Letter: Bitz had huge impact on no-kill movement

Posted on by Letters
Graphic by Lori Deaton

I would personally like to thank Denise Bitz for her extraordinary contribution to the animals of Asheville and Western North Carolina [See “Moving On: Brother Wolf Recruits New Director,” March 27, Xpress]. She had a huge impact on the no-kill movement in Asheville and beyond. Prior to Brother Wolf, it was business as usual with large numbers of dogs and cats being euthanized. Very few recognized the problem.

Any volunteer organization I have ever been involved with for the past 40-plus years has had controversy. The larger the organization, the more room there is for such. Brother Wolf evolved in a very short time from a basement project to a multimillion-dollar organization.

Denise should be proud of her accomplishment. I wish her well. I hope Brother Wolf continues for a very long time.

— Jane Finneran
Cullowhee

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One thought on “Letter: Bitz had huge impact on no-kill movement”

  1. think critically

    Yes, hats off to Denise Bitz, a true hero for the animals. She came to the realization that all animals are worthy of our respect, not just dogs and cats. I guess her downfall was having compassion for all.

    Have you ever wondered why we treat certain animals like friends and others like commodities or food? Because we create a distinction between the animals we love and the ones we eat, we do not think twice about what has to happen to cows, chicken and pigs before they arrive on our plates as food.

    In her TED talk, Harvard educated psychologist Dr. Melanie Joy explores the reasons why we are disgusted by the thought of eating Golden Retriever, but happily enjoy beef, pork and chicken. All animals are equally sentient beings, but because we think that eating farmed animals for meat is, “normal, natural and necessary,” we never question our choice to mass slaughter and eat them.

    By looking into how our society has normalized the consumption of meat, Joy contends that we all have a choice to remove ourselves from this cruelty, but the first step is awareness. Thinking critically and carefully about the roles we’ve assigned farmed animals versus our pets, we can see beyond the constructs of “carnism” and work towards a more compassionate future.

    Here is a link to her talk, which is well worth watching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0VrZPBskpg

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