Month: December 2017

Happy, wonderful New Year!

People have such good intentions this time of year when it comes to making those New Year’s resolutions.

“I will go to the gym every day and lose that weight.”

“I will donate 15% of my salary to a charity.”

“I will have less clutter at home.”

But often, the grander promises get pushed back, and before you know it, another whole year has passed and you find yourself making those same resolutions again.

This year, why not try something on a smaller scale, but possibly way more impacting – why not try “a little more”.

This New Year, I will try:

“to be A Little More kinder.”

“to be A Little More compassionate.”

“to be A Little More grateful.”

“to be A Little More freer with my time.”

“to be A Little More giving of myself.”

“to be A Little More tolerant.”

“to be A Little More patient.”

“to be A Little More empathetic.”

“to be A Little More generous.”

“to be A Little More helpful.”

This New Year, I will try:

“to be A Little More LESS selfish.”

“to be A Little More LESS caring.”

“to be A Little More LESS excuse-making.”

“to be A Little More LESS involved.”

“to be A Little More LESS self-absorbed.”

“to be A Little More LESS fearful.”

“to be A Little More LESS of a procrastinator.”

…“to be A Little More.”

You just never know who YOU are making a difference for, when you just try a little more.

Just Do Something…a little more.

YOUR ‘Little More is up to you. But YOU can do it. We ALL can.

It’s YOUR New Year. How will YOU be making it count for an animal in need this year?
Think it, then do it – every day. It matters.

Happy New Year!

There are do-gooders, and then, there are do-gooders. Whether you are the former, or the latter, the majority of people feel that if they do just one charitable thing during the Holiday season that maybe they normally don’t do at any other time of year, that their obligation is done for the year, until next year.

How sad for them. How sad for those living lives of misery the other 364 days a year.

Being kind, compassionate, giving, aware, responsible and conscientious, is a way of life.  Doing the right thing, EVERY time, is a choice. A conscious decision made with someone else’s very best interest at heart. And it doesn’t matter if that someone else is a four-legged, or two-legged, living being.

What matters is that, if the ONLY thing that motivates you to be charitable is the Holiday season,
then you should live as if every day is the Holiday season.

Giving of yourself, extending yourself is a gift; it’s a blessing – it’s a privilege. If you are able-bodied, you can give of yourself. And with that, the possibilities are endless. Endless.

If you think you are too tired, too busy, too broke, too depressed, too lazy – welcome to the world of being alive. We all feel “too something” at one time or another.  If you’re up to your eyeballs in “too something” be thankful that you are. It means you’re living. It means you have choices you can make. It means you can do something to change your part of the world. It means that you can do something to change the world for someone else.

So many animals have so little freedom. Their lives aren’t their own. Their choices, lives and destinies are decided for them, based on who owns them, who captures them, who abuses them, and who neglects them.

The Holiday season is no different for these animals, than any other miserable day.  And for many animals, the Holiday season is tragically even worse.

It’s a poor excuse for someone to think that the only time of year that they need help make a difference is during the Holiday season. There is something wrong with society if the push to increase charitable acts only comes at Christmas time and at the end of year.

We can ALL make a difference EVERY DAY, in some way.  And, we should. We are ALL obligated to make the world a better place for ALL living beings.

Does everyone feel and think this way? Nope. Should we? Yep.

Be a 365 do-gooder, and encourage others to do the same.

And if you cannot bring yourself to be 365, then start NOW, planning for the next Holiday season. Because Christmas is coming, again.

Happy Holidays,

Animal abuse garners more attention when it involves certain animals such as dogs, cats, dolphins or whales. Conversely, animal agriculture is an accepted practice even though those animals, no matter how humanely raised, experience fear, suffering and untimely death. That is because farm animals are deemed commodities. Society considers some animals, or species, to be more valuable and deserving of rights. This concept is know as “speciesism.” Speciesism is no different than other forms of discrimination. Morally there is no distinction between cow or dog meat, leather or fur, foie gras or steak. In each case animals suffer for either palate pleasure or fashion. Most people believe animal abuse is wrong. Unfortunately, that belief is often speciesist. 

As an animal advocate it is necessary to establish a moral baseline, namely, that all animals matter and that all animal use is abuse. Humans do not need to consume animal products to survive. Current medical research supports a plant-based diet for optimal health. We certainly do not need other animal products such as leather, fur or animal-derived cosmetics when there are readily available alternatives. Animal agriculture is responsible for the deaths of nearly 60 billion animals each year. It is also one of the leading contributors to climate change. 

What can you as an individual do today and everyday? If you are against animal abuse and agree that animals matter morally it follows that you do not use animal products. What you put on your plate and what you wear matter! Live what you believe and go vegan. It’s easy. There is a plethora of information and support to guide you. The Internet, particularly via social media, has support groups, recipes galore and everything from vegan 101 to vegan philosophy. Most cities and towns have vegetarian/vegan meet-ups and restaurants.

Here are a few sources to get you started:

HowDoIGoVegan.com (covers all the basics and then some)
EatLikeYouCareBook.com (available in 11 languages)
VeganSidekick.com (cartoons which make you go “Hmmm.”)

Mary Christo
Florida

Find and follow Mary on Facebook, and ask her about her Facebook page promoting veganism.

My eyes are ALWAYS open. No matter where I am going, or what I am doing, I am always looking EVERYWHERE to see how I can help out an animal in need.  Because in every town, every day, some place, an animal is waiting to be noticed, to be helped, to be saved, to be rescued.

Today was no different. My husband and I were on our way to grocery shop.  If I hadn’t been looking, I may have never spotted a lone Canada Goose sitting quietly and almost invisibly near a parking lot of a local bank.

It’s rare this time of year to see a Canada Goose by him or herself. Almost always, when you do, it’s because something is wrong.

The something wrong with this Canada Goose was that it looked like he had been hit by a car. 

Sadly, this is not uncommon in this part of town where I live. Canada Geese love the water, and the area by this particular shopping area has ponds and a swamp area. No matter what time of day, there are always Canada Geese crossing the entry roads, causing traffic to stop. And in the summer months, traffic stops happily to allow the Canada Geese families time to get everyone across the street – it can be quite a sight when there is more than one Goose family treking from one side of the road to the other. 

It was very clear that this Canada Goose needed some looking after, and a safe place to convalesce, where he would have easy access to food and water. An injured bird of any kind will have a difficult time surviving if s/he cannot get to food and water easily. This Goose could not fly at all – a death sentence in the winter.

Being so concerned about animals, I have quite the list of rehabbers I can call, depending upon the animal in need. So, a call was made, and within the hour, someone came to net this Goose and bring him to a safe location with a rehabber.

The rehabber was able to walk right up this Goose initially.  Most likely this was because he was injured, tired and just trying to rest. 

It was a slightly different story when the net was brought out. The Goose stood up and tried to walk in the opposite direction of the net, hissing all the time.

If you’ve ever seen a rehabber try to net a Goose, you know it sometimes is not an easy task to accomplish.  Geese are large, and yep, mean – even an injured one.  They can put up quite the struggle, and they can look and sound very intimidating.

It’s easier to catch a Goose against a building – Geese are fast and can be hard to net if they have a wide place to run.  Water is even more challenging.  Once a Goose gets in water, they can swim to an area that you can’t reach. Having a Goose against a building increases the odds of netting him because there is less space for the Goose to go.  So with some gentle cornering, the Goose found his way towards the local bank where we found him.

From there, it took no time at all for a succesful netting.

It may look awful for the Goose, but actually, the netting is soft, and once the Goose was caught, he visibly calmed down and actually sank into the net. He was comfortably transferred to a cage in a warm car.  And we went on with our shopping.

#1 Good thing that came out of this: Happy Ending

#2 Good thing that came out of this: As we were cornering the Goose to net it, a woman in a car drove up, quite upset. She said that she was driving down the main road, and happened to look over at the bank parking lot and saw “some guy” looking like he was trying to harm the Goose. So, she u-turned around to check things out. She was so happy when we explained to her what we were actually doing. It made me feel great to know that there are other’s out there, right in my town, who keep their eyes open and who care about animals enough to JUST DO SOMETHING.  I gave her my contact information – you can never (NEVER) have enough contacts and friends who have the same passion for helping animals in need.

I waited a few hours and called to check up on Goose.  By the way, the rehabber informed me that this Goose was a male.

He had eaten and drank, and had been walking around. The blood was saw on his back and tail were from losing some feathers. His wing was compromised, and we were not sure if the wing was broken yet or not, but he was completely unable to fly.

This Goose will stay with the rehabber until it can fully fly, or through the complete Winter season. Once Spring arrives, if the Goose still is unable to fly, I will be calling some of my other contacts to find a permanent home (sanctuary) where he will always be cared for. 

Tonight it’s very cold, and snowing.  If I hadn’t had my eyes open, this Goose would be spending another night alone, in the cold, covered with snow, hungry and suffering.

Looking around is something we ALL do. We may not always be so super aware of what’s going on around us, but maybe we should.

This is why My eyes are ALWAYS open. No matter where I am going, or what I am doing, I am always looking EVERYWHERE to see how I can help out an animal in need.  Because in every town, every day, some place, an animal is waiting to be noticed, to be helped, to be saved, to be rescued.

Eyes open! It matters. It really does.

Our Note: Dogfighting and dog baiting is well known to those involved, but they make it VERY difficult for outsiders to find them. With the colder weather upon us, it might be even harder in some places to spot a dog fighting ring. This is because the dogs and events may be moved more routinely inside, and snow hides things even though leafless-trees makes it easier to look around.  Dogfighting and dog baiting can be anywhere: from deep in a wooded area, to the basement of a condemned or boarded up house, to even someone’s fenced in backyard. If you THINK you see or hear something, or you KNOW about a person or animal involved in dogfighting and/or dog baiting, PLEASE report it.

Many people don’t report it because some dogfighting and dog baiting rings are run by gangs. And ratting on a gang related event is cause for retaliation. But know that you can report dogfighting and dog baiting anonymously to your local 911.  Yes, 911 will ask for your information, but legally they cannot and will not make your information known publicly. And if, you are still nervous about reporting dogfighting or dog baiting, reach out to us and WE will report it for you.

Take a moment to google “Report Dog Fighting” for other references and information on how you can help, and report on this brutal and illegal practice.

Let’s End Dog Fighting Together

Many people are not aware of what dog fighting really is, or are aware of the possible signs of a dog fighting operation.

Dog fighting is extremely inhumane and cruel, and the things these dogs are forced to endure are unimaginable.

Do a quick search on the internet and you will learn how dogs are treated and what they are forced to do to fight or be the “bait” dog.

Dogs are stolen from shelters and domestic homes for dog fighting purposes, or raised just for this purpose.

Dog fighting is no “sport”, contrary to those who treat it as a sporting event.

Here in the Alabama area, dog fighting areas and operations usually present signs of multiple dogs (usually pitbull mixes) living outside in 55 gallon barrel drums chained with logging chain (10 feet long).  Surrounding that area are usually ropes and chains hanging from trees, with springs attached to those ropes and chains.  We see a number of tread mills in the area.  And the dogs that are used to fight have scars and/or fresh wounds on their faces and bodies.

Sadly, dog fighting is prevalent is ALL countries.  Did you know that within the Unites States, almost every county in every state has dog fighting organizations?

Our organization is www.helpstopdogfighting.com, and we go ANYWHERE in the United States for FREE when it comes to investigating and stopped dog fighting operations.  There is up to a $5,000.00 Reward for valid information, and we encourage people to reach out to us if they have any reason to suspect, or have information about, dog fighting.  Call 1-877-215-2250.

Dog fighters are not stupid.  They are very aware of what they are doing is illegal and inhumane, so they are very careful to conduct these operations in secret and without bringing too much attention to the dogs they are using for dog fighting.

In addition, please visit my own personal endeavor at www.alabamaangelsdogrescue.com.  I do ALL rescuing and website maintenance by myself, without any volunteers because where we are located in Alabama it is quite rural and it’s difficult to get interested people to want to help.  Anyone wanting to help my dog rescue here, 90% are Death Row Rescued!  You can call my local Farmers Co-op at 256-357-4743 and order dog food by phone or through pay-pal listed under my e mail account through Yahoo.

My additional contact information is listed on my website.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and share it.
Thank you to www.just-do-something.org for helping me share my story and spread awareness on this important issue.

Please, do what you can, where and when you can.

– Billy Howard
Alabama Investigator