Purrs 4 Peace- Week 16: Sanctuary for the Innocent

According to on-line statistics, over 70 million animals in the United States alone are subjected to animal testing each year. They are scalded, poisoned, blinded, maimed, and genetically manipulated. They endure traumatic injury, live vivisection and more in the name of science and research. Mice, rats, rabbits, apes dogs and cats...each a living, feeling, being who suffers fear and pain.

In the opinion of Confucius Cat, animal testing should be banned. These tests are CRUEL. Most are performed without painkillers. Most result in permanent injury and death. When a small number of humans subject animals to this pain and suffering, they create a stain of guilt upon the whole human race. ANIMALS HAVE RIGHTS and are not placed on this earth for the use of humans. There can be no peace in the world while the pain of these animals cries out into the universe. Worse, most of these tests NOT NECESSARY since they are done merely to protect commercial companies from lawsuit. Moreover, the same tests may be performed by multiple companies who do not share information. The tragedy of this is compounded by the fact that animal tests are NOT RELIABLE. Humans are different from animals. So a medicine or cosmetic that is safe and effective for animals may not be safe or reliable in humans. (See www.BUAV.org). Moreover, there are effective ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMAL TESTING such as human volunteers. (See www.stopanimalstest.com). These alternatives are often less expensive and more reliable.

This week’s purrs are dedicated to stopping the practice of “pound seizures” which is the selling of cats and dogs by animal shelters. That pets who were supposed to be protected within SHELTERS should be subjected to the torture of animal testing and research is unconscionable. Animal shelters should be a sanctuary. A place where the dogs and cats can be safe until their forever home is found.

"If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals."
-- Albert Einstein

11:59 a.m. Get ready to Purrrrrrrr.

SET.

12:00 p.m.

Confucius Cat say: GO!

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr,

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr... Inside you love and compassion grows as the lava builds inside the volcano. Molten love and compassion flowing through you and then into the universe.

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, Purring.... See that love and compassion touching each and every suffering animal, soothing their pain, comforting their fears.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr. With your purrs speak to the hearts of all who are meant to provide homes. Your purrs are leading and guiding them to find their homeless furry children.

Purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr,

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Imagine every cat and dog living in a loving, safe and nurturing home.

Purrrrrr.purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr...Imagine the headline: Scientific community declares animal testing obsolete. Government bans antiquated practice.

Purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, purrrr, purrrrr, purrrr, ........... purr compassion, purr protection, purr safety, purr adoption, purr belonging, purr love, purr peace.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......

Purrs 4 Peace- Week 16 Announcement - "Shelters" should live up to their name.

Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research.
--George Bernard Shaw

Pound Seizure. Two innocuous words but together they mean something horrific: animal shelters or humane societies-places that are supposed to protect animals and find them good homes- selling household pets for use in testing and research. With this practice some die quickly. Many others are subjected to tortuous and agonizing long-term laboratory studies. I won’t even go into all the gut wrenching details of what these animals are subjected to or that some suffer vivisection while still alive. Just looking at the information online for purposes of this post took mum’s breath away and made her physically ill.

I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence.
--Mahatma Gandhi

www.Care2.com has recently highlighted a heartrending story of a pet dog named Koda whose family was having a hard time and gave him up to a local shelter in hopes the shelter would find a good home for him. Instead, he was sold to a dealer and resold to the University of Michigan where he was deliberately inflicted with traumatic injuries as a subject in the University’s Advanced Trauma Life Support Class. Ultimately he was euthanized.

Koda’s story has led legislation proposed in Michigan to ban pound seizures in that state.

Although it has been proposed there is no Federal statute against this practice. I was only able to find 13 states that have outlawed pound seizure: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia. Some states actually mandate pound seizure, i.e., mandate that shelters must sell pets to dealers on demand. These include Minnesota, Oklahoma and Utah. Elsewhere it is up to local counties and municipalities to decide whether to mandate or to prohibit pound seizure. For more information see www.Americanhumane.org

This issue is even more crucial in this time when shelters are critical to the protection of animals. More and more are being made homeless due to the deployment of their humans in the military or due to the fact that their humans have lost homes to foreclosure or weather incidents.

Week 16 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week sixteen’s appointed time is Sunday, September 27, 2009.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 12 p.m. EDT (U.S.) which is 5:00 p.m. (17:00 hrs.) BST in the U.K.
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

This week we will purr to stop this barbaric practice of pound seizures. Purr to pursuade. Purr to protect. Purr for peace.

As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.
--Isaac Bashevis Singer