so many of the issues that we face in animal welfare are faced out in the human world too. there is a disconnect inside some of the most important issues. Folks as a rule will agree that there is a huge problem of abused, neglected, unwanted homeless animals in the western world. millions of animals die every year, and mostly because of only one common reason...they did not have good enough homes to protect and care for them. and yet while knowing this one singular and important fact, people still do not spay/neuter their animals, puppy millers. pet stores, BYB, and even kind and sweet aunt lily, or nice and kind co-worker sam, continue to breed even more to feed the never ending public need to have and discard millions upon millions more.
most educated folks know there is a problem but the solutions are too inconvenient.
and then there is the poor sad dog on the internet, heartlessly killed by the shelter, out come the condemnations of evil incarnate, of blood thirsty intent by shelter staff or management. we all know there are not enough good homes, that not all animals can be saved and yet when one dies we point fingers and blame the very people who are in the trenches trying to care for the tsunami of unwanted animals.
but lets not forget the other side of this crooked fence, the ones who make fun of puppy huggers. there is another layer of this..the implication that those who care about the welfare of animals are actually mentally flawed lunatics. "it's a damn chicken for fucking sakes, who gives a shit if it suffers?"
it is not just an intellectual disconnect, it is a moral disconnect too. i call it willful ignorance....when intellectually and morally capable people choose to be ignorant. it really is a form of laziness, easier to get mad, find fault, ignore, justify, make fun of than it is to educate and understand and work towards intelligent solutions.
so if animal welfare can suffer from such wilful ignorance..is it such a stretch that the rest of the world does too?
look at the syrian crises, good lord..just look down south at what is supposedly one of the most progressive societies in the entire world.
in the past few days i have seen gleeful sneering at a huge population of the United States who are anxious, who are hurting, who are disillusioned and afraid. and the memes of crying babies is tossed in their face.
really? that's what we do when we witness someone's pain?
it's no wonder the animals of this planet are screwed.
Well said Carol and from the U.S., thank you. I too live to the South of you and on behalf of us down here, I want to apologize for that "gleeful sneering" that found it's way to your blog. I am one of the "anxious, hurting, disillusioned and afraid". And if there is anyone, left or right that is not, I feel they've probably been living with their head in the sand. It's truly disheartening to see that propaganda posted here of all places. There is no escaping it. And Sheila, you rock!
Keep up the great work Carol!