http://www.compassionforcamden.org/mean.html WARNING: Unpleasant pictures found in link Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! No longer wanted, abandoned to fend for themselves, “thrown away.” Over the last ten years in the City of Camden the practice of throwing away dogs or cats was the reality for 150,000 of them. That’s 41 each day — and still counting. At least these are the official numbers, and the highest in the state, taken from the New Jersey Department of Health’s Animal Intake and Disposition Report. The real numbers are even gloomier. It’s a practice so common that it’s accepted and sometimes even expected. Hardly anyone raises an eyebrow or calls the authorities, possibly for fear of retribution, and no one is surprised when yet another puppy or kitten is taken into the household. The newcomer may fare no better because there will be another day of moving, no money for vet care, grown too large for one’s liking, or too much of this and not enough of that. The abandoned one often stays near her former home. She usually doesn’t travel more than a few blocks in either direction in search of food scraps. Often she will continue to sleep on the porch or sit of the front stoop. Now ailing and weak, the abandoned will still wag her tail to greet her former caretakers who literally have to step over her to get to the door. But, the door will shut, she’s not allowed in, no one in the house cares anymore. So she takes her daily chances on the mean streets to become a statistic. Then there those who remain at the house, but are equally unwanted. Many are chained for life, others are bred continuously and without mercy to make money, some get daily beatings for spite, are left to freeze to death, get set on fire, are fought to death, are used as bait for fighting dogs, are thrown off rooftops, are left in back yards, basements and attics to die of starvation. A few of them are counted too because somebody may have called the city to come and pick up the dead. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Starved to death in a cage in an apartment. - snip -
I work with the Delaware Valley Siberian Husky Rescue just across the river from Camden, and these problems are everywhere, not just in that area. In particular with working-dog breeds, people foolishly get a dog because they are pretty or because they were in some cool movie, with little thought as to the true needs of the animal. We limit ourselves to a breed that tends to have a higher abandonment rate than others, but all breeds suffer the same human short-sightedness. Do as Bob Barker tells you - have your pets spayed and neutered. I'd love if they could run free and live wild, but as long as man and society refuses that option (for safety or asthetics), we are responsible for the animals that we domesticate. http://www.siberianhuskyrescue.org/
And people think there is no good and evil. And that this is a good universe, people are generally good, the creator is good bs upon bs. They make fun of or call naive those who can make emotional, mental, and physical distinctions of ethical and unethical behavior and motives because they deceitfully don't want to be called on or take responsibility for their own vices and selfishness. They pretend there is no distinction of the beast and human within us as the beast degrades what enlightenment we possess. There is not a worse enough hell or torture for these cruel, abusive, irresponsible uncaring excuses for life called human beings.
Iam, this kind of thing happens even in a universe where the vast majority of people are good and take good care of their animals. It only takes one out of a hundred owners being bad for this to happen. I can live with a universe that is 99 percent good.
Do you think that nature just provides food and shelter for wild animals any time they need it? Nature is cruel. Humans are part of nature. Do the math. Instead of berating people and trying to make them feel guilty for things like this that people do, praise them when they do good.
Not only do I find such crimes against animals unspeakable, but also unfathomable. For instance, I can often understand why one human being would murder another. Greed, competition, or just the fact that they pissed them off. Human beings in general can be real pains in the asses, and are also competitors, so its no shock that they kill each other off. Hell, I can even understand why a mother might kill her child during post natal depression. I don't agree with it, but at least I know what was going through her head. But what harm does a dog do? What does a human gain by inflicting such cruelty on a helpless animal? (and yes, most dogs ARE helpless, as they are incapable of biting back due to breed specific behavioural traits).
So what do we do about all those people who keep animals, feed them, shelter them, and pamper them? Regulations turn into bans because the organizations that push them want a lot of this banned.
MetaKron: I do praise people who care for the suffering of any living thing. But this thread was about those who neglect. When we break the natural role of animals by domesticating them, we have taken on the responsibility for thier wellbeing. We remove much of thier freedom in exchange for a portion of our stable food supply. Often we also demand work for that exchange. It could be said that dogs are much more successfull as a species because of this bargain; they have gotten another species to take on the work of protecting and reproducing thier lines. We ensure thier suvival, and as long as we continue to rule, they will most likely remain. However, we do not have the right to break that deal whenever we wish, without providing fair compensation - just as with any agreement with another person. Since dogs and cats cannot use money, and cannot own land, since they no longer are raised in a way that teaches them how to survive in the wild, we are very limited in ways that we can equitably repay them for breaking our contract - we can't buy them out, or give them thier own area inwhich to live. We can't simply release them into the wild and rationally expect them to survive. In most cases, there is no fair way, and thus we need to provide for them for thier entire lives; as we agreed to do when we first take the animals into our homes. To all those who love and care for the animals they have formed relationships with, good for you! It is an awesome thing to work in tandum with another being, of any species, even if thier work only goes so far as providing warm-and-fuzzies. Play, exersize, empathy, responsibility, love; all these things are good for both you and the animal. For those who don't understand that, don't get a pet. You do not have the right to abandon it on a whim.
