Posts tagged ‘Animals’
Meet a sticky kitty
A resident of the 2200 block of Edgley Street in North Philadelphia found a kitty Tuesday afternoon. But this was no ordinary kitty. This kitty had been body-wrapped in duct tape and left, helpless.
Photo courtesy of Pennsylvania SPCA
This was the news that brought an onslaught of public support to the Pennsylvania SPCA. Clues about the asshole culprit, claims of ownership, financial contributions, and even offers of adoption all came pouring in. As a result, the reward for information leading to a conviction has been doubled to $2,000.
Tips can be called into the animal cruelty hotline – 866-601-7722.
But don’t jump for joy about justice for the kitty just yet. Even if they do find the perpetrator, their sentence would only be 90 days in jail, and a fine up to $750. Unless of course, this is a repeat offense or is deemed to qualify as torture. And even then, the offender would only get a year in jail and a fine up to $2,500.
I’m no judge, but to wrap a kitty’s body completely in duct tape (no way to go potty, walk, or get out of the tape) is torture. What if the same crime had been done to a helpless child? The kitty was as helpless as a child would have been. Just sayin’.
Thankfully, Sticky (a name given by the SPCA workers) has seemed to handle her ordeal nicely. She is doing “extremely well” and “getting a lot of love from everyone” at the shelter.
This time the kitty made it out okay. Ruthless Animal torture will continue until society punishes non-human animal torture the same as human torture. Well, that and see non-human animals as sentient beings with a right to life. It’s hard to justify convicting someone of torturing a kitty when society turns around and says it’s okay to torture a pig or a cow. Well, it’s okay as long as you eat them when you’re done. All torture, regardless of species, is exactly that-torture.
via envirolink.org
Sir Roger Moore is noble
Sir Roger Moore, the original James Bond, is on a campaign to remove the foie gras from shelves of a major supermarket in the UK, Selfridges. Get this, he sent a letter to the president of Selfriges, Galen Weston, saying he would buy their entire stock of foie gras as long as Weston agree to not restock the product. Now that is pretty damn awesome.
Sir Roger Moore fights for the rights of ducks
Foie Gras is French for “fatty liver,” and is similar to a pate. This so-called “delicacy” is produced by force-feeding ducks abnormally large quantities of food. This causes their livers to become diseased and swell up to ten times (10 times!) the normal size. That’s got to be comfortable for the duck, right? After 28-days of force-feeding, the ducks are killed. The livers are then marketed as foie gras. It’s a practice that’s widely condemned, but it’s also widely consumed.
Twenty-eight days. We torture these animals for twenty-eight days. You know those people, the welfare type groups that fight so that animal production is more humane? Bigger cages, cleaner factory farms, better stunning methods? Tell me how we could ever produce this delicacy without severely torturing the animal. Then someone else, maybe a fan of foie gras, could tell me how they could ever eat it knowing how it was produced. Tell me why it’s necessary to torture these animals…for a pate?
I’ve talked about the cruelty of foie gras before. Every time I read about it, I wonder how anyone could justify their actions on such senseless cruelty towards ducks and geese. Then I immediately think of how many times I’ve seen it served on Top Chef. Sigh.
Back to Sir Roger Moore though, he’s fantastic. I appreciate his work (even if he did work with PETA) for this terrible practice. There is also an interview with Moore talking about this project in the video below.
But before you click on the video, there are graphic images on the video. Incidentally, Channel 4 News ran this video earlier with the same warning, only their warning was in bold. It read, “Warning: The video report contains some disturbing images.” Why doesn’t that warning alone, click with people? If it’s disturbing to look at, it’s probably a good bet that it is way more than disturbing to feel. And those ducks can – feel.
Photo courtesy of Peta.org
Gosselin’s send the children the wrong message – again.
Credit: INFphoto.com
First, I don’t watch Jon and Kate plus Eight. I have seen the show in the past and quite frankly, it burned my retinas.
For those who aren’t familiar with this dysfunctional family, Jon and Kate have eight children. First they were “blessed” (via fertility treatments) with twins, then they were “blessed” (via fertility treatments) with sextuplets. A TV Network, TLC, thought that this would make fascinating TV so they gave Jon and Kate their own show. Apparently the show went to the parents head quite a bit. They started out in a modest home, struggling to make ends meet. Over the past 5 years (that the show has aired) they have moved into a million dollar home (after all, they make $75K per episode of the show – times 5 years – it’s safe to say that they are worth some loot) and gotten more free trips (tummy tucks, hair plugs, toys, clothes, food, cribs, ect.) than you can shake a stick at. It’s a disgusting display of greed on the parents part. It’s one thing to accept help in a time of need, it’s quite another to take advantage of your children for monetary gain.
Anyway, Jon and Kate bought (I am assuming they bought the dogs but I could be wrong) two german shepard dogs from a breeder. The dogs moved with them into their million dollar home. Then Jon and Kate got a divorce. Kate doesn’t want the dogs (on her million dollar lawn probably) and Jon bought a condo in NY so he can’t take the dogs.
The solution?
They are sending the dogs (now with the family for years) back to the breeders. Yup. So, not only do the kids (all eight of them – who have bonded with the dogs) lose but so do the dogs. And what is the message that these two are sending to their kids about companion animals? That they are disposable. That, if things don’t work out like you want them too, you can just “get rid of” the animals.
I’ve said it before but animals are not disposable, they are not toys. Before you decide to get an animal, you need to think about all those things that the animal will need. Are you financially stable to add to your household? Will you be able to afford the vet fees and food? Are you committed to walking the dog every day? Will you put time into training the animal to keep them and others safe? And most importantly, will you be able to invest at least 10 years of your life caring for the animal? Because, most animals will live beyond 10 years. People need to think about their “purchase” before they do it.
The idea that animals are disposable is only a small part of a larger picture. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the same mentality as with “food animals”. The animals right to life is not considered, only the human’s agenda is. Did Jon and Kate think about the dogs well-being when they shipped them back to the breeders? No. Do the dogs understand why their life has been turned upside down? Do they understand why their family is gone? No. Jon and Kate’s lack of compassion for the two animals that they accepted into their family just pisses me off. It sends the wrong message to their children, but worse, those dogs are now displaced.
I suppose I should be thankful for one thing. At least the dogs went back to the breeder. They didn’t go to the pound where they would have surely been euthanized due to overcrowding. I guess that’s a bright spot, right?