Comments on: Desperate For Hope

By: Keep the cynicism to yourself

Keep the cynicism to yourself — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 02:52:48 +0000

[...] movement is desperate for hope, desperate for good news. Anyone involved in animal rights sees far too much suffering and death to [...]

By: Eccentric Vegan

Eccentric Vegan — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:38:32 +0000

To be fair, the ASPCA does not kill a ton of animals (107 dogs this year). And Oreo was aggressive. So I don’t think they’ve “set back the No-Kill mission greatly.” But I do think, given the media coverage on Oreo, they should have considered the effect their expression of pessimism might have on the rest of the animal movement.

By: Lanie

Lanie — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:37:05 +0000

By killing Oreo, this organization proved it was no better than any inadequate, ineffective local public animal pound, and that homeless, abused animals who aren’t so lovy dovy are nothing more than pests in our throw away society. They have set back the No-Kill mission greatly, and damaged impounded animals all over the USA chances of ever finding homes, or of seeing another tomorrow. Disgusting lack of responsibility, with their money…while individual rescuers sacrifice their last dime to give life to unwanted, unsocial dogs and cats…this well known organization doesn’t want to be bothered with a misfit, caused by a human being’s cruelty. Shame on them.

By: Bea Elliott

Bea Elliott — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:31:14 +0000

Unless one is suffering in agony, being “dead” is never a better option than the here and now. Maybe there is a better place? A heaven? But for now, the only thing we know for sure is that life is everything and should be valued with the highest sacred regard.
.-= Bea Elliott´s last blog ..Two Face Animal Ag Billboard – Slaughterhouse Care =-.

By: Sara

Sara — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:35:46 +0000

Thank you so much for this post. Earlier this year my husband and I fostered and rehabilitated a 9-year-old, intact male pit bull who had aggression issues with other dogs. It only took a few months of good, compassionate training (plus a neuter surgery, of course)for him to become an upstanding member of doggie society. He now lives with a great young man and another rescued pit bull. They have not had any issues with him at all. Had he wound up at a county shelter and not at our house, he would have immediately been euthanized, and robbed of his golden years as a wonderful companion. It is rarely, if ever, “too late” for these dogs.

By: Convenient Vegan

Convenient Vegan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:26:20 +0000

Very well said. I especially have been dismayed at the future predictions which all of these organizations make. “Well, it’s better to kill humanely than leave the animal on the street” or “better to be dead than in a cage, isolated”. Where do they get that prescience? How do they know it’s better to be dead?

I also agree with others that a few months of retraining is not necessarily the end, the final result. Even if Oreo could never be adopted she could have had a good life in a decent long-term shelter. Oreo and so many others like her.

By: veganprimate

veganprimate — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:22:40 +0000

One could even possibly argue that abused people wreak far more havoc…abusing and harming other people, destroying property, costing society a lot of money for incarceration, etc. In fact, I’d say a dog in a shelter has a much, much more fulfilling existence than a human being in a prison. Prisons are rife with gang violence and other forms of mistreatment. A shelter is not.

Even if Oreo had to remain in a shelter for years, so what? Who is that really hurting?
.-= veganprimate´s last blog ..Great vid from Colleen of Compassionate Cooks =-.

By: Shelley Bright

Shelley Bright — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:37:59 +0000

Excellent commentary. I will just say one comment that happens to be my favorite, “I’m sorry, perhaps I have been out of the loop for a bit, or completely in the dark….can someone tell me when they appointed ASPCA “God” of animal behavior, welfare and knowledge”?