General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPlease don't shame people whose hearts break over cruelty to animals....
This does not mean they devalue the lives and deaths of humans, of any color, nationality or creed. It doesn't mean they don't rage, even here on this board, against cruel and deadly acts against human beings.
My heart has room to embrace all creatures on this earth, including those of the animal variety, who have fewer natural defenses than we humans do.
I'm looking now at Chester, an aged arthritic member of our family who happens to be an orange cat. I'm looking at another family member, who is "special needs" in terms of mental ability, and happens to be a portly, furball of an orange cat.
Cruelty to those two, or their deaths, would break my heart, just as cruelty to, or the deaths of, any member of the human family does.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)lunamagica
(9,967 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)I don't know if it is just simply people don't get that - but maybe they will after reading your OP.
I just lost my last dog, Sugar Bear. She was at least 16 or 17. She was laying just like she always does, so she must have gone while asleep. Heart breaking? My heart is just a muscle. My soul hurts right now. It's like sandpaper rubbing up against a part of me I can't scratch. And we are having a huge party for my nanny today. She will be 90 tomorrow.
Composure, it is hard to bury a loved one. This will take a lot of work the party is in 4 hours. Sugar was an institution around here. She was blind and fought off heartworms with treatment. I found her half starved and as thin as a rail, she was only 6 months old and already had a litter of puppies. I looked but never found them. Just a mutt starving next to the train tracks. Mange, fleas and ticks. She was so sweat and gentle. The rest of her life she spent in the AC and with many chewies and beds and pets and hugs. She loved life. She was one of those dogs that liked to smile. She loved everything about it even after losing her eyesite. Nothing slowed that dog down.
I can't even talk about cruelty to animals now, I've been knocked hard to the floor and can't pick myself back up ATM. Just thanks for this OP. It is how I feel too.
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)know and remember that you gave her so much love and a wonderful life. Will be thinking of you.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Still like a puppies ears. Your words really touched me, I was not going to bring any of that up yet you moved me. My nanny is starting to lose her mind, she forgot my dad's name and had to ask me what it was. So this is really hard to take ATM. Thanks for your reply and nice words.
Sugar Bear R.I.P
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)HelenWheels
(2,284 posts)She was a standard poodle and as sweet as sugar cane. I got her when she was 5 years old from a family that no longer had time for her. Their loss was my gain.
She was truly my shadow and walked so close behind me I couldn't see her. She spent all her time in my bedroom with me. I had a lot of surgery this year and also spent time in my room. She was my chief consoler. She even came to visit me when I was in rehab and quickly learned how to find my room. Gosh I do miss her.
Polly Hennessey
(6,812 posts)Sugar Bear was 16 or 17 then that means she had many years of love and comfort. Trust me Rex you will be fine because you honored her for a very long time by keeping her safe and happy. I lost my beloved Golden's Murphy and Devon and the journey back from my grief was difficult. I finally decided that the only way to show my two best friends how much I loved them was to adopt a Rescue. I finally did and now I have Caleigh, also a Golden. I have had her for two years now (she was five when I rescued her) and I am convinced that she is channeling Murphy. I think Murphy must have sent her to me as a gift and to let me know I did not have to be so sad. Each animal we have is a privilege and a joy. Sugar Bear might even be meeting Murphy and Devon right now.
Rex
(65,616 posts)I hope so. She was laying there asleep, just like she was when I checked on her a few hours ago. One thing that does lift some heaviness is knowing she went in her sleep and wasn't in pain. Your Goldens were lucky to have you as their friend. Maybe there is a huge soul chain for dogs and cats and they are meeting up at the moment as you say. I would hope so.
If Sugar came back, it would actually BE as a black bear...of this I am convinced. She looked like a bear, no doubt a mixture of who knows how many mutt genes over and over. A spotted tan and white bear.
Murphy and Devon sound like awesome dogs and you know Murphy would do that from beyond. Dogs are that awesome and devoted to their loved ones.
redwitch
(14,952 posts)Sugar Bear sounds like a wonderful girl, I am sorry for the hurt you are feeling.
Rex
(65,616 posts)And some kind of bear! LOL! She will come back as a black bear, it wouldn't shock me in the least. She had a wonderful outlook on life.
demmiblue
(36,911 posts)I know that the pain can be almost unbearable.
No matter how much we give our beloved pets, they seem to give so much more.
RIP, Sugar Bear.
I'm almost there with my black lab.
Just remember that as much as she enriched your life, you enriched hers.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)I honestly feel that animals know when a good human saves them,. They seem to go above and beyond to please their rescuer. I have saved a few in my life, and loved them all. People who mistreat animals, or humans are missing "something" in their DNA. It is amazing how trusting these mistreated animals become, once they know they are values. Sorry for your loss. It is never easy saying goodbye.
Corgigal
(9,291 posts)last week. My corgi doggie, who followed me everywhere. I'm still crying and I don't give a flip if others think I've mourned long enough. If you knew my friend, you would understand.
GitRDun
(1,846 posts)I'm with you on this. There's no need to be self righteous about one form of cruelty versus another.
They're all bad....
tabasco
(22,974 posts)I love my dog as much as any person.
pecwae
(8,021 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)tell me Sugar Bear was 'like family'. NO, she was family. Just 'like' a daughter that couldn't speak english, I wouldn't know how to love her any less. Maybe some can.
WorseBeforeBetter
(11,441 posts)Perhaps I'm not as sensitive as the OP, but I'll rec her post anyway.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)shanti
(21,675 posts)my mother is a huge animal lover and she also was a NICU nurse before she retired. that said, when i told her about cecil on monday when the story broke, she couldn't even bear to hear about it, it was so painful for her. i'm sure she has by know, though.
one does not negate the other.
dumbcat
(2,120 posts)I also have a special relationship and affinity with orange cats.
HFRN
(1,469 posts)demmiblue
(36,911 posts)It is not an either/or situation.
Personally, I think that those who cherish animals make for all-around better, more compassionate people in general.
Thank you for the OP.
japple
(9,847 posts)animal lovers for their compassion are (to coin a great phrase, a great book and film) at play in the fields of the lord.
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)Polly Hennessey
(6,812 posts)I don't understand those who shame our deep-felt emotions for other animals. My heart breaks every time I hear of humans harming each other. I do care about the suffering of fellow humans. However, animals really have no other advocates but us and they cannot speak for themselves. If we do not speak out then there is silence.
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)spooky3
(34,517 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Some equate anger and rage with compassion and empathy. That doesn't work. The people involved with the lion's death should be held accountable. Unfortunately, that responsibility may run right up through governments. We cannot call for shoot-on-sight, hanging, etc. to be brought on the heads of poachers. Arrest, try, jail. Our humanity should extend widely lest we lose sight of the real problem: The destruction of wildlife and its habitat by development, farming, and highly-organized and militarized poachers with the capability to corrupt entire governments.
As for our pets -- chiefly cats and dogs-- humans brought them into our midst with a social contract; even if they cannot conceive of such, we can and are bound to it. I take that seriously, and so should we all. I would not have spent so much time on this one incidence of poaching had their not been such wild, untempered attacks and enemy-creation.
Thank you for your post.
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)and anything can happen to its wildlife. I don't know myself, but you seem to allude to similar in your post.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)This tragedy has raised global awareness and so at least something good has come from it. Many in my family still deer hunt, it has nothing to do with the 'sport' of professional big game killing and poaching from wildlife sanctuaries.
I've been getting a little pissed at people that think the entire planet has the ability to stop eating meat. No, it doesn't work that way. Wishes are great, but it takes blood sweat and tears.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)they eat meat, etc.
Really, people who try to smear those voicing outrage to injustice need to STFU.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)deem unworthy.
840high
(17,196 posts)KauaiK
(544 posts)redwitch
(14,952 posts)yardwork
(61,748 posts)I'm not surprised that the man who illegally shot a lion - behaving in a very unsportsmanlike way - also sexually harassed his employee. I'm not surprised that he contributed the maximum to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. I would be very, very surprised if he doesn't turn out to be a racist as well. All these traits tend to go together in a certain type of personality, and they are the people who make the world difficult for the rest of us.
It's very telling that the asshole's only defender is Ted Nugent.
People like this asshole hunter are the same people who create a system where young black people are murdered by police.
Whatever it takes to have people recognize the monsters among us, I welcome it.
Polly Hennessey
(6,812 posts)You nailed it. Also, I am becoming convinced that we are recognizing the "monsters" more now than we did in the past. Perhaps because of social media and the internet they can no longer hide. We have a collective voice and we are using it.
CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)msrizzo
(796 posts)I'm proud of my compassion for animals because it is something that I actively work on to be a good person. It is a false assumption to make that caring for animals means that you care for them above human lives. Yes, there are undoubtedly some people who would weep for the death of lion and not for the death of Sandra Bland or Tamir Rice or Freddie Gray, but I am not one of those people and I don't think that anyone here at DU is either.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)Last edited Sat Aug 1, 2015, 07:00 PM - Edit history (1)
Animals sometimes are my only way to maintain sanity in this fucked up world. I commiserate and give you a big hug.. love of all creatures, great and small, is a sign of a good heart. Don't let the justified despair and anger of others stop you from loving....good for you... I believe my heart has been irreparably broken, in these last 6+years of living in a vicious unjust system which just got worse simply because Obama became our POTUS and a lot of people started whining that they wanted their White House back from "that colored man". I actually read that after this last GE.But I'm getting to the point, slowly but surely to realizing I'm not going to change any minds and that I really shouldn't give a damn or try to do that. To many racists here and in society to worry about these a******* anymore. People are full of despair and fear at all levels of society. No matter who I vote for or want to vote for, this country is not on a good path and I really don't see how the PTB will let it be changed by a bunch of serfs serving their amerikan Oligarchy.They must be ignored. Let them flail about. Sorry, I went on and on. I get wound up when love of animals is questioned or derided because our societies politics is so damn important. That damn hunter that killed Cecil the lion is probably one of those clowns.
My animals have kept me tethered to reality because they depend on me to help them through life. Give unconditional love, although one get very feisty when I'm late at feeding time It is really becoming pretty simple to write em off. Simple as that. My animals have always given me a positive focus in a very negative time and racially divided nation. Our animals depend on us.
catrose
(5,076 posts)When people try to do that, it just confirms my love for animals.
And I'm plenty enraged over AA deaths, NA deaths, gay deaths, and any murder, especially by those sworn to defend and protect.
Boober Fraggle (Jim Henson muppet) used to scream "Ashes! All is ashes!" I feel like it should be, "Assholes! All are assholes!"
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)who care about animals don't care about humans is a classic false dichotomy. Those who say things that stupid are the ones who should be ashamed of themselves.
stopwastingmymoney
(2,042 posts)V0ltairesGh0st
(306 posts)As much as i would like agree with you... You should really know the people you are asking for understanding from are beyond reproach. They are raised in way that they feel virtually nothing other than their own desires, most of which are selfish, greedy and destructive. They will only react defensively and affirm their actions as justified. In other words just give up on them, they aren't worth the flesh they are made of.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)Its so stupid...the animals dont have a voice so WE MUST BE THEIR VOICES.
People that say this shit is exactly why I freely admit to preferring the company of my 2 dogs and 3 cats to most human beings.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)And you speak for me, as well.
And for the animals who cannot speak for themselves.
Paula Sims
(877 posts)there's only a short link between killing animals and humane treatment of all. Bastards such as these game hunters are doing it because they think they're entitled to it. What about the animal's right to live? Who are we to play God?
An animal's face shows true love -- those who can't see it are blind, cold, and heartless.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)salib
(2,116 posts)I have seen comparisons between the reaction to large numbers of murdered people (by police) and the killing of a lion in Africa.
I agree that it is totally out of proportion and very easy. Too easy, or conversely, too hard to get together the same kind of outrage against the Police offenders.
No shaming, just incredulity.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)unarmed black men and women.
SusanaMontana41
(3,233 posts)Hekate
(90,978 posts)I'm sure you saw that OP. It was such flame bait we could have had a DU cookout for all and sundry, and still would have had coals left over for the marshmallows. Later the OP tried to walk it back -- but only a bit -- in posts to other threads, but the damage was done.
I understand your point, and endorse it wholeheartedly.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Last edited Sun Aug 2, 2015, 06:25 AM - Edit history (1)
Just as those who made posts that directed hostility towards the dentist, I promise that it came from a good but emotional place. (in spite of the needless hyperbole). We all have issues that we feel strongly about, and many of us get angry or upset when we feel that there hypocrisy. I don't think anyone is a murderer for being vegan - I borrowed that description PETA, without fully understanding that the term murder does not apply. I just ask that those who feel compassion for what happened to Cecil to consider extending that compassion to the cows, chickens, and pigs. I feel like if people knew what went on at factory farms then they may react just as emotionally as many did with respect to trophy hunting.
sadoldgirl
(3,431 posts)Generally speaking I found that animal lovers have an
equally big heart for people.
The biggest anger in me about Cecil's killing was
a)There are only about 20,000 lions left in the
world, so they should be considered an endangered
species;
b) that there are cubs, who are in dire need of his
protection.
I can understand hunting for food, but not for the
joy of the "sport". Culling is also necessary at times.
To those, who compare our sorrow about Cecil's fate,
to having no compassion for the acts of cruelty or killing
of people, I can only say that I can eat apples and
oranges at the same time.I hope that they are able
to do the same.
Give your kitties a hug from me.
Lil Missy
(17,865 posts)I sobbed and sobbed when I had to put my first pup down. And he was euthanized - put down peacefully. There's a special place in hell for people who are cruel to animals.
Skittles
(153,261 posts)their pet is important to them - I told a guy at work, you should not comment on a coworker's big veterinarian bill while you are wearing a $4000 suit
DRoseDARs
(6,810 posts)Skittles
(153,261 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)I am sick of being told that I don't have the right to be outraged about Cecil just because there are other injustices happening that involve human victims. Most of us have the capacity to love many creatures and many different types of creatures at once.
Peregrine Took
(7,417 posts)We animal lovers are being pilloried all over the place by trolls and right wingers.
We are the good people.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)to suggest that someone can't be concerned about two things at once, or that someone must speak out against everything, if she speaks out against anything.
As an environmentalist, I've heard this canard for years when idiots proclaim that the people who act to protect the forests and creatures who live there, somehow don't care about people. Rubbish. Nature-lovers are typically kind and compassionate people who care about other people as well as the environment.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)calling attention to the animal abusers who will, in all probability, "graduate" to abusing or killing humans. Then and only then, the rest of the mainstream will care. They'll wonder "why"? "how?" Meanwhile, people who care about animals are marginalized and ridiculed, as if people can't care about more than one species at at time. Projection, anyone?
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)and these are not mutually exclusive. I've cried over losing humans and I've cried over losing animals.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I haven't seen you here for ages.
DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)neverforget
(9,437 posts)K&R
nadine_mn
(3,702 posts)I can multitask - I can feel for more than one thing at a time.
a la izquierda
(11,802 posts)I'm tired of the posts disparaging how I should feel. I can walk and chew gum and scratch my head, thanks. My brain is capable of feeling empathy for lots of things at the same time.
Yesterday, I was at the local county fair and there was a pen for the "Opportunity Pig." Well, guess what "opportunity" that pig had? The opportunity for someone to bid and turn him into bacon at the end of the night. I walked out immediately, crying like a baby. At 38 years old. And yes I'm a vegan, before anyone asks (but no, before you whine- not you in particular, DMM- I won't judge your meaty feelings).
I was so deeply sad to learn of Cecil's passing, just like I was when I learned my jackass neighbor sent a stray cat to the pound the other day, even though the stray didn't do anything to anyone and was likely someone's lost pet.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Thank you for saying it.
Kashkakat v.2.0
(1,752 posts)translates into the same for the HUMANS in one's life.
This whole false dichotomy of humans VS. animals is just plain weird. And wrong. Its simply NOT an either-or thing. Loving & caring for the well being of animals does not preclude loving and caring for human beings.
IF ANYTHING its the opposite - if youre sensitive to suffering in animals you're sensitive to the same in humans.
The correlation between abuse and mistreatment of animals and abuse/mistreatment of people is well established. Abusers/murderers often get the their start on animals.
Coming from a childhood home of abuse, I can honestly say I learned to love from my pets.
The psychological mechanism that allows people to kill other people is - you make the other person into an "animal" in your mind.... a lesser being whose life has no value. If you value animal life and see and recognize the life shining in their eyes then you will abhor the thought of extinguishing that light whether its an animal or human - if one chooses to hunt for subsistence or raise animals for food then that will still be done with care and respect for the animal and never for thrill or some sick twisted sense of satisfaction.
And one more thing...
My feelings of grief over senseless slaughter of endangered animals (as well as senseless environmental degradation that is leading to accelerating mass extinctions) is partly grief for us, the dominant species who will still be here, lonely and grieving
MisterP
(23,730 posts)DeepModem Mom
(38,402 posts)Deadshot
(384 posts)to animals. If a person is cruel or indifferent towards a dog or a cat, they're not worth being around and they're not good people.