Money - The motivating factor for exploiting animals

As I was trolling the internet this afternoon looking for a story or two to give my two cents on, I discovered several stories and found it difficult to choose which one to write about. What I did notice however was that each of these stories had something in common despite being completely different in every other way and that common factor was money. When it comes to animals and stories regarding them being exploited, money is always the common denominator in these situations. Our insatiable desire to have more money and at any cost motivates us to do horrible things to animals in hopes of monetary gain, allow me to explain further.

I stumbled across this story from World Animal News about over 1 million dollars worth of illegal ivory being sold at a gallery in California. 1 million dollars worth is astronomical and it's hard to imagine how many elephants / rhinos were slaughtered to amass that amount of illegal ivory but one thing is clear, that's a very large amount of money. 

Elephants endure many perils in the wild and are at risk of extinction if the ivory trade is not abolished. There are many successful initiatives and conservation groups that are doing their part to protect elephants and rhinos but the fact is, they're still being killed for their ivory. 

What sickens me the most about this is as I said, these creatures face the possibility of extinction in the wild. These people who go out and hunt them for their ivory are so money-driven that I'm not sure that they're even considered the impact they're having. I mean I'm sure they know they shouldn't be killing them but do they realize that their greed could wipe these animals off of the planet? I'm also curious if they're considered what their game plan would be once they actually do wipe them off the planet? Where will your illegal money come from if there are no elephants or rhinos left to kill? Have they even considered this? My thought is no because the money is what is driving them to make these decisions with absolutely no regard for their own futures or the future of an entire species' survival. Sickening isn't it?

I also read up on a story from England where over 100 puppies / dogs were rescued from what they believe to be a breeding facility. They also believed that some of the dogs / puppies were stolen. The puppies and dogs were obviously not in their best shape as the story suggests their living conditions were appalling so once again we're reminded of how many makes us do horrible things without regard for punishment or the lives of the animals they are neglecting.

This is another reason why I'm always promoting adopting over shopping for pets. Yes, the allure of a pure-bred puppy of some kind of breed is tempting but purchasing that pure-bred puppy comes with a lot of bag energy. The mother of those puppies has likely been forced to breed countless times and have her babies taken away. The cost of those puppies is usually in the 1000's of dollars which essentially goes right into the pockets of the breeders and their screening process for adoptions are not as strict as they are through an adoption agency. Adoption agencies charge their prices for the medical requirements of your adopted pet and for food and other necessities, they're not making money off of the animal and have only one goal in mind, to find good homes for rescue animals. By supporting puppy mills or breeders, you are lining the pockets of people who are exploiting their pets for money while animals in shelters are overlooked. It's a horrible cycle that leaves shelter animals abundant and in desperate need of homes.

Let's look at trophy hunting as well. Money is what motivates these people to go and do what they do. They pay these astronomical fees to these wildlife companies that claim the money goes to conservation efforts and they pay them to have the right to go out and hunt "trophy" animals. The main problem aside from the obvious who gets their kicks out of killing animals is that these animals are almost always endangered. Giraffes, lions, leopards, elephants etc., these animals are all at risk of going extinct in the wild but we still allow people to pay all  of this money to run around killing them for the sake of some stupid trophy they can mount on their wall. I ask the same question to these perverse people but what do you go out and hunt in the name of trophies when you've abolished an entire species? Where do you go when there's no elephants or leopards left? Have they even begun to consider this? Probably not because it all boils down to money and how money will push us to do just about anything.

hIn all of these situations, money is the motivating factor. Money is making us do horrible things to animals without any consideration of what effects our actions will have. It's absolutely sickening to think that there are so many people out there who are willing to risk their lives or put a species at risk of extinction for the sake of making some money. That's what makes my blog so important or any blog or activist site that draws attention to these issues.  We must continue to shine a light on the atrocities that are happening to animals all over the world because the more we speak out, the more of a chance these animals have at survival. The more attention we draw to these awful situations the better because it means that our voices are heard and governments will continue to take notice. Without speaking out, these animals don't stand a chance.

What do you guys think? Do you agree that money is the root of all evil here in these situations? I want to hear from you!

​HAPPY VEG