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Feb. 25, 2005 Recently a Scottish blind man was accused of biting his guide dog. David Todd of Edinburgh, Scotland was arrested for sinking his teeth into his eight-year-old Labrador retriever and kicking it because the dog wouldn’t take him across a busy street. The dog has been given to a charity organization and Mr. Todd will be facing charges for cruelty to animals. A former animal rescuer in Southern California was convicted on sixteen counts of animal cruelty when authorities found several carcasses of bear cubs in his freezer, carcasses of exotic cats on his property, and live baby cats and alligators in his attic. The worse part of this discovery was the fact that the man and a female friend had an eight-year old boy on the property with them, whose life could have possibly been in danger. The man faces the possibility of over fourteen years of imprisonment. In Utah, State Representative Glenn Donnelson likes to get rid of the skunks enjoying the corn growing on his Ogden farm. He sets out steel traps to kill them. Occasionally he will kill a raccoon or two and a few barnyard cats (somebody else’s I assume). Well, Donnelson is lucky. Utah just passed an animal cruelty law that excludes farmers from killing pesky skunks, raccoons, and apparently tame cats. Steel traps are not defined in the law as torturous means of killing animals (I bet Mr. Donnelson has never had his foot caught in a steel trap). A Charlottesville, Virginia man’s case of operating a dog-fighting ring goes before a grand jury. He faces a possible five-year prison sentence and a twenty-five hundred dollar fine. Police found four Pit-Bulls chained to steel spikes outside an area that appeared to be an arena for dog fights. Animals are a part of our universe, our good Earth. They can be friends or foe, but whatever they are, they are citizens of our planet. What possesses humankind to believe that killing and/or hurting pets or training pets to kill each other is an okay and ethical practice? Are we so afraid of certain animals we believe we must kill them before they kill us? That perhaps was a practice acceptable two hundred years ago, but today? I don’t think so.
Thankfully, we have Humane Societies,
Shelters, Rescue Missions, ASPCA, PETA, and
other organizations that attempt to change laws
protecting animal rights. These organizations
are in need of volunteers, donations, and
equipment to operate. If any readers are
interested in protecting the rights of animals,
call your local advocacy groups (or call your
vet). What is worse than cruelty to animals?
As one source stated, “Surviving it.”
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