An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Some People Disgust Me More Than Others
I don’t often do a complete copy and past of someone who leans pretty left, but this is one time that it must be done. I couldn’t have said it any better!
What Happens When You Drop Your Animal Off in the Country
By Betsy Phillips (aka Aunt B)
There’s a story this morning in the Tennessean about the problems of animal cruelty in our state. And that reminded me: I want to say something to you people who drive a little way out of town to drop your pets off when you can’t or don’t want to care for them anymore.
I don’t know what you imagine becomes of your pets. Maybe you think they make their way into the wild, living some idyllic life. Maybe you can just put them out of your mind because you have put them out of your sight. I don’t know.
But here’s what happens to them. They die.
Almost all of them. They live a very short time out here and then they die excruciating deaths.
Many of them die on the side of the road because they keep coming back to the spot where you dropped them off, like they’re checking to see if this next car is maybe you coming back to get them. And they get hit and then their bodies sit on the side of the road for days, while crows and turkey vultures pick at them.
Some of them, like the black-and-white rabbit that was in my garden this summer, are such easy pickings for local coyotes (and dogs) it would have been kinder for you to snap that animal’s neck and throw it in a hole in your own backyard, rather than wasting the gas to get it up here so that it could suffer and die where I have to see it, but you don’t.
A very, very few get taken in by suckers like me.
But you should know, if you dropped a cat off along Clarksville Highway at the end of October, she didn’t learn to hunt. She wasn’t frolicking in the open pastures, catching field mice and living the life of Riley.
She subsisted on dog food she stole from my garage. When we finally found her, she was so scrawny that you could not pet her back because her spine stuck up sharp against your hand. And she had an infection that would have killed her, if she hadn’t starved to death.
As it was, she died last Tuesday when she was coming out of the anesthetic after she was spayed. Luckily, the vet was able to revive her.
She is a great cat–friendly, spunky, funny. She’s very good with people and she’s litterbox trained. She clearly was your pet.
And you dumped her out here.
You should know that she would have died out here under almost any other circumstances.
What if she didn’t ever come out to be seen? What if we hadn’t been home?
People, if you can’t take care of your animals any more, don’t just abandon them.
It’s the same as killing them, except you don’t have to face it.
Since moving out here to Podunk, I have seen way too many animals, dead on the side of the road, that just a day or two before, had been running back and forth just as Ms Phillips has described. I have fed so many cats that looked practically on their death bed from starvation. We have taken in 3 of the dumped off cats. I will repeat myself: If you do not want the responsibility to take care of an animal, DO NOT GET ONE! If you commit to the care of one of our four legged friends, then DO IT! Stop expecting others to take care of YOUR responsibilities! Nothing pisses me off more than scum who abuse children, seniors, and animals! Don’t EVER let me see you do it!
I couldn’t agree more, except I’ll add seniors to children and animals. WTF do they THINK will happen when they abandon their pets?? Morons!!!
Yeah! Them too! Will add! (you know how us old folks are….we forget)
The flip side:
I dunno. Im kinda with the thinking that its the circle of life. If an animal gets eaten in the wild by another animal, its how nature works. Snapping an animals neck and throwing it in a hole doesnt benefit anything or anyone.
Granted, its one thing if its an animal that has no chance, like say a 12 year old daschund or something. SOME pets can survive in the wild, or become food for other animals.
Its better than letting it starve in your basement, or being mistreated in some other fashion. Id rather it freeze to death or get run over, than a slow, suffering death. You have to decide which is the lesser evil, which is more cruel in the end.
I dont buy the whole “put them in a shelter” thing, because they will die there as well, the adoption rate in shelters is very low. That would be like me putting you in prison, then putting you to death. Not very nice either.
Its like the abortion issue to me. Im personally against abortion, but I realize its a necessary evil: if NO abortions took place (a utopian dream of everyone being responsible!), the world would not only be MUCH more populated (which we certainly dont need), but it would be filled with MORE children who were unwanted and abused growing up with parents who didnt give a crap about them and probably wound up becoming degenerates, criminals and the like themselves (not always but very likely, look at the statistics: most criminals dont come from loving, caring, well-to do families!)
I dont know about you, but I cant personally take in every unwanted living soul, be it animal or human. We need to be as compassionate as possible, but realistic.
Things like this are unfortunately a necessary evil, imo. Id like it if no creature suffered or died needlessly, but its going to happen.
Evil is never “necessary.” Abortions are there because some people don’t have the morals to keep themselves to themselves until marriage.
There is no comparing animals left to die with abortion. The baby never even gets a chance to see who it’s parents are. Abortion is murder, plain and simple.
Animals were placed here on earth by a loving God to be taken care of by us, His children. If you can’t commit to the life span of an animal, then don’t even entertain the thought. If an abortion is your idea of an easy out, then forget getting a dog – they can live a long, long time. Cats that live inside can live up to sixteen plus years. If you can’t handle the thought of raising a child, then don’t even consider a pet.
If there were morals being taught, there would be no need for abortion, or animal shelters.
Leaving an animal to die is murdering the animal, is it not?
Neither the baby nor the animal have a choice, do they?
Both are an easy out for getting rid of a responsibility, are they not?
Id say there are ALOT of comparisons / similarities, but that wasnt my point. I even agree with most of what you said.
Unfortunately some evils ARE necessary in this world to counteract others, i.e. war.
War keeps population down, keeps governments in check, it creates jobs, a flourishing economy and sometimes even baby booms.
No, we dont WANT anyone to die, but war is GOING to happen, it has since the dawn of man. So are abortions, animals left to die, random murders, deaths from diseases, etc. Even with all these things, humanity is still growing at a rate faster than which we die. The cold hard fact is We WILL become overpopulated, and quicker than people might think. Check the statistics on world population, deaths and births and youll see.
I agree with you that a lack of morals and piss poor judgement lead to many of these things, but if we didnt have some form of animal AND human population control, the earth would be wall to wall and overrun by now, which its headed towards anyway.
I hope Im not misunderstood, in that someone thinks I WANT any of these things, but they are serving an important purpose, hence a “necessary evil.” Im just looking at the facts, kind of like Spock on Star Trek would do.
For example: one person who died (lets say a casualty of a war) would have went on to have 2 children. Those 2 children would have went on to have 4, those 4 might have went on to have 12 (avg. of 3 each).
Were up to 18 people right there coming from 1. Now use that formula against how many Americans alone died last year from various causes.
The number will be up to 7+ digits, easily.
Im sure you get the point.
What you are forgetting is that God built in a self-balancing rule. Animals will not overpopulate their feeding ground. Humans have free will. That free will is what gets us in trouble every time.
Granted, war has existed since Cain slew Abel.
Another item you may want to remember is that evil, by and of itself, does not exist. Evil is the absence of Good, just as Dark is the absence of Light, and Cold is the absence of Heat. Without God in our lives, actions are considered not good, or evil.
Yes, a weaker animal getting eaten by a stronger animal is the circle of life. However, when that weaker animal is one that you promised you would care for it is not a circle of life thing, it is a lack of integrity thing. Humans can be very retarded when it comes to doing what is right and good and correct. No, I am not going to do the right and good and correct thing every time, but I will sure do my best to not repeat my mistakes. One thing I will not do is abandon an animal that I promised I would take care of. I will also not allow an animal abandoned by those with no moral compass to die, if I can help it.
We are not in disagreement about the end result, but I believe we may have different outlooks on life.