Putting this here instead of D & D because it's more of a personal question than anything else.
Will attempt a poll. Uh oh.
Closed poll, and yes.... you have to choose which grabs your heart the hardest.
Stray dogs and cats on the street
Domestic animals at kill shelters
Domestic animals at no-kill shelters
Wild animals hunted for human game/sport
Wild animals suffering and/or dying from human encroachment
People begging on the street for food or work
People being homeless
Homeless shelters filled to capacity
Families living in homeless shelters
Orphan children
Human vs Animal: When Mammals Compete
Putting this here instead of D & D because it's more of a personal question than anything else.
Will attempt a poll. Uh oh.
Closed poll, and yes.... you have to choose which grabs your heart the hardest.
Last edited by GGT; 01-04-2011 at 10:52 PM.
Since there was no 'I have no heart' option, I chose orphaned kids
Brevior saltare cum deformibus viris est vita
Sorry, my polls still suck after all these years.Thought ten options might be enough.
Also, I know my kids would probably pick any animal option, because they believe all Humans have a leg-up on other mammals. My vegan PETA sister would do the same.
That's a hard choice; all of those bother me at one time or another. Will have to think on it.
As an aside: I'm sick of seeing the long ass commercial for ASPCA donations showing abandoned/abused animals. I have to change the channel and 2 minutes later I might be able to go back to what I was watching. They show it on HGTV multiple times a day.
We must watch the same cable channels, cat. I'm not a country and western music fan, but that recent ad with Willy Nelson singing really got to me.They seem to know just when to change the song and animal pictures.
Not sure why, but the same type of "sponsor a hungry child" doesn't grab me the same way, even though that can grab my heart too. Whether it's in a third world country or in....Philly.....
Important edit to Veldan: I truly admire you for choosing orphaned kids. You're also committed to that by signing up as a foster parent and/or adoptive parent. Most of us pay lip service to caring about people over animals, and I'm no exception. I'll donate my money to homeless shelters and donate my time to food pantries, and I'll even adopt cats from SPCA. But I'm reluctant to adopt children, even at those "Adopt A Child" charities.
The intimacy of adopting a child worries the hell outta me. Even though adopting pets is also very intimate, pets can handle a certain degree of human flaw or failure that kids may not.
Last edited by GGT; 01-04-2011 at 11:24 PM.
Another tangent, rather broad, perhaps convoluted.
My mother was adopted. My sister's first husband was adopted. I have friends who were adopted. I have friends who've waited years on infant adoption lists. Adoption is a wonderful thing, but I fear science and IVF is making adoption a thing of the past, at least for humans. We used IVF for things like inseminating cows and horses, perfecting breeds, making things convenient or expedient for human use.
Now we use IVF for all sorts of human reasons and some of them aren't "good" (like UK prisoners without conjugal visitation rights using IVF as a civil right for parenthood.....). Orphans still exist, but they have a hard time finding a home when they're no longer babies. Adoption is really complicated and time consuming, legally. Some people resort to adopting babies from Asia or Africa, while toddlers and teens in America wait. Other children wait in eastern europe and get older every day (and less desirable, until they hit puberty....)
Sometimes, adoptees end up being sent back to their home country, when things don't 'work out'. Like there's a guaranteed return policy for kids. Remember that fiasco about international adoptions?
Animals don't face this kind of thing, not really. Makes me think the SPCA does a better job at screening applicants than adoption agencies do, regardless of the automatic "lower standards" for pet adoptions. Or maybe it's because I see the HUGE markets, billions of dollars, aimed around domestic pets. Designer purse carriers and costumes, doggie day care with swimming pools, special organic biscuits, dog-walkers, dog "therapists", pet spa days, even pet health insurance.....and not so much for human kids.
Animal abuse (see Michael Vick) can garner more prison time than parental child abuse.
Do we have a messed up sense of priority?
You can also take animals back to shelters with no questions asked. Not so much for kids.
And if an animal dies, you can bury them in your backyard with little or no questions asked. (Unless a nosy neighbor see you) Not so much for kids.
And there are the people that would rather spend $1000 or more on a purebred pet. But then again those people probably wouldn't make good parents either.
We also have pet owners that will spend thousands of dollars on chemo, or go into debt, just to have another month. They'll take sick time from work to care for their animals. They'll commit to long term needs of hemiplegic dog on wheels, or incontinent pets wearing diapers. A few will even pay to have their beloved pets cloned.
Some of these people are also parents of human children. All of them are children of aging parents.
Yes, my parents had to deal with an incontinent dog. And would take her out to do her business by carrying her down the two steps so she wouldn't fall. And give her chicken broth when she refused to eat. When it got to the point where she couldn't squat on her own they made the decision.
The cat they fed chicken breasts my mom would cook for her every day. Until she finally couldn't make it to the litter pan.
(I don't think they would have spent thousands on chemo though)
And my parents would do the same thing for their human children. And have discussed what they may have to do for my father's parents should they get to that point.
As an aside rant, I find cloning a pet to be a disgrace to their memory. Much like people who immediately go out and buy a new pet the week after the last one died. Learn how to grieve people!
So, people spending time and money on their pets isn't necessarily a sign of selfish people or "bad" parents . Sometimes it signals caring, compassionate people.
My folks used to say....start with a plant, if you can keep that alive for more than a year then get a pet, if you can care for a pet for few years then consider having children.
My aside rant is about parents who purposely have another child, just to have a perfect bone marrow or organ transplant for their first ailing child.
<And I don't like this "smart" advertising in our banner ads. "PA Adoptions, Rescue Animals Now, Local Animal Shelters". Guess I didn't really notice how "Hal" takes key words in our posts and puts up matching adverts. Eww, that's creepy.>
Last edited by GGT; 01-05-2011 at 05:07 AM.
That's what you get for watching house porn, and one of the top 20 contributors to the housing bubble.Originally Posted by Catgrrl
That's a hard choice; all of those bother me at one time or another. Will have to think on it.
As an aside: I'm sick of seeing the long ass commercial for ASPCA donations showing abandoned/abused animals. I have to change the channel and 2 minutes later I might be able to go back to what I was watching. They show it on HGTV multiple times a day.
My choices during the day at home with baby are: Kids' programs, Food network, or HGTV.Sometimes the news.
Half the time I'm not even really watching. I know I watched some House Hunter shows yesterday but couldn't even begin to tell you what city they were in or what house the couple chose.
Turning off the TV is not an option. Need background noise to keep the house from being quiet. And I'm an addict.
GGT, I didn't mean spending money on animals (or kids) is bad. You should care about your animals' health. It's people who throw that money out just to say, "Look at this purebred I have" not because they really are compassionate about the animal. It's usually an accessory and as soon as it pisses on their rug it's off to the shelter.
Mutts are so much better dogs. They usually have less health issues and better dispositions. (Not always but has been my experience at least)
What does this mean; a leg-up?
Humans are born with advantages?
Yes, that we have advantages. Mostly that people able to change our environments, or at least verbalize when we need help.
(House porn
)
Wild humans hunted for sport.
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