On Loving Animals...

What good is there in dog racing? Nothing much, it seems, except for the dubious honor of winning a bet and some money--- money one is surely to lose very soon since those who win money in dog racing will surely bet again. Evidently, we can include drug use, cocaine in particular, to dog racing practices in Alabama. Grey2K USA reported on two cases involving cocaine use in dogs: - On or about December 23, 2009 a greyhound named Kiowa Fly Lucia tested positive for cocaine at Mobile County Greyhound Park. - On or about November 11, 2009 a greyhound under the control of an individual named Robert E. Trow tested positive for cocaine at the Birmingham Racecourse. Now, the Governor of Alabama, Bob Riley, has a task force to combat illegal gambling. It is aptly named, Task Force to Stop Illegal Gambling , P.O.Box 2841, Mobile, Alabama 36652. This task force is headed by John Tyson, Jr. Grey2K USA has already written to the task force about these two cases , they have asked us to follow sui...

Yours truly is up in Boston attending graduation week at Harvard, but that hasn't stop me from staying in touch with animal welfare. I found this photo on Facebook, and I think it is just wonderful. On the other hand, to think that cows are slaughtered by the millions for the beef-eating population is horrifying. If we actively circulate sentimental photos like this, maybe we can move more people towards a non-meat diet altogether. So far up here in Harvard, I have been having caesar salads and beer. Weird, yes, but it hasn't cost any animal his life.

Another wonderful story to warm our hearts... My trust in the human spirit bobs like a buoy in a stormy sea. Sometimes, I do believe that there is an equivalence between good and evil. I must be having one of my better days, for I normally accept that there is more cruelty in this world than compassion. A young lady named Kristina from Multiply.com shared with us ( members of Philippine Animal Welfare Society, PAWS ) several photos of her latest rescue. Her previous rescue involved a badly beaten cat whose eye popped out due to the severity of the beating. Here she is, in the second photo (right), on her way to the rehabilitation center of PAWS after rescuing these two miserable dogs. The photos speak for themselves. In her message to me, Kristina lamented her inability to do more for needy animals. Don't we all feel that way? Physics prevents us from being everywhere at all times. The important thing is to act whenever we can, wherever we are.

I invite you to watch this video from the Philippine Animal Welfare Society about the " Good Fight. " It's very well done, in my opinion. Go ahead. There's nothing gruesome about the video, but it says a lot about how we maliciously and cruelly exploit other sentient beings---in this case, dogs---who normally would provide love and loyalty to us. Have a conscience, folks. Don't participate, and don't be mum about it. When you see or know about animal cruelty, make the call to the authorities.

I am cross posting an alert from the Animal Protection League of New Jersey. There is no more important time than now to tell Gov. Christie and his government that a mass killing of NJ black bears is unacceptable. This coming December, 400 bears will be slaughtered in the name of wildlife management. This is an attack on our natural treasures, an inhumane pastime that has nothing to do with natural conservation but caters to the blood lust of the small hunting community. If it is not kill the deer, it's kill the geese. After the geese, it's kill the bears. Most NJ residents do not hunt and do not support hunting. Four years of no organized bear hunting under former Gov. Corzine's administration did not create the bear population explosion that the pro-hunting group always uses to scare the New Jersey population. Please help. ========================================== Black Bear Protection Campaign The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife and the NJ Fish and Game Council are pla...

Thumbing through some Robert Frost poems, I was led to this one by Maya Angelou . I don't know if Frost ever had an influence on Angelou, but certainly any American poet living today would be familiar with Frost's work. Frost and Whitman are my favorite poets, and the romantic poets ( Keats, Byron, and Shelley ) I can't bear. I find their work dense, abstruse and impenetrable. It's just a matter of taste and connectivity. I am no expert on verse, but I will accept the opinion of those who are. They warn us that Frost's poetry is deceivingly simple. If we were to try our hand at it, to put complicated emotions into simple verse, we would be tied up in knots. Anyway, Angelou's poem below, Caged Bird, touches on the plaintive cries, the longing for better things, that captive individuals must go through. You can apply the core meaning or sentiment of this poem to any situation involving imprisonment or captivity, human or animal. Think of the dog in a dank, dark ...