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As protesters and activists picketed out front of his establishment, he hacked away at a deer's leg and began to eat it in front of them in an obvious show of defiance and aggression towards the protesters. Activists watched and filmed in horror as the butcher took the opportunity to demonstrate his disdain for their cause. Ultimately, it was a show put on to illustrate his obvious lack of remorse or care for their cause. I made the choice to comment on the original story and was not surprised to receive almost 50 comments speaking out against what I had said. In these comments, I was ridiculed, called names, implied to be stupid, and called a cry baby. I had people accuse me of stealing animal's food. I had people who took every opportunity to aggressively refute my attempts to demonstrate compassion. What I took away from those two days of repeated verbal abuse was that people can be aggressive in defending things that they don't want to change. Not a single person could give me an ACTUAL reason as to why they consumed meat, nor could they give me a reason why it was so wrong that I didn't. I decided to walk away from the conversation after wishing everyone a happy easter and thanking them for the debate despite my wanting to become aggressive or return the insults. This ties directly into my message of compassion through positive reinforcement. Although I was hurt and offended by people's attempts to insult or degrade me, I returned their insults with positive messages. I never once called anyone a name, I never once retaliated in an aggressive manner, and I continuously reiterated a message of compassion for animals and the environment. At the end of my discussion, I felt reassured that I got my message across and did so without any negativity which can be very difficult.
Now, do I agree with protesting in front of a locally owned business? Not necessarily, but I agree with the message. When it comes to protesting, I believe it's important to attack the source which in my opinion is any company that supports factory farming. Slaughterhouses, fast food giants, restaurants who receive meat from these farms etc. Protesting a local business whose funds pump out into your very own community is not necessarily the best approach. This was evident within my conversations when people repeatedly reminded me it was an attack on a local business that was widely supported by the community.
What do I take away from this story / experience? Never give in to temptation when it comes to being aggressive or negative in your approach to spreading a message. Compassion is our message and stooping to a level of insults or name calling works against what we're fighting for. Check out the original story through the link at the top of the page! Also, what do you guys do when it comes to receiving negative comments and acts of aggression? Do you find it hard to maintain a stance of compassion? HAPPY VEG
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It's becoming more obvious each story I post that the Trump administration has absolutely zero concern for animal welfare. Despite President Trump speaking out against trophy hunting, his administration has allowed trophies to come back on a case to case basis. Instead of involving the public in their decision which would ultimately prove to them that the general populous doesn't agree with trophy hunting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has allowed them on a case by case basis. For this reason, they are being sued by animal welfare groups who feel as though they've been lied to and excluded from this decision.
Attention must continue to be brought to this topic. We must continue to lobby against trophy hunting through posting on social media and expressing our concerns directly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.
You can send your concerns and disdain over trophy hunting directly to them through this link www.fws.gov/duspit/contactus.htm . Let your voices be heard! The more attention brought to this, the more pressure they will feel to comply with a federal court ruling that the public be involved in the decision. There's still time to stop this allowance of trophies and save the elephants, lions, and giraffes of Zimbabwe! HAPPY VEG A 28 year old zookeeper in Mexico was mauled to death by a lion this week after forgetting to lock the enclosure when he entered to clean it. When zookeepers found him, he was already dead after having been bit on the neck by the lion. This is extremely unfortunate news and I feel absolutely awful for the family of this zookeeper. Now, this once again begs the question, are zoos truly safe enough for the animals and workers within its walls? This is NOT the first story I've commented on involving someone being killed at a zoo. In the past year, I've documented at least 4 cases of workers or pedestrians being killed by animals after either entering the enclosure, or forgetting to lock it up. What's especially sad in this case is that the zoo had just completed upgrading the big cat's enclosure with added security and a taller perimeter fence. Sounds great in theory but evidently, it was not enough.
When it comes to situations that could potentially put our own lives AND the lives of the animals we care for at risk, I don't believe human error should be something that is even allowed. In every instance of an accident like this, the animal is always at risk of being shot & killed in an effort to save the human being attacked. This ultimately puts both lives at risk over something like forgetting to lock an enclosure. Although it seems trivial because mistakes happen in every job, these kinds of mistakes that are so small and easy to make can ultimately lead to some seriously devastating consequences. This is exactly why I've repeatedly said that zoos are not doing enough to protect their workers / the animals they house.
As I mentioned earlier, the zoo had recently upgraded the enclosure the worker was attacked in. This frustrates me to no end because I have repeatedly called for electronic locks on all enclosures. Having electronic locks that automatically lock upon the door shutting would prevent these sorts of awful situations from happening. In both cases of a zookeeper being mauled, their small error costed them their lives and essentially put the lives of the animals that attacked them at risk. This should not even be allowed to happen and considering it is happening far too often, these zoos should be doing a hell of a lot more to protect themselves, their workers, and the animals. Housing wild animals that will instinctively attack us if given the opportunity calls for special sorts of protections. Why would there even be an opportunity for this to happen? Zoos have a responsibility to ensure the utmost safety of all parties within its walls and by leaving the opportunity for this sort of human error to happen, they're essentially failing to protect their employees and the animals. This is not acceptable by any means! Is it time to shut down zoos? Perhaps, but realistically, that isn't going to happen, (anytime soon) especially when you consider the amount of animals facing extinction in the wild. One day, zoos might be the only hope for repopulating the big cat, elephant, and giraffe populations. With that being said, I definitely think it's time for a call to action with every zoo out there. Safety and security NEED to be the number one priority across the board to prevent accidents like this. Enough with manual locking which puts workers at risk. Upgrade to electronic and automatic locking systems to protect workers and animals alike. These situations ARE happening and ARE preventable with the right system in place. Enough with cheap upgrades that do nothing to protect workers / animals, it's time for more. Here's to hoping that zoos will start to learn from these mistakes and begin upgrading their facilities to make them the safest they can be. What are your thoughts? HAPPY VEG Killing is not conservation, and if Peace 4 Animals and World Animal News have anything to do with it, then the U.S. is going to see billboards plastered all across the nation. Recently, billboards speaking out against trophy hunting were erected near airports in Los Angeles and Chicago and have already garnered significant attention. Activists across the country are clamouring to get these billboards erected in their communities to speak out against what is widely known as the most hypocritical approach to conservation, trophy hunting. Voting is currently underway to have the next billboard erected in the winners city and there are a great number of people interested in seeing the billboard erected in their hometown. Billboard advertisements are long thought to be on the way out with the digital age upon us, but there is no denying the power of advertising especially when it comes to something so very important. It's great to see so many people took notice and now want to see the billboard in their own cities.
These billboards prove that the world is changing. They prove that the world is turning against trophy hunting and its supposed benefits. These billboards signify what I would hope is a beginning to an end when it comes to discussing conservation and trophy hunting in the same sentence. Only a fool would ever assume that slaughtering endangered animals will help in any way when it comes to conservation and these billboards certainly reinforce what I'm saying. It's time to put trophy hunting to an end. It's time to bury a sport that revolves around killing. It's time to stop pretending that killing animals is acceptable let alone beneficial. I truly hope that we see an end to this blood sport and soon because there are several endangered animals whose lives and existence depend on it. Live in the U.S. and want to see the billboard in your city? Check out Peace 4 Animals (@Peace_4Animals) and World Animal News (@WorldAnimalNews) on Instagram to vote! Also, you can help by making donations to Peace 4 Animals by clicking here --> peace4animals.net/donate/ HAPPY VEG
I think the scariest part of hearing this news is knowing that this won't be the last story we hear in the near future. The fact is, large cats are declining all across the globe and it's entirely humans fault. If illegal poaching continues, we will likely see the end of many large cat species. Lions and tigers, jaguars, leopards, and pumas, all face an uncertain future unless illegal poaching is dealt with in a more aggressive manner. I know that groups like WWF are doing their best to control poaching but the fact is, it's not enough.
There needs to be a global effort to protect the world's remaining large cat population. Illegal poaching is the largest cause of large cat decline and knowing this, the governments of these countries need to step up their conservation efforts. This is proof that what's being done is not enough and if efforts to save these beautiful animals are not ramped up, we will inevitably see the end of all large cat species in the wild. HAPPY VEG |
Stay educated and remain involved in animal welfare. Together, we can all make a difference!
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