Animals are our friends

As a child I always heard the statement that "animals are our friends." Perhaps this was why I always believed that they should be treated with love and care, since that's the way that I treat my friends and hope that my friends treat me. This is a particularly important creed that reemerged in my head after watching an episode of Animal Cops Miami on Animal Planet. While a humane law enforcement agent was rescuing a dog which had been abandoned, tied to a trailer and without any food or water, she noticed that some neighborhood children were watching her work. It was at that moment that she took the opportunity to speak to the children against animal abuse. The children seemed receptive to the agent's advice. It was then that I thought of my childhood, surrounded by my grandparents' many goats, chickens, cats, rabbits, dogs and birds. My education of being "good" to animals started very early in life and it was something that always stuck with me.  Education is vital, not just in the scholarly sense, but also in the social sense. I think that there would be less animal abuse/negligence if the concepts of animal being our friends and animals being living creatures, who feel as we do, were instilled from very early in life. 

Help end the brutal "sport" of bear baiting.

"At the center of the large arena a black bear is standing, shaking in fear.

Although she knows what is about to happen she can do nothing to stop it - a rope attached to a metal ring in her nose is tied to a post in the ground, holding her in place. All she can do is wait and watch as the crowd around her cheers in anticipation.

Suddenly, two dogs are released into the arena - bred and trained to attack, the dogs lunge at the bear, sinking their sharp teeth into her sensitive muzzle and ears. The bear tries desperately to defend herself but her teeth and claws have been removed and all she can do is tuck her head behind her paws and lash out blindly. The attack goes on for several minutes until finally the bear is brought to the ground and the dogs are declared the winners...

This is the cruel and illegal bloodsport of “bear baiting” in Pakistan. At these horrific events, crowds gather and pay to watch as defenseless bears are attacked by specially-trained dogs. Shockingly, bears endure this savage contest up to 10 times at one event.

WSPA believes that there is no excuse for this cruelty, and we are working to end bear baiting once and for all."

Taken from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) website.

Causes such as these should be supported by everyone. If you cannot help financially or volunteering your time, I urge you to please spread the work about this vicious blood sport. The more people who know, the more action that can be taken.

Two things that I found:

Awareness and spreading conscience are vital for me. So I found the following two articles and thought they belonged here, since the more they are seen, the easier it is to spread the word about these atrocities. The first article here (in Spanish), is about a horse that was found bleeding to death. After a man contacted police authorities in Puerto Rico (Ponce and Mayagüez) regarding the animal, he was told that they'd have to wait until the animal was dead in order to remove him and bury him. The horse was left in agony. The animal welfare laws there state that upon advising the nearest police headquarters, these are supposed to alert a veterinary in that region to euthanize the animal. In the end, an animal sanctuary (Santuario de Animales San Francisco de Asís) took the responsablity of finding a vet t0 euthanize the horse, after hours of suffering.

This article, I found through my uncle's Facebook page. It took place in Colombia (2009), where Misael Ruíz Quintero, a member of the Puerto Tejada (Cauca) police force hit a dog's head with a shovel. The official holding the camera instructs another officer to take a shovel and hit the dog in the head. After the officer (Valdéz) refuses to, Ruíz Quintero takes the shovel, hits the dog on the head and laughs while the dog is in pain. The officer has been removed from his position and is currently under investigation.

I've been expanding my horizons and looking into different animals...

I found these baby pictures incredibly adorable:
a baby meerkat and a baby loris

Animal talk

Between traveling to and fro a lot this summer, I have been neglecting this a lot, which is something I do NOT want to do. I really do love this. And most importantly, I love animals. There's nothing more beautiful or pure than an animal... So I was thinking, if animals could speak, what would they say?

It's good to be back...

I was in Chicago for most of May, disconnected from the internet and everything. And while it's good to be back, I am extremely saddened by the disaster at the Golf. It broke my heart to see all types of animals struggling to free themselves from the oil wrapping their bodies, or even worse-DEAD.
It's hard to imagine that a multi-million dollar company as BP has not received various solutions to end this tragedy (maybe if it was in their coasts, it'd be a different story). Perhaps, they don't want to stop this, or perhaps it is too costly, but as frustration builds and BP refuses to step into action, there are animals being affected by this ongoing oil spill. Once again, it is the most innocent, who are suffering the most..


An exhausted oil-covered brown pelican sits in a pool of oil along Queen Bess Island Pelican Rookery, 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana June 5, 2010. Wildlife experts are working to rescue birds from the rookery which has been affected by BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and transporting them to the Fort Jackson Rehabilitation Center. (REUTERS photo/Sean Gardner)


A dead turtle floats on a pool of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana Monday, June, 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Not a post, just a thought...

There's nothing cuter than a baby animal.

On animal overpopulation...

Spaying or neutering plays an important part in controlling animal overpopulation. As a consequence there will be less euthanization of animals. In a practical sense, this will also cost the taxpayers less money. It costs money to capture, impound and later put these animals to sleep; this costs billions of dollars each year, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
As an animal lover, spaying/neutering animals shows responsibility in the owner’s part. Why run the risk of having an animal in heat roam the streets and getting hit by a car or having an accident, or contracting diseases?
Spaying or neutering also reduces the risk of certain types of cancers in some animals, the number of unwanted offspring, eliminates heat cycles for females and aggressive behavior in males. According to Spay USA (a great source for spay/neuter info), dogs and cats live longer lives after the procedure, which in the end is what any loving owner wants!

I think this about sums it up:

Michael Jackson had the concept with his "Earth Song."

Animals do rock indeed!

I just wanted to mention that people can learn a lot from animals; animals don't judge, they love unconditionally, only kill/harm to eat or as defense, and as ironic as it is, some show the traits of "humanity" better than actual human beings. All this knowledge from watching such a small little dog...