Animals are community members, too

I am writing to our community concerning animal cruelty. This issue is one I feel [is] pressing and should be addressed. Animal cruelty is prevalent in our area, and we cannot ignore it.

We have no right to confine, starve, beat and destroy the lives of animals around us. They are members of our community, just as much as anyone else. I have seen people beating their dogs in their yards; starving dogs chained up outside of homes to act as a guard; overly aggressive animals in the pound, there only because their owners didn’t have the sense to give them the kindness they deserve. Most of these animals would be euthanized in the shelters because of the questionable manner of their owner’s ability to keep the animals. There are 3 million to 4 million animals euthanized yearly in the United States alone. If we could reduce this number simply by being kind to these animals, it would increase the well-being of our community by a huge amount.

The lives of animals in the wild are also actively being destroyed. As we humans are building developments with large, expensive homes, wild animals’ homes are being burned, hacked down and dug up so that humans will have unnecessary luxuries. Wild animals are forced to flee from the haunting sound of chain saws, bulldozers and other machines that change their lives forever. It is harmful to the animal population and completely disturbing. Some people’s greed will [drive them] to such lengths as to destroy entirely what used to be a thriving, plentiful land filled with animals. It’s disgusting.

I plead with the community to address this problem seriously and to take it into your thoughts. Next time you are thinking of building your house on a piece of pristine and untouched property, remember to consider all of the lives you will be decimating. And when you decide you would like to keep your starved dog outside your door, remember how you will affect the victim. Friends don’t betray friends.

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3 thoughts on “Animals are community members, too

  1. Johnny

    Was not Ms. Tracy’s house built upon “pristine and untouched property”? Weren’t all of ours?

    That’s what we do, we build shit and live in it, and are selfish squirrels acting out market forces.

    It ain’t pretty, and there’s not much to defend it, but the occasional call (heard above the bulldozer’s roar?) for humility and sensibility notwithstanding, there’s not much that can be done to stop it.

    It’s a (damn) free country. It’s wonderful.

    Oh, but yes, get your cat spayed.

  2. boulderjf

    No one can fully escape the effects of human devestation on the environment, but your suggestion that, as a result of our lack of prefection, we shouldn’t speak out at all is insanity. You beleive that theres nothing that can be done about animal cruelty and destruction of habitat, I strongly disagree. When each one of us takes a stand for a more peaceful and sustainable world, market forces follow. We have the power to change and create a liveable world, the choices you make every day determines our future. What impact will you make? A peaceful one? Or a carelessly destructive one?

    Jade Finn

  3. Johnny

    Uh, wait a minute. Jade writes: “You beleive that theres nothing that can be done about animal cruelty and destruction of habitat”.

    Did I say that? Could you find where I wrote about animal cruelty here?

    I’m all for a more peaceful and sustainable world, but I find it amusing that a letter writer can try to coherently admonish someone else for living in a house with a “remember to consider all of the lives you will be decimating” sort of line.

    I live in a house. Lots of people live in houses.

    The writer could easily have garnered some actual support or empathy were the letter to be a self-reflection (for example) on how her own lifestyle “is so destructive of habitat all over the place, and yet she is unwilling to forego the creature comforts to eliminate the destruction.” Or something like that.

    Get your cat spayed. Live in a house. Be nice. Keep buying more crap.

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