I Despise This World and All its Cruelties.

Daisy

Before I start, I have to state that this is utterly and completely a rant. I haven’t had a rant in a while, and to be perfectly honest with anyone who reads this, I am so revved up with annoyance, so utterly ashamed of the things that go on in this world behind closed doors, that it feels the right time to get this built up anger off my chest.

So here goes…

I get a lot of post through the letterbox from various charities about animal cruelty and I know I talk about it a lot on here. But today, I got two letters through, both as horrific as each other and I honestly cannot believe people, human living beings, men and women, people who will have families, who are supposed to care, don’t give two craps about animals, JUST because they can’t speak the English language, just because they can’t tell us they’re in immense pain or are terrified of what will happen to them next.

One of the letters was to do with animal testing. I’ve had countless amounts of letters through the door about the varying cruelty and even though the information is drummed, stamped, tattooed on my memory, it still makes me want to cry every single time I read what is on the paper. Today however, this letter focused solely on mice. Now, I currently have two pet mice, Jasper and Tilly, and over the years I’ve kept many mice as pets. First I had Patches and Squeak, when they passed on I had Betty, Annie and Daisy. I then had Jasper, Belle and Tilly, Belle having recently passed away. I understand fully that these animals are intelligent. They are, no matter what people say because I’ve witnessed their clever ways. They may fit in your hand, but that doesn’t make them any less important than a pet cat or dog. In fact, just because animals are animals, doesn’t make them any less important than humans. And yet every single day of every single year, cruelty is inflicted on mice, cats, dogs, rats, birds. Some of the things I saw in this letter, some of the images, God! I cannot express to you how angry it makes me that I can do so very little to stop it.

Most people’s days aren’t affected by these issues. Most people go to the supermarket, pick up the

Belle

things they need, some chicken for tea, some bacon for their dinner, shampoo for their hair because they’ve run out that morning, moisturising cream for their hands because they’re dry, some paracetamol for their headache. And the price of things tends to be people’s main concern, which I can completely understand given the fact that I myself and my family aren’t the richest people in the world.

Though when I go out shopping (as well as the minority of people who are truly concerned for the welfare of animals), all I see is those images that made me shout at the computer screen, those sentences that brought me to tears, that video that made me slam my fists on the desk in anger. I can’t buy meat without checking it’s high welfare, I can’t buy some shampoo unless I know it’s not harmed a poor innocent animal in a cold, heartless lab. I can’t buy anything without wondering if an animal suffered for my own vanity.

But if I can’t do those things, how on earth can these people actually conduct these tests on mice? How can people abuse animals on factory farms without feeling guilt? How can people eat Foie Gras? How how how? It completely baffles me.

How can anyone be so cruel?

And what can I do? Sure I can buy cruelty-free shampoo and washing powder. I can check where my meat has come from, refuse to wear fur and buy leather, donate an almost none-existent earnings to charities. But I can’t physically stop this cruelty. I want to go into those labs, storms those “farms”, yank open the cages housings animals meant for a fur coat and let the animals understand love and caring and human compassion. But I can’t and it infuriates me that I sit here on a daily basis thinking about myself rather than being out there HELPING them. I want to help them so badly.

I keep thinking recently, that I actually love animals more than humans and to be honest, I’m starting to believe that whole-heartedly. Animals are incredible creatures. Humans can be incredible, but we can also be so so selfish, and cruel and utterly heartless.

Sorry for the rant

Iona Gibson (PiellaGibson)

Patched and Squeak

“I Rescued my Human”

My sister is like me. She loves animals, she cares for them, believes in their rights and listens whenever I ramble on about various issues on a daily basis. She buys cruelty-free products, questions me on certain things to avoid funding cruel companies.  Sabrina and I often have conversations about animal testing, the welfare of the meat we eat, general cruelty that we believe is horrific and utterly wrong, just like many other people do in the world.  On Facebook today, she shared a photo from the page I Rescued my Human that literally, brought to light yet another issue with the animal kingdom, another issue that needs to be put out there and known about in the hope that someday, the issue will be resolved. Sabrina shared this photo, and me being me, seeing a picture of a dog, decided to read what it was about.

It was heartbreaking, literally heartbreaking.

I will let you read for yourself. And please, please read. I almost turned away, but I’m glad I didn’t, because it made me determined to enlighten more people to the problem:

~The shelter manager’s letter: 

“I am posting this (and it is long) because I think our society needs a huge wake-up call.

As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all – a view from the inside, if you will.

Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don’t even know – that puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it’s not a cute little puppy anymore.

How would you feel if you knew that there’s about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at – purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are “owner surrenders” or “strays” that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

No shortage of excuses
The most common excuses I hear are: 

We are moving and we can’t take our dog (or cat). 
Really? Where are you moving to that doesn’t allow pets?

The dog got bigger than we thought it would.
How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?

We don’t have time for her.
Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!

She’s tearing up our yard.
How about bringing her inside, making her a part of your family?

They always tell me: 
We just don’t want to have to stress about finding a place for her. We know she’ll get adopted – she’s a good dog. Odds are your pet won’t get adopted, and how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? 

Well, let me tell you. Dead pet walking!

Your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off, sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn’t full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. 
If it sniffles, it dies.

Your pet will be confined to a small run / kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it.
If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers that day to take him / her for a walk. If I don’t, your pet won’t get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose.
If your dog is big, black or any of the “bully” breeds (pit bull, rottweiler, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don’t get adopted.
If your dog doesn’t get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.

If the shelter isn’t full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed, it may get a stay of execution, though not for long. Most pets get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.
If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles, chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don’t have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

The grim reaper
Here’s a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being “put-down”.
First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk – happy, wagging their tails. That is, until they get to “The Room”.

Every one of them freaks out and puts on the breaks when we get to the door. It must smell like death, or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there. It’s strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs (depending on their size and how freaked out they are). A euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the “pink stuff”. Hopefully your pet doesn’t panic from being restrained and jerk it’s leg. I’ve seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood, and been deafened by the yelps and screams.

They all don’t just “go to sleep” – sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
When it all ends, your pet’s corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back, with all of the other animals that were killed, waiting to be picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You’ll never know, and it probably won’t even cross your mind. It was just an animal, and you can always buy another one, right?

Liberty, freedom and justice for all
I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can’t get the pictures out of your head. I do everyday on the way home from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists and I hate that it will always be there unless people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.
My point to all of this is DON’T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to – the truth hurts and reality is what it is.
I just hope I maybe changed one person’s mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say “I saw this thing on Facebook and it made me want to adopt”.
That would make it all worth it.”

Author unknown

**I HOPE EVERYONE READS THIS WHOLE THING AND SHARES IT**~

I wish I could hide away from what I find out, but if we were all to do that, think of the thousands more animals that would suffer. I know I’m just one soul on a planet countless times bigger than I, but if I didn’t pass on the message in the hope that others will pass it on also, I would feel cruel myself, for ignoring an issue that should never, ever, be ignored.

I hope this message reaches someone, anyone.

I Thank You

Iona Gibson (PiellaGibson)

Maya, my sister’s beautiful dog

The Torment of my Own Mind

Tilly the mouse

To put it lightly, I feel trapped in my own mind. I feel claustrophobic in my own thoughts and feelings, not being able to stop it all, not being able to help. I feel this persistent need to help others and tend to forget about myself, giving my money to a charity rather than spending it on a new coat or perfume for my personal need. I’m not trying to make myself sound like a selfless person, because I know full well that at times, I want nothing but my own way. However, when it comes down to this, this particular subject, I can’t seem to think about myself first. Maybe that’s a good thing, I’m not sure. All I do know is that at times, there is too much going on in my head and maybe sometimes, I need to step back and think about what I need.

This is going to sound so harsh, so selfish…but sometimes I wish I didn’t care. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I know what I know about the cruelty to animals, because it has made me aware of my actions, aware of the abuses that go on in the world. But sometimes it is just too much and I pray that someone will take away what I have learnt and give me one day free from it all, take away the burden I have lingering over me like a thick, dull cloud.

Bramble the hamster

The other day, it all got a bit much when I was sent an email about Foie Gras. I went into a sort of state where I didn’t want to speak or do anything. I sat there on my own for what must have been an hour, sat there in silence because I was so horrified by it all. I took it out on my father when he tried to talk to me, which wasn’t fair at all. But just watching the horror on those Geese’s faces, the lack of sympathy from the farmer. My stomach turned, my brain just shut down.

Animals are my most dearest friends and it pains me all the things I learn on a day to day basis, about the lack of care, neglect, the cruelty. People know the basics, factory farming, animal testing, the fur trade. However, I get bombarded sometimes with emails I wish I never opened, emails I wish weren’t lined with horror and grief. I’m told about things I would never have thought about before, things that I would never have even considered would be cruel to animals. The clothes I’m wearing, the car I sit in, the covers I sleep in. Some emails stayed unread. They stay like that because I don’t know how much more knowledge I could take.

My Girls

Buying anything these days is a torment and I know it is my own fault for getting myself this way. Maybe that is why my money goes to help animals, because I’m so terrified I’ll buy something that meant an animal suffered. Maybe I’m silly, maybe I’m extreme, I don’t know, form your own opinion about me. I just know that for a while, for my own sanity and health, I need to pull the curtains closed. I know enough for now. I can tell you, I am utterly aware of the animals who are neglected and I am not saying they won’t be on my mind. They will be, most of the time. I’ll still be making my donations to my three charities. I’ll still be caring for my girls, for Bramble and the mice. But petition signing and emails need to be put at a distance whilst I get my mind back into a happy state. I need to be selfish right now, for my own sake, as much as I don’t want to be.

Sorry for ranting

Iona Gibson (PiellaGibson)

My mother and I being battery chickens

 

 

 

Facebook, More Harmful Than Helpful?

As I do before any post, I do my research before I write. And this is exactly what I did before deciding to write this. However, I never expected to feel so angry and so disgusted with some people who think it is acceptable to verbally abuse innocent people. I knew people went online and were nasty to others who cannot defend themselves. But from what I have just seen, why would anyone want to run an online social network that allowed such disgusting abuse.  

I’ll admit, when I was going over what I would say in this post, I didn’t want to begin with where it would end. However I have, because I have been utterly shocked when doing my research, by the generations of people who find it ‘hilarious’ to make fun of others.

Now, Facebook, the thing that everyone seems to be talking about. It’s the hype, the new drug in our lives. More than 350 million human beings feel the need to log on to Facebook each day to find out what’s going on in their friends lives. I have to be honest here, there are things about this social network that I find positive. Some individuals can get into contact with people they used to know and haven’t seen in a while. You can stay in contact with someone, even if they’re literally on the other side of the world. It is an easy way to message someone if you’re phone’s dead or if you just want to talk  and have a chat.

To me however, the derogatory aspects about Facebook, outway the good. If I was responsible for the existance of this hype, my focus wouldn’t be that I am making millions each day or trying to advertise here, there and everywhere. My focus wouldn’t be about updating it to be ultra modern and what the public expects it to look like. I would leave those jobs to the people I could afford to hire. I would be on there, all working hours, making sure that my company wasn’t the cause of upset, abuse and bullying. I would hate to think that it was because of me, someone felt like they were worthless and life wasn’t worth living, because of heartless people bullying one individual, thinking it hilarious and cool to pick, pick, pick.

I’m shocked to live in a world where after someone killed themselves because they were made to feel insignicant through constant bullying, that the said bullying would continue, even though the person is dead. Trolling is what this is called. This is what it is being defined as in modern terms. It’s becoming so bad, it’s hitting our television screens. Programs about ‘trolling’ and how it can be controlled. Well, nothing seems to be being done about it. I’ve read countless trolling comments that have been sourced through Facebook, that Facebook has done nothing about. A young girl, Adalia Rose. An innocent girl who has probably never harmed a soul, being verbally abused day in and day out because of a fatal condition she has called Progeria. This brave little girl might not live through her teens and yet still, disgusting people think it is okay to call her an alien. One particular comment made me shake with anger. Somebody called MacSaya commented on a picture of this young girl saying, “KILL IT BEFORE IT LAYS EGGS!”

Still think Facebook is a nice peaceful place to have a chat?

When I first met Facebook, I encountered bullying from people, however I’ve managed to grow up and realise that these people that bully are not wortth my time and that I have better things to do than mingle with petty people.

What I cannot get my head around though, is that if it was a family member of theirs that had some life threatening condition, or was just generally getting bullied, would they troll them? Would they call them nasty names along with the rest? They’d probably be on their side then. So what makes the people they don’t know any different? Why can’t these people put themselves in the other person’s shoe? I am genuinely feeling anger inside me right now. That is why this post is more of a rant than anything. I don’t even know if it makes any sense. I’m just venting out my fustration, hoping that it makes sense to anyone who reads it.

I feel the need to get in contact with the highest person I can who works for this company and tell them they need to sort their act out and get onto the case of Trollers. Forget about updating Facebook with the latest gadgets. Forget about making more games for people to play. These nasty, nasty people need sorting out. They shouldn’t even get a warning. Their Facebook account should be taken off them. Or better still in my opinion, just get rid of Facebook all together. It just tears people apart.  

Apologies for the rant

Iona Gibson (PiellaGibson)