all animals!  What we do to any animal, we may as well be doing to any other human!


     Our pets give us so much unconditional love and companionship over the course of their lives: it is our cherished obligation to return in kind to them.  It has been scientifically proven that pets add quality to our lives, and sharing the companionship of a pet reduces stress.  Just the act of petting a dog or cat (or bunny or Guinea Pig...or whatever) is calming.  Want to reduce your blood pressure?  Pet your pet!!  Maybe it will help you off those pills the docs like to push!


     Spay and neuter your pets, and that will go a long way toward reducing the feral and abandoned/unwanted animals issue.  In addition, there are sound medical reasons for so doing:  namely, reduced risk of cancers of the reproductive organs which afflict many 'whole' animals.


     And by the way--any so-called animal shelters out there who routinely euthanize perfectly healthy animals--shame, shame on you!  You are not worthy to have the word "shelter" in the name of your facility!!  Here are the definitions of shelter: 


1.  Something that provides cover or protection, as from the weather.
     a.  A refuge; a haven.
     b.  An establishment that provides temporary housing for homeless people (or animals!!!)
2.  The state of being covered or protected

Call yourselves what you really are:  Agents of Senseless Death, for you are no better than Hitler's gas chambers!


      However, if you are one of those who care, feel free to tweet this, digg, stumble, or whatever it is you do; please just share it around.















( Be advised that any snarky retorts from those who actually need this education, will be deleted--I will not engage in argument, and I don't care to have my blood pressure driven up by repeatedly seeing such posts.)




Thank you!

7 comments:

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

We totally agree with you. We get so upset and angry when we read of all the neglect and cruelty that is happening.

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

Oops we forgot, we came to wish Patches a very happy birthday.

cats of wildcat woods said...

Well said but I do think that those of us who care for and about animals outnumber the ones who don't - they just get more publicity. The media doesn't report about ordinary folks doing ordinary things like caring for their pets. There is more love out there than you think.

Jans Funny Farm said...

We get so upset reading all that too. So much abuse of humans and animals.

We came by to wish Patches a Happy Birthday.

Amy & the house of cats said...

Wonderful Post!! Oh you said the same thing I think all the time! There are days it just is so overwhelming to even visit because there are so many bad stories.

And I totally agree with you about the so called "shelters" - oh those are some of the worst things to me. I don't know if you have ever been to Nathan Winograds site - he is fighting to make this a no-kill world - I think you might like to visit it (but be warned for every good story there are probably at least 2 bad ones - he is working to change that though) - it is at http://www.nathanwinograd.com/ if you are interested.

KC and the Giggleman Kitties said...

Very good post.
and tell Patches Happy Birthday from all of us.
Love & Purrs,
Mom ML & KC & Kitties

Everycat said...

What a great post! We agree with you 100%. We'd like to see animal welfare and care on every school curriculum in every country in the world starting the very first day a child attends. Too many young people are growing up without a real connection to animals and this needs addressing.

We've read Nathan Winograd's book and think No Kill is a wonderful idea and it has worked in several locations. What worries us is that the No Kill movement is 100% against any laws that make spay and neuter mandatory. We think it should be mandatory and there should be funding in all countries to help those who are very low income pay for it to be done. Vets could all offer low cost schemes too. Belgium has just passed a law to make spay/neuter of cats a legal requirement.

The shelter system is abhorrent and barbaric. So many shelters still use heartstick without sedation and gassing. In the UK we have a problem with the RSPCA killing any animal for one sneeze of cough and routinely killing animals over the age of 8.

It's not a pretty world for animals, we have lots of work to do to change that.

Whicky