A recent study suggests what most vegans/vegetarians already knew - people who consume meat tend to diminish the consumed animal's ability to suffer.From the article, "Our research shows that one way people are able to keep eating meat is by dampening their moral consideration of animals when sitting at the dinner table."
That is to say, people will discard their moral considerations and thought in lieu of modifying their behaviors. Instead of simply refraining from consuming the flesh and by-products of suffering beings, people cope by denying cow, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, rabbits and others can suffer...or that their suffering is somehow less so than that of a traditional "companion animal" (in the United States, primarily dogs and cats).
A Galena Park animal control officer was sentenced to five days in jail and 120 hours of community service after he picked up a loose puppy, shot the dog and dumped his body in a dumpster. Nothing says punishment for killing a puppy like five days in jail!
Yet another example of our schizophrenic relationship with Pit Bulls. This Pit Bull mix was doused with gasoline and set on fire. Hundreds of people are wishing her well and donating money for her care. Comments are in support of the dog. No one seems to be clamoring for they dog's death based on her breed.
An Akita and German Shepherd will be euthanized after killing several lambs and sheep.
A Border Collie Lab Mix and a Labrador Retriever were tracked down after biting a boy. The dogs were running loose when they bit the child (or one of them did).
The Value of Ear Skritches to Dogs
The city of St. Louis health department suggests animal shelters should be a pet guardian's 10th choice for relinquishment. In reality, it should be the 1st, because we should be an enlightened society where unwanted dogs and cats can fine permanent homes through area shelters. And we should continue to work toward that goal. (I can't help but cringe to see craigslist as an option higher than the shelter with an apparent 80% adoption rate...)
An Australian Shepherd lunged for a ball and instead tore into the face of a 1-yr-old child in what authorities are calling an accidental "play" bite. The child suffered serious facial wounds and is currently at the hospital.
On the TX case, I was under the impression that the pup was actually in the owner's fenced yard when the ACO took him away and killed him. A non-punishment at any rate.
ReplyDeleteThe Aussie story reminded me of a time I was into flyball training with an area team. One of the members asked if I wanted to run her hotshot Border Collie-ish dog. This was the star dog on the team as far as speed and flash and after struggling through training a few different dogs, I thought it sounded like fun to run a seasoned dog. But I was honestly not prepared for the enthusiasm and power of the dog when she grabbed the toy for her reward at the end. She nicked my thumb and it was obvious to me that I was damn lucky to have gotten off so easily.
Oh gosh, that makes it even worse. :(
ReplyDeleteDogs teeth + baby's face = bad. Definitely no bite inhibition when you have a hyped up herding dog who wants to gnaw on a ball!
Just wanted to chime in about the St. Louis story. The city pound here was never meant to be a shelter. It was built to be a catch and kill facility. Not that I condone that. Because of the way it was built, disease is easily spread due to lack of proper ventilation. It's a really awful, old place. It's also closing its doors later this summer.
ReplyDeleteThe woman quoted in the article has actually worked really hard for the homeless animals of St. Louis city. She has partnered with a local no-kill rescue group, Stray Rescue of St. Louis, with whom I am an active volunteer. Starting Monday, Stray Rescue will be taking over the duties of the city pound (and not taking taxpayer money to do so) and giving these animals a chance at being adopted. I'm going to help transport the first 20 dogs to Stray Rescue's beautiful new shelter. Here's some positive press about it:
http://strayrescue.org/content/new-day-new-hope-and-new-vision
http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2010/04/stray-rescue-is-only-bidder-to-take-over-city-pound-services/
I know what you're getting at in terms of how a shelter should be a place where animals can be taken, though I do think people give up too easily when other options could be explored. I just wanted to point out that good things are indeed happening in our city and wanted to spread the word.