I really wanted to title this post "Why I'm Ashamed of Being a Member of the
Human Race," but obviously it is too long for a title. But it indeed describes my
feelings today as I read article after article reflecting this position.
No, I don't know if living in the 21st century is better or worse than living in any
other earlier century, but I do know that it is becoming increasingly hard to justify
our actions in the present time. I only know that I am disillusioned with being a
a member of it.
HORSES. I'll start off with the horrible news that once again some Americans are
agitating to become a land where our poor horses will be slaughtered here at
home. At least this is what someone sent me from Facebook this week. However,
I received a petition yesterday from the Doris Day League asking us to write our
legislators to sign off on HR 2966 and S.1176 -The American Horse Slaughter
Prevention Act which would prevent this from happening as well as not allowing for
the cruel slaughtering of our horses in Mexico and Canada. Obviously and hopefully,
the Face book account is in error. I went to the DDL internet site and signed my
request to my legislators to support this compassionate Act.
Our poor horses deserve better from us. We Americans don't eat horse meat in the
US, so I can only see this as a profit- making venture of people like the hefty woman
legislator from Wyoming who has been agitating for this for a long time. She says
her people were always in the horse slaughter business. Is this is a reason for
justifying cruelty?
Horse slaughter is especially cruel due to the horse's size. If we have an overabundance
of horses, than it is due to our poor management of them. In this day and age we should
have been employing the use of contraceptives. The BLM itself is doing a poor job in
this regard and is using helicopters to run off the horses from the lands in the West-
bequeathed to them by the Horse and Burro Act of 1971. I think we had a more
compassionate Congress at that time.
NEWT GINGRICH. I can't believe that any major newspaper would endorse this man
for president, but obviously one has. He is purported to have milked our government in
his lobbyist capacity -extracting money from I believe the Housing Industry while so
many of our citizens lost their homes and are now living in poverty. If true, how could
such a man even be considered as a worthwhile candidate for the highest office in the
land? This truly astounds this political neophyte when it comes to assessing potential
candidates.
But here comes something from someone who obviously knows a lot more re politics than
I. Lorelei Kelly wrote an article whose title shocked me - "Dumb by Design: Gingrich's
Lobotomy of Congress and Today's Dysfunction."
This article of hers and particularly this paragraph made me sit up and take notice.
"Every new session of Congress includes a Rules package that reflects the priorities
of the majority and determines legislative process. In January, 1995 H.R.6 wiped out
the shared system of expert knowledge and analysis inside Congress. The bill made
Congress dumb-on purpose. This action was part of the Contract with America, a
reform manifesto drafted by Gingrich (GA).......Fifteen years later, the effects of a
severely depleted institutional memory are showing up. Last August's debt ceiling
debacle is one example. Our failure to match defense dollars with today's vastly
changed global security environment is another."
If her assessment of the Contract with America is true - what a gullible nation we are.
What a gullible President and Congress we have. Isn't it about time we retired H.R.6?
Isn't it about time we exposed Gingrich for who he is?
100 SLED DOGS KILLED IN BRITISH COLUMBIA DUE TO SLUMP IN TOURISM.
My church lady friend who always shares the Slovak Insurance Newspapers with me
asked me about my Thanksgiving this past Sunday after liturgy. I told her it was quiet-
just the way I like it - just me, my 8 rescued cats and rescued bunny, Jack. The sad part
of it was losing my 12-year-old dog Casey in July, but she and all the other dogs and cats
I've sent to God over the years are always in my heart.
So, the killing of the 100 sled dogs in British Columbia was indeed another sad, tragic
note which happened probably at the beginning of this year. Joanna Zelman wrote: "The
heinous slaughter of 100 dogs in British Columbia has revealed a "dirty secret" of the
dog sled industry according to CKNW."
While this particular cruelty was new to most of us, the treatment of sled dogs especially
in the Iditarod Races was not. Many of us have written and asked that this cruel race be
stopped and not supported with the dollars from American corporations, but to no avail.
In this particular case, Zelman notes that following the 2010 Olympic Games, there was
a slump in business at Outdoor Adventures Whistlers. So an employee was ordered to kill
100 dogs from a pack of 300.
What a grizzly, cruel job to take the lives of 100 dogs by shooting them and even slashing
their throats. They were dumped into a mass grave and the employee describes how one
dog whose "eye was hanging off, was still running around." One of the dogs dumped into
the grave was still alive, and the employee watched as the dog tried to climb out. Small
wonder that the employee commissioned to do this dastardly deed was reportedly
compensated for experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder after the kills.
Charges of cruelty can be leveled at the company if the dogs didn't die instantly. But
imagine- it is actually legal here to shoot an animal if he/she dies instantly. The SPCA
plans to dig up the mass grave to determine if there is evidence for a criminal investigation.
I pray God there is. In my opinion and the opinion of other compassionate people, there
is no excuse for this brutality and these dogs need justice.
Zelman sums up this sad event very succinctly and thoughtfully: "These 100 dogs were
used for human entertainment, and were then murdered when humans were no longer
entertained by them. While this story is horrific, similar events happen regularly- many
race horses are slaughtered once past their prime, and up to 4 million pets are killed in
shelters each year, often due to bored or unprepared owners abandoning them.
As for the inhumane slaughter of these dogs, farm animals are frequently tortured and
killed for human consumption. The murder of these 100 dogs is not unique, and animal
slaughter is often performed in the name of human interests."
She finishes her excellent article with the question "What do you think? Is it okay to
use and then dispose of animals for human sport or consumption?"
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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