JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Help the animals In Japan!!!!!!!!so sad

I’ve been tempted to reply to this issue from the day it was posted Petra. Though not knowing exactly where to take a stand.

Being vegetarian most of my life and just recently turning carnivorous (actually omnivorous) for health reasons (see my “Migraine” thread); I’m not quite at terms with attaching ethics to animal rights. At least not generally speaking.

The reality being that we’re all animals of this Earth (some carnivorous, some vegetarian, some both). Grant you, our cognizant thinking distinguishes us in the Animal Kingdom, but we’re still animal. It begs the question; should intelligence be the deciding factor in the worthiness of dispensing aid and compassion? Maybe our gift of intelligence renders us responsible for the care and compassion of all God’s creatures.

Pets, e.g., dogs, cats, guinea pigs, etc, is a no brainer. Of course my heart goes out to all these pets that have been treated cruelly and suffer pain and misery for any reason anywhere. I have no respect for humans that abuse pets or fail to give them proper care. They’re criminals!

If my little dog, Dagny, was in such a heartbreaking situation as in Japan, I would hope and pray she would find compassionate humans to come to her aid. That being said, maybe the most practical way to aid these pets of Japan is by aiding their keepers, i.e., the human animals of Japan. I think the good people of Japan will take care of these pets if able. That is why I’ve decided to funnel all my donations to the human victims of this catastrophe - and let the on-the-ground organizations decide the best way to spend the donations. This decision does not cater to intellectual worthiness (which can be questionable in humans), or not because of being one-of-my-own-kind, or not because all humans are better than all animals (they’re not), but because it’s a practical way to help all animals concerned.

The issue of all animal rights ( the un-pets) isn’t as easy for me to formulate an ethical stance. I believe, by design, we were meant to be meat eaters. Whether we were suppose to rise above this primitive instinct or we’re locked into it I can’t answer.

One thing I am sure of is an animal’s suffering and pain is very upsetting to me (all animals included). I remember on one occasion (though there have been other occasions) I came across a groundhog that was hit by a truck traveling in front of me. The truck kept going as if nothing happened.

I stopped and noticed the groundhog’s back legs and rump were crushed to the road. He was still alive, though visibly in misery. I got a tire iron out of my trunk and put him out of his misery (then dragged him off the road). A car behind watched. Then a woman got out of the car screaming at me for being so cruel. I wondered what the woman would have done in that situation. I couldn’t bear leaving that poor creature in agony. I’ve done this on several occasions, but never was screamed at before.

Okay, the big wind had his say.

Yes, my heart goes out to the pet victims of Japan’s heartbreaking situation. I just think it may be wiser to donate to the human survivors that will in turn, hopefully take care of the surviving pets.