A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue #
11/25/01
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE SEVEN ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ The Psychology of Animal Abuse
2 ~ Graphic Spay/Neuter Commercials Air in L.A.
3 ~ The Thanksgiving Turkey Reprieve
4 ~ Job Opportunity
5 ~ The K-9 Hero of Sept. 11: Dog Nearly Killed by WTC Dust
6 ~ When I Was a Young Turkey
7 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
The Psychology of Animal Abuse
by John Tierney
Campaigns Director - Association of Hunt Saboteurs
PO Box 4734
Dublin 1
Ireland
huntsabs1dublin@hotmail.com
Violence
done to humans cannot be divorced from violence done to animals for whatever
purpose. In Ireland our government legalises some of the most horrific acts of
cruelty to wild animals by individuals who carry themselves under the
fieldsports banner. One must examine why people engage in blood sports like
hare coursing, foxhunting, etc.
The first reason is that most blood sport enthusiasts have been brought up to
it from childhood. They genuinely cannot see anything wrong with it. They have
developed a mental mechanism known as Double Think. A person can keep two
mutually contradictory codes of conduct in his mind at the same time but in
separate compartments so that they never meet by this psychological mechanism.
A hare coursing follower can see a hare torn to pieces without a qualm, but can
be extremely attached to, and kind, towards his pet dog.
A second common psychological mechanism is rationalisation or
justification. In the Middle ages people were tortured to death in the
most obscene ways for a wide variety of offences without public uproar. People
were brainwashed to think that it was the correct and proper way to deal with
witches or heretics. They were brought up to it. It was a justifiable
punishment.
It is interesting to note that paralleling this harsh and brutal treatment to
humans was the treatment of animals. Cruelty to animals was the accepted norm.
Anyone who objected was regarded as a crank.
When the great Irish reformer Dick Martin (Humanity Dick) tried to introduce
anti-animal cruelty laws into the British Parliament he was treated with scorn
and derision. Cruelty to animals has always reflected itself in cruelty
to humans. Cruelty is indivisible. Like the Aids virus it can lie dormant or
spread with horrifying rapidity.
A third group of mental mechanisms is what is called, the screening mechanism.
The effect of this is to isolate the minds of those involved from the effects
of their actions. This can be seen to effect in war as those taking part are
subjected to an amount brain-washing so that they remove themselves from the
results of their actions. Adversaries are depersonalised. They become
"legitimate targets" and the "faceless enemy." They become
mere "things."
Similarly in blood sports the hare, the fox and the stag are merely
"things" to be hunted and killed. In the case of blood sports
followers [of] the psychological mechanisms are complex and individual to each
person. This is little doubt, but that the combination of the mechanisms
outlined are operative, to a greater or lesser degree, in all participants.
Certainly, the symbolic killing, the domination, the inflicting of pain and
suffering are central, albeit subconscious motivations.
A Government, which legalises blood sports, is approving of the principle that
cruelty and non-defensive violence against certain animals are legitimate
"rights" of the citizen. The preservation of the "right to kill
for sport" or "amusement" by a Government trivialises the whole
concept of cruelty and violence. It is symbolic of a repressed desire to
preserve this last bastion of inhumanity and the Right to Violence.
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~2~
Graphic Spay/Neuter Commercials
Air in L.A.
from Gary Yourofsky
ADAPTT Founder/President
www.adaptt.org
810-405-5067
dogmaday@aol.com
The
LA-based nonprofit organization Animals Anonymous has agreed to sponsor the
first two rounds of spay/neuter TV ads in LA.
On Thursday, November 22, three SPANISH TV stations in LA will air the powerful
ads. Of course, these ads were done in Spanish. KWHY-channel 22,
Telemundo-channel 52 and K???-channel 62 will run more than 100 of the
30-second ads over a three week period.
The commercials show dogs being executed in shelters and urge people to spay or
neuter their companion animals, never buy animals from breeders or pet shops
and adopt their next friend from a shelter.
The brand new undercover footage is tough to watch but necessary in order to
rouse the conscience of the community.
Here is the text of the ad:
"You're about to witness the killing of a perfectly healthy puppy.
Every year, US shelters execute 10 million perfectly healthy puppies, kittens,
dogs and cats simply because nobody wants them.
But you can stop this killing in three easy ways:
Have a vet spay or neuter your dog or cat today. Never buy an animal from a
breeder or a pet shop. And adopt your next dog or cat from a local shelter.
Financial assistance is available.
Go to this web site or call us today."
In exchange for Animals Anonymous' sponsorship, their Web site and phone number
appear at the end of the ad. It is www.spay4LA.com and 1-800-spay-4-LA.
If any group or person wants to sponsor a round of ads, each package costs a
minimum of $10,000. Yes, there is an English version of this commercial
and - like the ADAPTT circus, fur and vivisection ads - it is generic so any
group can use them. All we have to do is change the Web site and phone
number.
ADAPTT wrote and produced the spot while Animal Defense League-LA
(www.animaldefense.com) paid for the video production costs and helped us
convince the stations to air the truth for a change.
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~3~
The Thanksgiving Turkey
Reprieve
They Get a Presidential Pardon,
But What Happens Then?
Commentary By John Stossel
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/GMAB_turkey_011121.html
Nov.
21 ‹ It has become a tradition for the president to pardon a turkey or two at Thanksgiving
and announce that they will live out their days on a petting farm. Why would
anyone say "Give me a break!" to that?
Because it's kind of a hoax. I went to the farm where birds pardoned by
presidents go, and I learned that this is not a story with a happy ending.
Harry Truman started the tradition in 1947. President Eisenhower pardoned
turkeys at the White House, as did Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Reagan. George
Bush Sr. pardoned four turkeys in the course of his presidency. Bill Clinton
pardoned eight.
Turkey Jokes
The younger President Bush continued the tradition this week. At a ceremony
in the White House Rose Garden, he pardoned a 55-pound turkey named Liberty, as
well as Liberty's backup, a turkey named Freedom. In a reference to Vice
President Dick Cheney's low public profile since the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, Bush assured reporters that Freedom was "in a secure and
undisclosed location."
Bush made this promise to the two turkeys: "They will live out their days
in the comfort and care of Kidwell Farm in Herndon, Virginia."
Living out their days in comfort and care. It's a nice idea. It feels
good. People like the idea that some birds are being saved.
But are they really being saved?
A Turkey Pen With No Turkeys
I visited Kidwell Farm to see how the turkeys pardoned in previous years
were doing. I looked for some of the birds pardoned by Clinton, but couldn't
find them. I couldn't find the Bush Sr. birds, or the Reagan turkeys, or
Carter's, or any of the pardoned birds.
There is a sign saying Turkey Pen, and farmer Marlo Acock took me to it. But
the pen was empty. Why? Well, the birds do come here, explained Acock, but they
don't last.
"We usually just find 'em and they're dead," he said.
Most of the pardoned turkeys only last a few months, Acock said. One died
within days.
It seems that the presidential birds, bred to be eaten, are so fat that by the
time of their pardon, their days are numbered.
"Their flesh has grown so fast, and their heart and their bones and their
other organs can't catch up," said Acock.
Still, presidents keep going through the ritual.
"This will not be their last Thanksgiving," Bush assured the children
watching him pardon the two turkeys this week.
Does this mean even the president doesn't know their real fate?
Pardoning turkeys is good fun, but shouldn't institutions as powerful as
governments be telling the people the truth? Give me a break!
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~4~
Job Opportunity
from cjkj2000@yahoo.com
Animal
Haven, a no-kill, animal shelter in New York City, is embarking on a new
project. We're opening an animal sanctuary/rehabilitation center in Upstate NY.
The sanctuary will start w/dogs & eventually expand to cats. We're looking
for a dynamic person to run/live there. We want to create a homelike setting so
this person would live in this house w/these dogs. The dogs vary. Some have
behavioral issues & some are medically fragile. Some would be for lifetime
care while others will be coming for training & going back to the shelter
for adoption. Strong dog behavior skills are essential to the position. Other
preferred skills include program development, being able to manage a growing
staff, dealing w/medical needs & a deep love for animals. All applicants
must have a valid driver's license & be willing to relocate to the
beautiful Catskill Mountains.
Please send resumes to Info@animalhavenshelter.org
or fax them to 212-568-6101. Jo Anne Rando-Moon; Network Coordinator; Best
Friends Animal Sanctuary, Kanab, UT 84741; 435-644-2001 Ext. 254;
www.bfnetwork3@bestfriends.org; www.bestfriends.org
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~5~
The K-9 Hero of Sept. 11:
Dog Nearly Killed by WTC Dust
From the "Critters" page of the New York City Daily
News
Saturday, November 17, 2001
By Kristoffer A. Garin
Daily News writer
In
the human tragedy of Sept. 11, some heroes weren't human at all.
Rescue dogs from around the country took great risks to find living souls
beneath the pile. One of the bravest is Servous, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois.
Servous' efforts at the World Trade Center nearly killed him twice, and his
injuries have forced him off the job at Illinois' East Carondelet Police
Department, where he worked with K-9 Officer Chris Christensen.
After watching the twin towers collapse on TV, Christensen and Servous made the
990-mile drive as quickly as they could, arriving exhausted on the morning of
Sept. 13 in their squad car.
"I stood there looking at all the damage and destruction,"
Christensen said. "As I'm looking at all the smoke and dust, a guy ran up
and said, 'There's victims off of [Liberty Plaza] -- we need a K-9.'"
The man led Christensen and Servous to a menacing hole in the rubble.
They had begun to crawl in when disaster struck.
"Something caught my pack, spun me right around, and the next thing I know
my dog slid by me into the hole, into dust up to his eyes," said
Christensen.
Pulling him out, Christensen scooped a large handful of dust out of Servous'
mouth. The dog's tongue was completely purple -- a deadly sign.
"We poured water over his face and liquid concrete came out of his
nose," said Christensen. "he was dying."
Alert rescue workers found an oxygen tank, and cops rushed Servous up the FDR
[Highway] to the Animal Medical Center on E. 62nd St.
Servous pulled through, thanks to hospital doctors who flushed the debris out
of his lungs with a tube.
Knowing his partner was too badly injured to work, Christensen decided to leave
Servous in the squad car and go help out with the bucket brigade.
But Servous had other plans.
"This is an incredibly obedient dog," Christensen said. "When I
opened the car door, he jumped out and wouldn't get back in. He looked at me,
like 'No, I'm going with you.' To my dying day, I'll never forget that."
Hearing another call for K-9 help, Christensen and Servous spent hours
searching the rubble. Then Servous took a second near-fatal spill -- this time
off an elevated steel girder.
"It put him right back into that respiratory trouble," said
Christensen. "I started screaming for oxygen again, a doctor showed up on
the scene, and we rushed back up to the Animal Medical Center. I said, that's
it, this dog has given about 1,000%. I'm not going to kill this dog."
When a weakened but stabilized Servous -- legs bandaged and sporting an IV
needle -- saw his handler come into the ICU, he thumped his tail on the floor,
and the room broke into tears. By then it was Saturday, and Christensen knew it
was time to go home.
It wasn't until the drive back, riding home with his wounded partner, that
Christensen wept.
It is unlikely Servous will ever be an active police dog again -- the dog who
chased down violent criminals in some of Illinois' worst areas is too
traumatized now even for the hero's welcome he so richly deserves.
"If people start clapping, he starts shaking," Christensen said.
"When I take him somewhere I have to take an oxygen bottle just in case.
It's the only thing that brings him out of it."
But as long as there isn't too much noise, Servous is happy. He's resting. And
far from being put out to pasture, he'll be taking on a different job.
Servous is going to be a coach. Christensen has already ordered a new puppy,
and Servous will help train it.
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~6~
When I Was a Young Turkey
Anonymous
When I was a young turkey,
new to the coop,
My big brother Tom
took me out on the stoop,
Then he sat me down,
and he spoke real slow,
And he told me there was
something that I just had to know.
His look and his tone
I will always remember,
When he told me of the horrors
of, well...... Black November!
Come about August,
now listen to me,
Each day you'll get six meals
instead of your three. And soon you'll be thick,
where once you were thin,
and you'll grow a big rubbery
thing under your chin;
And then one morning,
when you're warm in your bed,
In comes the farmer's wife,
to hack off your head; Then she'll pluck out all your
feathers until you're bald 'n pink,
And scoop out your insides
and leave you in the sink;
And then comes the worst part
he said not bluffing,
She'll spread your cheeks and
pack your rear with the stuffing! Well, the rest of his words
were too grim to repeat,
I sat on the stoop like a
winged piece of meat,
And decided on the spot
that to avoid being cooked,
I'd have to lay low to
remain overlooked. I began a new diet of
nuts and granola,
High-roughage salads,
juice and diet cola;
And as they ate pastries,
chocolates and crepes,
I stayed in my room
doing Jane Fonda tapes. I maintained my weight
of two pounds and a half,
And tried not to notice when
the bigger birds laughed; But it was I who was
laughing, under my breath,
As they chomped and they
chewed, ever closer to death.
And sure enough when
Black November rolled around,
I was the last turkey left in
the Turkey compound; So now I'm a pet in the
farmer's wife's lap;
I haven't a worry,
so I eat and I nap.
She held me today,
while sewing and humming,
And smiled at me and said
"Christmas is coming"
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~7~
Memorable Quote
"The life spark in my eyes is in no way
different than the life spark in the eyes of any other sentient being."
~Michael Stepaniak
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