This was interesting enough to experience - how about a caption?
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wordless Wednesday 2
Here we go again - the last one got me started, here's hoping this keeps it going!
This was interesting enough to experience - how about a caption?
This was interesting enough to experience - how about a caption?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
On dog culling and public opinion in the media
So it's no secret the most prominent news story in my circle of influence is regarding the 100 sled dogs culled after the Vancouver Olympics.
It's also no secret the public rose up once this hit the media. Facebook groups were started, protests were discussed, petitions are being forwarded left right and centre. Many of my friends and acquaintances share the outrage and I see lots of posts regarding boycotting the company involved and even boycotting dog sledding in general.
*Allow me to take a moment here to respectfully remind my well-meaning brethren that, although a tangible means of showing solidarity, online petitions are worth just a little bit more than a blank sheet of paper as far as their ability to influence anything other than public opinion. You may feel a bit better having forwarded it on but the influence thereof of generating any real change is about the same as changing your facebook profile picture. I instead recommend and encourage, if you don't do so already, that you get your hands dirty once in a while and volunteer for a local cause that you care about - it doesn't take much to make a difference, but it does take more than an online petition.
Firstly, I'll step up and say I don't think dog sledding is inherently a cruel practice, and I believe there ARE ethical companies out there. Huskies love to pull and love to work and I see no wrongdoing in giving them a job. The problem that I have with this particular case is that these dogs were clearly bought or bred specifically for the tourist boom during the Olympics. As such, they were money making machines. Based on what I've read in the media and from my own research, there could have been no plan in place to keep the dogs after the tourist boom died, as of course the boom would die down when the Olympics were over. I have seen no evidence of a plan for those dogs past the few months when tourists were flocking to BC in record numbers. So, therein lies my personal disgust and outrage - those dogs were born to be killed once their usefulness wore off. Tragic, shocking, disgusting.
But...this scenario is nothing new, I'm afraid. The quiet outrage is now over the fact that the general public is not more aware of how common this is. However, having learned myself about a cull of dogs on a northern reserve last month, I was hard pressed to find an actual news article...all I could really find was a short, heartbroken mention on a rescue website. I also came across an article about an impending bison cull in Yellowstone, yet that hasn't really hit mainstream media either. Not to mention the hundreds of animals that die horrible deaths in remote communities, the dolphin slaughters, the whaling, the poaching, on and on and on. So 100 sled dogs is simply a drop in a vast ocean, though at the very least their deaths have brought some reality into water cooler conversations, and maybe opened up a few more eyes.
Groups have been fighting to change the laws for longer than I've been involved in rescue and yet the wheels of change turn slowly. It's no wonder people lose it and turn into complete nutters when it comes to animal rights (and I can pretty much guarantee the same nutters exist around human rights causes but they seem to be more socially accepted, c'est la vie).
So, when the media circus dies down and the majority forgets about these dogs and sinks once again into apathy, I hope that at the very least a few more people will continue to advocate for change than did before and that the wheels get another small push in the right direction.
It's also no secret the public rose up once this hit the media. Facebook groups were started, protests were discussed, petitions are being forwarded left right and centre. Many of my friends and acquaintances share the outrage and I see lots of posts regarding boycotting the company involved and even boycotting dog sledding in general.
*Allow me to take a moment here to respectfully remind my well-meaning brethren that, although a tangible means of showing solidarity, online petitions are worth just a little bit more than a blank sheet of paper as far as their ability to influence anything other than public opinion. You may feel a bit better having forwarded it on but the influence thereof of generating any real change is about the same as changing your facebook profile picture. I instead recommend and encourage, if you don't do so already, that you get your hands dirty once in a while and volunteer for a local cause that you care about - it doesn't take much to make a difference, but it does take more than an online petition.
Firstly, I'll step up and say I don't think dog sledding is inherently a cruel practice, and I believe there ARE ethical companies out there. Huskies love to pull and love to work and I see no wrongdoing in giving them a job. The problem that I have with this particular case is that these dogs were clearly bought or bred specifically for the tourist boom during the Olympics. As such, they were money making machines. Based on what I've read in the media and from my own research, there could have been no plan in place to keep the dogs after the tourist boom died, as of course the boom would die down when the Olympics were over. I have seen no evidence of a plan for those dogs past the few months when tourists were flocking to BC in record numbers. So, therein lies my personal disgust and outrage - those dogs were born to be killed once their usefulness wore off. Tragic, shocking, disgusting.
But...this scenario is nothing new, I'm afraid. The quiet outrage is now over the fact that the general public is not more aware of how common this is. However, having learned myself about a cull of dogs on a northern reserve last month, I was hard pressed to find an actual news article...all I could really find was a short, heartbroken mention on a rescue website. I also came across an article about an impending bison cull in Yellowstone, yet that hasn't really hit mainstream media either. Not to mention the hundreds of animals that die horrible deaths in remote communities, the dolphin slaughters, the whaling, the poaching, on and on and on. So 100 sled dogs is simply a drop in a vast ocean, though at the very least their deaths have brought some reality into water cooler conversations, and maybe opened up a few more eyes.
Groups have been fighting to change the laws for longer than I've been involved in rescue and yet the wheels of change turn slowly. It's no wonder people lose it and turn into complete nutters when it comes to animal rights (and I can pretty much guarantee the same nutters exist around human rights causes but they seem to be more socially accepted, c'est la vie).
So, when the media circus dies down and the majority forgets about these dogs and sinks once again into apathy, I hope that at the very least a few more people will continue to advocate for change than did before and that the wheels get another small push in the right direction.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Back in the saddle on Wordless Wednesday...
Once again I'm taking up the reins and attempting to organize my thoughts into coherent sentences. And of course I'll do this by easing into the process on the aptly name Wordless Wednesday in the hopes it'll get the juices flowing. So, here it is, gimme a caption for this photo!
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