All of the Heartbreaking Animal News is Really Getting to Me... you?

[Vox Acerbus]

I woke up this morning and all I could think about what how much heart wrenching news there has been as of late about animals. I am especially sensitive to animal suffering, after a traumatic loss of a pet about a year ago. I can't stand to read it, hear about it, think of it, think of the animals' fear or the emotional trauma on their human companions. It's just too much. In the past week alone:

- Evil guy decapitating a dog
- Pet food recall killing hundreds (but most aren't being talked about)
- Calls for killing a polar bear (but that little guy's okay thankfully)
- Faux fur coming from dogs!
- 100+ dogs killed in a fire in Virginia

Is it just me or is the world being particularly cruel to animals lately? What bothers me the most is that animals, unlike people, have no guile. They're not evil, or mean, or even just worldly. They're just creatures trying to get by...

:cry:

[Critters2]

1. I've often said we behave as if we're at war with animals

and I simply don't understand it. I support animal charities to try to undo some of the harm. And I hug my own critters a lot!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. I know.

Animal cruelty . . . I can't even talk about it.

[Sequoia]

3. And don't forget the stories about the birds and the bees.

plus shark attacks, elephant attacks, whale attacks et al. These animals are upset with us and with good reason. Something is sure going on and we'll be the losers in the end.

[juno jones]

4. I know the feeling....

...I've been hugging my little kitty-fur-people close to me a lot this last week.

[bluerum]

5. I thought my dog was safe - his food was not on the list. Then he starts

vomiting (while I am at work) and wanting to go out multiple times during the night and drinking lots of water.

I will NEVER feed him or any dog canned food again.

Does anyone have any good pet food recipes?

[Bjornsdotter]

8. Come visit

...the Pet Forum. There are some very savvy people there who might be able to fill your request.

I can give a recipe for snacks if you are interested.

Cheers

[bluerum]

11. Ahhh,, the pet forum. I rarely stray far from gd - but I think I will .... eom

[Double T]

6. Many humans have little respect for each other and even less........

for domestic or wild animals. Man, as a creature, has always been barbaric and I see little hope for his rehabilitation now or in the future.

[misanthrope]

23. Sadly, I concur...

..homo sapiens is so dreadfully short of its potential that it's almost as if we aren't even trying.

[AtomicKitten]

7. it is and it does

The horrible picture of some these stories creeps into my consciousness too frequently and I remained horrified.

I have lots of pets and can't fathom the cruelty and danger they face, and I draw them closer.

[Pharaoh]

9. The World has been very cruel

to animals and other living things for quite some time. We are just now becoming more aware of these things, which is a good thing, mostly due to the internet as the corporate news networks would not dream of showing you what is going on in these factory farms, which would make you really really sick.

[alstephenson]

10. Innocent animals - we have a responsibility to protect them!

Hard to fathom the heart of someone capable of doing harm to an innocent animal. It makes me sick.

[LisaM]

12. Yes - I'm about ready to snap

I can't wait to get home to my dogs tonight.

[Virginia Dare]

13. Oh my dear God, link to the story in Virginia?

I hadn't heard that yet!! :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Vox Acerbus]

14. I don't want to link... :(

It's so sad. It was a kennel fire... I saw it at MSNBC... here's a link, but I hate posting it.... :cry: :cry:

http://www.nbc4.com/news/11328999/detail.html

[Virginia Dare]

18. I'm too angry and heartbroken to respond..

but I will say that I was practically called a liar here on DU when I brought up the problem of Amish puppy mills. Thanks for the link...:cry:

[Vox Acerbus]

20. I wouldn't have called you a liar...

Surprised others here did. Sorry. :(

:cry:

[Virginia Dare]

25. Thanks Vox..

I volunteer for a dog rescue organization and I've heard and seen some pretty terrible things. We save a lot of dogs though, which is good.

[Donnachaidh]

15. I just brought my furbaby home from the vet

No, he wasn't sick. But he's now neutered, got his shots, got a micro-chip -- and is SERIOUSLY pissed at me. But he'll get over it, and he'll get real organic chicken as a treat tonight.

I support my local vet who does low-cost spay/neutering, not only for family pets, but for feral cats as well. They are a wonderful group.

Hug those furcritters close.

[Systematic Chaos]

16. I would imagine at least a few of you are familiar with a documentary called "Dealing Dogs"?

It was on our On Demand cable service last week and it was about a guy who went undercover for over 6 months in Arkansas to help shut down a huge dog kennel where animals were sold in bulk for research. It was absolutely sickening. These dogs were killed on the whims of the effing redneck pieces of shit who ran the place, were thrown under a board when they were dead and brought en masse to a "graveyard" and I won't tell you what happened next.

The most amazing part is that the guy in charge of the whole operation was a pastor at the local church.

He never got any jail time, but he was fined over a quarter million, was forced to give up I forget how many acres of land, and the family members had all of their licenses revoked. That's a start but I hope karma has plenty more in store for the bastards.

[Poiuyt]

17. This photo just killed me

Yorkshire terrier Pebbles is treated for renal failure after eating food that was later recalled. The 7-year-old dog has since died.


It was on CNN

[Vox Acerbus]

19. That's one I can't get out of my head either...

This is the kind of stuff that haunts me in the morning when I wake up, before the sun has come up, and I look at the stars out my window.

:cry: Just a sad, sad week.

[Poiuyt]

22. Ghandi had it right:

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

[Virginia Dare]

24. Oh damn it!

how devastating for all of the owners of those beautiful wonderful much loved pets. :cry:

[Vox Acerbus]

26. The owners, and how they must feel, is what's killing me

Last year when I lost my cat, it was so sudden and unexpected that I was sure it was something I did. He'd been diagnosed with asthma by a vet that I now believe was incompetent. I later found he almost certainly had cardiomyopathy and the medicine the vet made me give him, which I did that day after we got back from her office, may have been what killed him, as it's contraindicated for animals with cardiomyopathy.

I have never felt more dead in my life, than I did that night when I believed I killed my own cat thanks to a local veterinarian. To this day I can't look at pictures of him. I feel so guilty that now, 14 months later, I still just randomly start to cry. Major therapy has not helped. Anti-depressants haven't helped. When you believe your actions caused the death of a companion that you love as much as any human, you want to die.

So this pet food thing hits particularly hard for me. Knowing how those owners whose pets have died must feel, realizing that their animal died because of something they gave them, it just kills me.

Knowing that choosing a different brand of cat food could have caused me to kill one of my own two cats, so soon after the tragic death of my other cat, is really messing with my head. I just cry for no reason this week.

I can honestly say that I think I know what these owners are going through, very, very intimately. My heart breaks for them and their pets. Even those pets that live, their owners will be scarred for life, and the pets may be physically maimed as well.

It's enough to plunge me back into depression. I know Fancy Feast is not on the recall list, but I still check the website obsessively every day, terrified.

[MedleyMisty]

30. I'm so sorry

Sending you plenty of virtual hugs.

And it wasn't your fault - you didn't know and you thought you were doing the right thing. I know that probably doesn't help because I would feel the same way in that situation.

Again, I am so sorry. (((((hugs)))))

[graywarrior]

21. I can't even find the words. They trust us, fer crissakes.

[bread_and_roses]

27. yeah, gets to me too, and the tigers, and the oceans....

i was watching "Blue Planet, Seas of Life" the other night and found myself unutterably depressed, thinking of what we are doing to the oceans....

[siouxsiecreamcheese]

28. On the plus side...

They apparently found the asshole who decapitated the dog, http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/23/dog.head.ap/index.html, I hope he gets life in prison.

[Madspirit]

29. k&r n/t