Author Archive for Jennie

D-Day 2010

Published
by
Jennie
on May 1, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

This year, I’m highlighting my ongoing battle with horse racing’s crown jewel the Kentucky Derby with a satire video from The Onion because I thought tongue-in-cheek humor might be a nice change from a three page long rant. And easier to read.

I think the most interesting part about this video is that it highlights how we tend to concentrate on the human’s performance and ignore the horse. In the winners circle we see people shaking hands and hugging, congratulating the human jockey and the owners, trainer and breeder. Like their efforts alone are what won the race, not the dangerous physical activity on the part of the horse. The horse is just an object, a vehicle. You only rarely see them interact with the horse, let alone congratulate him or her (not that I think the horse would know what that meant, but still).

Here’s to hoping no one is hurt this year.


Jockey Liam Hollins The Favorite To Brutally Whip Horse To Kentucky Derby Win

Factory Farming sux, but really, who cares?

Published
by
Jennie
on April 27, 2010
in Fuck Off
. 1 Comment

The last paragraph and comments on this post are unfuckingbelievable. Let’s deconstruct.

I have made my peace with it. Nature is red in tooth and claw, and anyone who thinks otherwise should check the bottom of bird nests this time of year. Nothing gets out of this world alive, and the best any of us can hope for is ready food, ready water, a roof over our head, and a little companionship. Put in those simple terms, most factory chickens are doing far better than a billion people on earth.

First: Nature is red in tooth and claw. This is called a naturalistic fallacy. It’s the same kind of stupid (il)logic that we reject when we reject the principle of “might makes right”. Just because something CAN happen, and does happen “in nature”, doesn’t mean it’s ethically right for us to partake in it. Here are some things that CAN and DO happen “in nature”, but we believe are unethical: rape, murder, infanticide, cannibalism, feeding people to lions, incest, pooping in public, child molestation and eating dogs.

Second: Nothing gets out of this world alive, and the best any of us can hope for is ready food, ready water, a roof over our head, and a little companionship. Amen to that. But shouldn’t we strive to give each individual, sentient being that best? Logically, if we know what the best we can hope for is, and we know how to accomplish this, shouldn’t we NOT be doing the exact opposite just because for some percentage of individuals it’s not going to happen? Just because my donation to the Haitian rescue effort couldn’t save every victim doesn’t mean I should instead go out and gun down Haitians.

Third: Put in those simple terms, most factory chickens are doing far better than a billion people on earth. Ohhhhkay? Other than I’m not sure if this is accurate, so what? This is a strawman, set up to keep us from reaching the real conclusion. Oh, well, as long as there are people suffering equally badly, I guess it’s okay for me to continue to electrocute my dogs for pleasure. There are about 1 million chickens kept in factory farms and killed per HOUR. 95% of the 10 BILLION land animals factory farmed and killed per year are chickens. I think in terms of sheer numbers, in terms of sheer suffering, chickens win. Not that it’s a contest because being compassionate to these chickens, giving up the selfish pleasure of eating eggs, doesn’t prevent you from focusing any and/or all your energy on helping the people. It just means you’ll have lower cholesterol while doing it.

And now the comments.

You raise a good point. When I think about factory farmed hens, I think it’s inhumane the way they are forced to live out their miserable lives. Unfortunately, I can’t take on every worthy cause in this world. I count on those who have the drive and wear-with-all to improve the lives of hens. I support them in spirit and if they do get meaningful legislation on the ballot, I’ll support them with my vote. In the meantime, I have to buy eggs.

It is inhumane. And no, you can’t. But not eating eggs does not prevent you from supporting other causes (in this case, the commenter is a no-kill supporter and does a commendable job posting dog and cat related issues on a personal blog). You do NOT have to buy eggs. You do not need eggs to live. You do not need them to bake. You do not need them to cook. The only thing you do need them for is coloring for Easter, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone find a way around that one too.  You can easily avoid eggs in your diet and be perfectly happy and healthy without the addition of any supplements. It is not hard.

You say you count on those who have the drive to improve conditions for hens, but you know what? WE count on YOU to help us, by saying “yes, I CAN”. The same way you count on others to help you create a no-kill nation. Where would you be if your every plea met with: “but I just can’t stop killing dogs in shelters, I really enjoy it too much”? We don’t need you to take on our cause, but we do need your support - and that means you have to be willing to take an honest look on your supposed need for eggs and admit that you’re not doing anything to help. At all.

Are dogs pigs? And why does it matter?

Published
by
Jennie
on April 25, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 16 Comments

So where have we been? Well, Alex is up to his eyeballs in school (apparently they do not just hand out doctoral degrees like candy. who knew?) and I’ve been up to my eyeballs with work, dogs, and riding my new bike - and I’m having an affair with my new blog, City Pittie. However, we’re making a concerted effort to start publishing content here again, so without further ado, here’s a quickly written crosspost from CP.

A couple days ago, I saw this posted by someone on Facebook. I’ve recreated it here in full, in case you can’t see it via the link.

Greetings!
Are dogs pigs?

That would seem to be a pretty straight forward question with a pretty obvious answer.

But there appears to be some confusion about this on the part of Pennsylvania’s large commercial dog breeders. Maybe it’s because the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement is contained within the PA Department of Agriculture, which oversees farming and food production animals. Or, maybe it’s because large commercial breeders don’t recognize the unique position dogs have in our modern culture and that dogs are not “stock” to be used and abused to make a profit.

This is an important question because very soon the advisory panel with the power to determine how large commercial breeders can do business in Pennsylvania will decide if breeders will be allowed to use swine production flooring in their breeding kennels.

So, I will answer the question, just in case anyone isn’t clear on it: Dogs ARE NOT pigs!

When the Humane Society of Berks County and people like you worked so hard to get the Puppy Mill Bill passed, we didn’t do it to merely elevate the condition of dogs in kennels to that of pigs in pork production farms.

That could happen when Canine Health Board meets on April 27th to hear proposals from the dog breeding lobby to be allowed to use commercial swine flooring in kennels.

I’ve seen some of this flooring. The best of it is unsuitable for dogs. The worst of it is little better than the wire flooring the Puppy Mill Bill was supposed to make a thing of the past. It is made for animals with hooves, not the soft feet of breeding dogs and the softer feet of their puppies. The sharp edges and plastic coated wire and cast iron of this swine flooring will simply be a continuation of the crippling old wire floors- but in bright industrial colors and with a governmental stamp of approval.

Right now, you need to tell the Canine Health Board and your elected representatives that they must say, “No!”, to pig flooring for commercial kennels and must hold breeders to the standard that was supposed to be imposed when HB 2525 was passed: solid or safe slatted kennel flooring.

Please use the links to the left to email the Canine Health Board, your Representative, Senator, and the Governor and express your view that it is utterly unacceptable for this flooring to be considered.

We know why the breeders want to use this flooring. It’s because they want to maintain their profit margins on breeding dogs in Pennsylvania. Cleaning up after hundreds of dogs is expensive. Just ask any animal shelter which deals with the aftermath of the “for-profit” sector’s money grab on the backs of dogs.

There is a reason we are charities and that reputable breeders don’t make a profit. It’s because when you treat dogs like dogs, and not like pigs or chickens being fattened for slaughter, there’s no profit to be made. What’s their next suggestion to drive up profits? Eat the old breeding dogs?

Our modern culture has decided dogs are different from livestock. They deserve special consideration. They deserve protection. They deserve better than swine flooring.

Please, take a few minutes right now to share this email with a friend and to tell the Canine Health Board that dogs are not pigs!

Your Partner in Animal Welfare,

Karel I. Minor
Executive Director

My first response was: WHAT? My second: no really, WHAT?

Internet, I know people are ignorant of the emotional lives and inner world of farmed animals. I just didn’t know how ignorant people who are my “Partner in Animal Welfare” are. Or maybe I wrongly assumed that by animals, they meant ALL animals. I guess saying “Partner in Canine and Feline and Equine maybe even Lagomorphine and Avian as long as the Avian belongs to a certain group arbitrarily determined mainly by feather color welfare” is a bit of a mouthful, but this is confusing! Do you support animal welfare, or just the welfare of certain animals who you have randomly determined (oh no wait, society has randomly determined) shouldn’t be eaten.

Moving on to the questions at hand: are dogs pigs? Seems pretty straightforward, right? Dogs are not, in fact, pigs. This is a fact that I believe has been pretty well tested in empirical studies and science has more or less definitively concluded that pigs and dogs are two different species.

So we’ve established that dogs are not pigs. But what on earth does that have to do with it being okay to keep pigs on harsh, unforgiving metal flooring and not dogs? What on earth did pigs do to deserve being kept on this flooring? What did dogs do to NOT deserve being kept on it? I’m confused again.

Oh wait, pigs have hooves! Not paws! Silly me, of course that’s why. Except baby pigs are born with soft feet, and both babies and adults have soft skin. Somehow being forced to live on flooring with sharp edges made of cast iron or coated wire seems like it would be painful to that skin. Pigs, like dogs, do have to lie down. In fact, female pigs with litters are routinely locked in cages where they are forced to lay on their sides, lest they try to move in the tiny space and crush their piglets. So that whole business about hooves? I guess that’s not really why it’s okay for pigs to live on this kind of flooring and not dogs.

Oh wait, it’s because our society has decided that dogs are BETTER than pigs. Obviously! I mean, it’s not like pigs feel, think and emote in a way that is actually eerily similar to dogs. It’s not like they have complex emotional lives and social bonds, feel pain in a way that is so similar to the way humans do that we study their bodies and nervous systems to learn about our own. It’s not like society has ever been wrong about designating one group as arbitrarily better than another before, right?

Here’s the truth: pigs and dogs both deserve better. Neither deserve to be just another commodity to be traded. Our preference for eating pigs and loving dogs is stupid and arbitrary. Pigs are intelligent (generally considered to be more intelligent than dogs). They are emotional (generally considered to have emotions as complex as humans). They are comfort loving creatures with delicate skin who are extremely sensitive to the elements. They thrive on complex social interactions with members of many species. They form bonds with their families, their children, their friends. They love to root and nest. They should not be forced to be born, live, and die on hard wire, plastic or iron mesh floors. And neither should dogs.

There is a reason we are charities and that reputable breeders don’t make a profit. It’s because when you treat dogs like dogs, and not like pigs or chickens being fattened for slaughter, there’s no profit to be made. What’s their next suggestion to drive up profits? Eat the old breeding dogs?

Or, maybe it’s because large commercial breeders don’t recognize the unique position dogs have in our modern culture and that dogs are not “stock” to be used and abused to make a profit.

But you see, they are stock. They are our property. As long as it is okay to breed and sell dogs in any capacity, it will be okay for dogs to be used to make a profit. Don’t kid yourself into believing that so-called “responsible breeders” aren’t making a profit when they breed and sell dogs. Perhaps they don’t turn a huge profit, but they do make money from the dogs they breed and sell. They also build social capital and prestige, all off the backs of the dogs that they supposedly are breeding just for fun, for shits and giggles, or to perfect some arbitrary standard set by a bunch of old people who get their panties in a twist about dogs without a correct shoulder setting. Don’t believe that these people are somehow absolved of perpetrating the idea that dogs equal property equal profit, the same way the “pork industry” perpetrates the idea that pigs somehow deserve to live their lives on cold, hard floors just so we can enjoy their severed flesh for dinner.

So Karel I. Minor, does that answer your question? Can you answer mine now? Why is eating the old breeding dogs worse than simply killing them? It seems like ethically, there is no distinct difference. The ethical problem is in the way we treat these dogs when they are alive, not how we handle their corpses. And this is what you need to realize about pigs as well as dogs; just because you can eat someone doesn’t mean you should.

Foster Mom

Published
by
Jennie
on February 22, 2010
in Personal
. 5 Comments

Ever since I graduated from college, my attention span has shot right out the window. Either I’m out of the house, doing actual things that don’t involve a mouse, or I’m clicking my mouse aimlessly, trying to find something to stimulate the case of ADD that seems to have ambushed me. That and, until recently, I actually had a full time job which involved being on the computer for 8 straight hours most days, something that fails to make me inclined to spend anymore time staring at a screen than I had to.

Alas, the wonderful job is gone now, and if I didn’t keep indulging my new foster-habit, I might actually have some time to write posts. Except fostering, and volunteering for Philadelphia’s only no-kill shelter, is pretty much an all consuming thing. Especially since I seem to choose fosters who need a little extra attention and make Alex want to rip what little hair he has out of his head.

Since last October, we’ve had seven dogs come in and out of our home. Two full grown Pit mixes (one of whom is still here), two Cane Corso puppies, one Mastiff/Lab mix puppy, one Pit mix puppy, and now in addition to our full grown Pibble Kensey, two teensy, tiny puppies. How teensy tiny, you ask? Well, when we got them on Thursday, they were approximately 9 days old and weighted 6oz and 9oz, respectively. That’s tiny enough to fit in the palm of one hand. Officially, they are Boston Terrier/Chihuahua mixes, surrendered with their mom to the Philadelphia animal care and control team because their owner did not/could not provide medical care for their very sick mom. She died within an hour of being brought to their ICU, leaving the two puppies orphans who need to be bottle fed every two hours or so. Fortunately, they’re doing well, no thanks to the person who didn’t think about the potential for complications and medical care before he allowed or forced his dog to become pregnant.

Out of all the foster dogs we’ve had, it is our current adult girl whose story bothers me the most. Kensey is almost two, a petite 40lb brindle with dainty white markings and a delicate muzzle. That muzzle is the only thing that marks her as a Pit mix - her body is athletic and muscular and beautiful, and her personality is the quintessential Pit; her favorite activity is sneaking over to lay her head in your lap. She is a beautiful dog, and according to our artificial standards, a perfect one. She is housebroken, polite, well mannered on her leash, and knows a variety of commands from “sit” to “touch”. Like many adult dogs, she is slightly dog selective and does not enjoy being leaped on by the young or excited. To those dogs she gives a low warning growl, and then politely waits for a human to intervene. With dogs she likes, she is playful and happy, throwing down play bows and leaping about with a silly grin on her face. Her first friend in our home is Cassidy, the emaciated American Staffordshire mix we were watching for a friend. Cassidy was so sick and exhausted from an emergency abort-spay that all she could do was lay on the couch, and Kensey simply laid next to her for almost 24 straight hours, surprising everyone.

Sometime in her puppyhood, Kensey became a stray. I don’t know how or why, but she was lucky enough to be adopted out. Most puppies are. Before her first year of life was over, Kensey was returned to the shelter because her family was moving, and could not, or would not, take her with them. Again, she was adopted out and again, returned. And once more, in October of 2009. The shelter, as nice as it is, was stressful to her. Why was she there? Where were her family? So many people walked by her, but almost no one stopped to pay attention. So she barked, and barked. Finally, after an urgent plea was sent out on her behalf, a family took her into foster care.

And then she came back.

She was “overprotective” the family said - during a play wrestling match between father and daughter, and excited Kensey leaped up and with her overlong nails, scratched the daughter. So she was returned, again.

I had agreed to take her in December, when our other adult foster dog, Milly was adopted. However, before I could, she was gone. I took in two puppies instead and adopted them out, and then she was back. I asked for a nice, easy foster, and so she came home with us. The first weekend was smooth, too smooth. I loved her instantly, and she stuck to me like glue. Everything went well, until I left for work for the first time. Halfway down the hall I heard the resounding barks of a dog in distress, but I went anyway, hoping she’d settle down like most dogs do.

She didn’t.

The cycle of adoption and returns damaged Kensey, psychologically. She now suffers from what is commonly known as separation anxiety - in other words, when we leave the house, she panics. Although it’s impossible to know what she really thinks, one could guess at the thoughts behind her terror. This condition isn’t something she started out with, as the staff at the shelter can attest to. It is something we induced by treating her like a piece of furniture that can simply be returned when no longer convenient. No matter how many times she sees us come back, something in her still realizes that each parting could be our last. Although she clearly enjoys us, maybe even loves us, she does not trust us. She cannot trust that we will return, that our kindness is not an act of convenience. And she is right - her home here is only temporary, although she cannot know that we will be sending her away to someone who will love and cherish her.

Many times when we talk about the suffering we cause non-humans, we concentrate on the physical. Indeed, this week fellow vegan Alan Shriver actually suggested that perhaps we can somehow engineer animals to feel no pain, and that perhaps this is a better alternative to trying to actually convince the world to go vegan. And while yes, maybe we can eradicate the connections that allow us to feel physical pain, this is only a tiny portion of the suffering we cause non-humans, even when we’re not being “that bad.” Kensey has few scars from her time on the street. She has not been beaten, or used for dog fighting, or starved. Physically she is in perfect shape, unlike so many of the other dogs I see at the shelter. But the damage our actions have done to her mind, to her ability to function as an independent individual, to enjoy simple things like eating independent of our presence, that damage is so very real, and so very painful. Maybe her scars are metaphorical, but they exist just the same, and they do cause her pain.

You know what makes me cry?

Published
by
Jennie
on December 5, 2009
in Random
. 1 Comment

When people yell at other people for being “mutt makers” and tell them that instead, they should go out and find a “purebred”, “papered” dog to breed their dog to.

Backyard breeders and “quality” breeders alike, each dog you bring into the world is equal to a dog going out the the world via lethal injection or gas chamber. “Mutts” are dogs who love and play and feel too - and they deserve a life as much as a dog who is registered with a random, money grubbing, organization. Get down off your sanctimonious soapbox and realize you’re part of the problem too. It’s my damn soapbox and you’re cluttering it with your inability to think through your words using reason.