I admittedly am not an animal lover. My mother was, my brother is, I just didn't get the gene. I loved the animals we had when I was a kid. But now that I am an adult, I just don't want to mess with them. My sister still makes fun of me because of a comment I made in 2002 while visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. We were exiting the petting area where a worker tried giving me hand sanitizer. I don't like washing my hands more than I have to because it dries my hands out. I honestly had not touched the animals in the petting area so I saw no need to wash my hands. The lady looked at me funny when I refused the cleanser. As I walked past her I said, "I hate animals." Of course I was kidding. I don't hate animals. I loved the pets we had when I was growing up. But our house was different. My mom was a neat freak. We had to clean the litter box every day and frequently scrub it out with soap and water. We had to go outside regularly and brush our animals to get rid of the hair. She vacuumed all the time. And I am sure you couldn't smell the animals over the cigarette smoke in our house. Although, Ben and I did inherit a leather recliner from my mom and on a warm day you can still smell the cat urine. Ben thinks I'm crazy, but I have a good sniffer. I'm telling ya - it's cat urine.
So why this rambling? Well because over the last few years it has become very evident to me that some people really love animals - more than they love humans I think. I have met many people recently who have become vegetarian because they believe killing animals is unethical. Now, I am not for abusing animals. I don't support the dog fighting we have been hearing about in the news. I believe we should care for all of God's creation. But for crying out loud, I am not going to feel guilty about having a chicken sandwich or eating bacon with my pancakes! And what amazes me the most is that many of these animal rights activists are pro-choice. How can somebody spend so much time and energy defending animals, yet not care for the unborn human child?!?!
This topic is especially on my mind for a couple of reasons. This has been a topic of discussion at work and it seems like it keeps popping up in the news. This morning on Good Morning America, I heard someone say something like, "The greatness of a country is seen by how they treat their animals." WHAT?!?!??!? What about how they treat their unborn babies or their elderly or their sick?
What finally got my attention today was something I saw on-line today. This morning on the Ellen DeGeneres show Ellen completely broke down because a dog she had adopted was taken away. She gave it to a friend and apparently broke her dog adoption contract by doing so. I mean, I can understand feeling bad. You gave your friend your dog, her kids got attached to it and then it was taken away. Okay, fine, that's sad. Whatever. But by Ellen's reaction you would have thought her girlfriend had just been killed. As I watched the video on yahoo I kept thinking, "Oh, this is one of her funny jokes. I wonder what the punch line is." But no, she wasn't kidding. She even paid her vet to take her dog home after getting some work done so that the dog could sleep in bed with the vet and not be lonely. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!!? Call me heartless, but I just don't get it. If I knew how, I would post the video so you could all watch it and let your jaw drop.
Okay, that's enough rambling in this pointless post. It's long enough that many of you have probably stopped reading by now. I suppose I should quit carrying on and start doing my homework.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
A post full of opinions
Posted by Kelly Glupker at 10:21 PM
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14 comments:
you'd think that i wrote this post myself!! ditto to you dear. i was actually watching the beginning of that show when i saw that she was crying. i thought for sure her mom died or something.
I saw that on line too and James said the same thing as me. Ridiculous! Like you said, if only people cared about others, young, old, sick etc... like Ellen cared about this dog.
Pets are great but we should be more concerned about other people then our pets !!! We have a dog in our family and he is our pet nothing more. I personally hate !!! dog hair so I vaccuum , carpets cleaned often and he isnt allowed in kitchen while cooking or on furniture, basically cant tell we have a dog smell etc. I am glad our kids have a dog while they are little they have so much fun together. NO we dont do the licking the face thing only my goofy husband wants a lick kiss once in awhile then i make him wash his face :) hee hee. But there is joy and great teachings when you have a pet, yes lots of work but great for a family. We are attached to our dog but are not attached enough that if something happen, bite etc. we would have no problem putting him down. You cant cross lines with pets great to be close and love them to death but not to the point you break down like Ellen did. But hey just my opinion !!
The other day I overheard the other hygienist in the office recommend to her patient that she get a rat for her girls because they are very affectionate and like to snuggle under your arm or behind your neck. I get the willies just writing this...
I cried when smokey died and I'm not ashamed of it! :) But don't think for a minute that puts me in the same class as Ellen. She's just weird.....and gay.
Kelly, You were on a roll!!! Although I love animals, I wouldn't be sad if the kids dog died tomorrow. We always said that if it was cheaper to have him put to sleep than is was to fix him, guess what poor old Maize is getting. You got it, a quick sleep to la la land. My dad was talking about this topic about a month ago, and he was not too happy. Thanks for being willing to post something that all of us have thought about one time or another. PS I can't believe how big Owen is getting. Give him a hug for me. Can't wait to see him in person. AMY
kelly, you're awesome! you make me laugh. thankfully jason and i are both on the same page and we are NOT animal fans. a bunch of jason's cousins have dogs instead of children... and they treat them like children. unbelievable. the news is always having these "top stories" and they are of cats stuck in trees or burning buildings. so annoying. so weird. - it is sad how people love animals more than caring for unborn babies. so sad.
You know I really agree with you on how ridiculous it is that people care so much more about animals than the unborn children. How can we not see the irony here? Kill the babies but save the whale! I too think we should care for God's creation and believe that God gave us a mandate in the garden of Eden to watch over all creation and to use it responsibly. I can't understand cruelty for cruelty's sake, but I agree there has to be a point when we say animals are not humans!
I have noticed a pattern of people and their over-attachment to their animals, but I'll be the first to say that I am an animal lover, all the way. When our cat of ten years was "kidnapped by the humane society" I was really upset for a couple of days.
However, there are other members of my family that are far worse. I had a cat that was so old, she needed to be put down. I thought it was the humane thing to do. Not mentioning names, someone broke out into tears and a long story about how "we promise, as owners, to let them die naturally."
Ironically enough, this person ignored me as I was watching my cat die with strokes and obvious discomfort.
Balance.
another story.... definitely out of control.
I read of this lady who willed something like 10 million dollars to her dog and left nothing for a couple of her grandkids "for reasons they knew of."
What is a dog going to with all that? Start a society for dog biscuit distribution?
unbelievable.
I understand your sentiments. . .although Matt and I do like dogs and would one day like to have another one, but OUTDOORS with lots of room to run and play AND when the kids are old enough to take care of it. We had a dog and it was like our kid, but when I got pregnant, it got shoved out the door:) I HATE animal hair in people's houses or on their kids clothes, etc. . .AND I hate the smell of a liter box and cat pee. . .I DO like animals, but they are alot of work, and I DON'T think they need to become the center of every one's world!:)
This website is a dog hater's jambouree ... a collection of people who choose which lives they will sanctify and those they could care less about. Many of our humankind equate their dogs with chickens when it comes to eating them. The love of an animal is a special gift and it's clear none of the posters on this site could possibly imagine what unrestrained love really is. It's a human failing ... we think we invented love but what we're really best at is the art of savagery. Imagine, dog hair ... put that animal down.
Dear Anonymous,
Why don't you leave your name? You have some strong feelings here, please don't be ashamed. I would like to know who you are and maybe clarify a few things with you. It appears that you have completely misunderstood and twisted some of what I have said. I would be happy to further explain my position, but I do have a question for you. Do you get as angry about the killing of an unborn child as you did about my blog post?
I've been meaning to read this post for a while now, and on the occasions when I had the time I forgot it was on here. Well, I finally got around to reading it just now, and I'm prone to agree with you. I love dogs. I'll go ahead and put that out there. Despite that difference between us, I respect what you had to say, and I agree with your take on people who love animals more than (or even as much as) people. I cringe every time a Petsmart commercial comes on and they talk about "pet parents." Animals are NOT people. They are not as good or as valuable or as deserving or respect, dignity, or protection as any given human being. That's insane... or satanic, I suppose, as so much of our society seems to be subject to his will, anymore. "Save an animal; murder a baby" seems to be the motto of the times, and that's sad. While I don't necessarily consider myself fatalistic, I suppose it all has to get Worse before it will get Better.
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