I think I inadvertently started this whole debate about dog-lovers vs. cat-lovers and I so didn't mean to do that! I just meant that, sadly, if you need to quickly draw attention to an animal plight that people need to rally behind, a lot of times, it's easier to do so when the plight involves dogs. I don't think that's right, but I have found it to be true.
But, having been the daughter of a vet, no one in my family got to really have the choice between which animal we would prefer! We had to love them all...cats, dogs, pet mice that I "saved" from being fed to a rehabbing snake, a gerbil, more ring-necked doves than you can imagine, a baby rabbit, tons of injured song birds, an injured duck, an injured wild turkey, and even a baby mountain lion that my dad was rehabbing when he was the Zoo vet that lived at our house for a while. The list goes on... But yes, a lot of the caring and compassion for animals does come from exposure and experience. I feel bad for people who didn't have the opportunity to learn to take care of another creature....it's like a compassion chip is missing or something.
-Caroline
From: glenda Goodman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: RE: OT: Severely OT, dog fights and NFL player
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 07:42:28 -0700 (PDT)
>Hi guys,
>I could not help but add my two cents here on the
>subject of people who are convinced, or announce
>openly that they do not like cats:
>I noticed early on, that the people who proudly state
>that they do not like cats,always speak from the
>aspect of misinformation on every level. THESE ARE
>PEOPLE THAT HAVE NEVER KNOW A CAT! it just occurred to
>me too, that these might be people who grew up
>torturing every cat they might have run across as a
>child, so their experience with any cat might have
>been negative...like imagine ,say farm cats kept only
>as mousers, being treated badly by a family...These
>cats might run and hide every time a human
>appeared...I just thought of that...
>Anyway, somewhere along the line, these individuals
>have probably been brainwashed into believing cats are
>only nice to you when they want something, while, if
>in the same sentence, they might proudly state, "BUT,
>I DO LIKE DOGS", hoping to redeem themselves as
>sensitive individuals somehow, as well as pillars of
>character...They maybe watched too many Lassie films
>and believe dogs will stand by you until the end, no
>matter what ?Who knows, it is usually a
>combination...However, the one constant is : THESE
>PEOPLE NEVER KNEW A CAT. These are simply very
>uneducated/inexperienced types in animal contact
>exposure situations...A lot of the time these types
>are following a party line laid out by their family
>for a generation or more... It is like they are
>trying to make some kind of statement attesting to
>their own character, by conveying what might seem
>admirable to them...aligning their own personality,
>say with what they believe are the attibutes of a dog
>personality? It is most often an image thing... Also,
>these people are not animal lovers at all, no matter
>how they try to come across about LOVING dogs...
>their exposure to animals and experience with animals
>on a personal level is usually null.They know
>absolutely nothing about animals...I , when confronted
>by this sort of person only say to them , "You just
>have never known a cat" I am always right 100% of the
>time. Oh yeah, and let's not forget those men striving
>to project a macho image that even if somewhere along
>the line they did know a cat and even appreciated that
>cat would never admit it and wants the world to think
>HE IS ABOVE THAT, FRILLY STUFF, AND WANTS TO EQUATE
>HIMSELF WITH A DOG...LIKE CATS ARE A TOO FEMALE THING.
>I'm sorry if I am rambling here , but I'm just typing
>as I am thinking about what I have observed in people
>on this subject. I SERIOUSLY DO NOT WANT TO SOUND
>PREJUDICE EITHER, AS I'M TRYING TO SLAM PREJUDICE HERE
>IN MY RANTING!
>The bottom line is, when I do come across people who
>tell me they do not like cats, I immediately feel
>sorry for them ,because they have simply missed out on
>such a love and a joy and seriously, there is no
>little critter more entertaining than a cat who has
>lots of personality...Oh yes , and cats are loyal,
>loving, cuddly, a lot easier to deal with than a
>dog...like if one must leave a cat alone for a day...
>There is all kinds of prejudice in this world and it
>is a very terrible thing. Every single incident of
>prejudice could be completely alleviated
>if the parties involved would only take the time to
>get to know what it is they feel they are not familiar
>with or uncomfortable with...If only people were more
>kind and thoughtful and could appreciate everything in
>this world that is beautiful...there would never even
>be wars...
>I think a lot of us love our cats so much because we
>can retreat in to that safe little beautiful world and
>spend our time and energy devoting ourselves to
>something that is sweet and beautiful what is a
>cat...By the way, I love dogs too, probably too
>much...Which reminds me: DO SOMETHING NICE TODAY FOR A
>DOG! Later, Glenda
>--- Melissa Lind <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Susan,
> >
> >
> >
> > You've said it exactly. I think that dog people like
> > the attention and
> > companionship. I love dogs as well as cats, but cats
> > give us more freedom
> > (well, not with the checkbook), plus we're just
> > cat-people. Like Caroline
> > pointed out, there are many many dog people, but
> > most people I meet don't
> > like cats at all. Why? I haven't figured that one
> > out. Stereotypes?
> > Misconceptions? Idiocy? Not really sure.
> >
> >
> >
> > The pit bull abuses reminds me of The Dog Whisperer
> > on Discovery or TLC or
> > whatever. Cesar Millan is so good at showing that
> > most dogs can be
> > rehabilitated, but in most instances it's the humans
> > that need the
> > rehabilitation, not the dogs. The plight of pit
> > bulls in our country is very
> > sad and depressing. They are certainly the most
> > misunderstood and mistreated
> > of dogs (up there with racing dogs). Plus many
> > people mistake other breeds
> > for pit bulls, not even understanding what a pit
> > bull actually is-they just
> > equate them with any tough, muscular dog with a
> > stocky stature.
> >
> >
> >
> > Enough ranting-I'm done with dogs for today. It's a
> > happy day-our central
> > air should be fixed today after being broken for 3
> > weeks in 90-degree
> > weather! The babies will be so happy! I'll be happy
> > to play with them again,
> > and get back to normal! But living without air
> > conditioning helped us see
> > how truly spoiled we are, and how much we take for
> > granted.
> >
> >
> >
> > Melissa
> >
> >
> >
> > _____
> >
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
> > Behalf Of Susan Dubose
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 9:16 PM
> > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> > Subject: Re: OT: Severely OT, dog fights and NFL
> > player
> >
> >
> >
> > it was always so funny when I worked @ the AHS.
> >
> >
> >
> > The difference between the "dog" volunteers /
> > walkers & the "cat"
> > volunteers.......
> >
> >
> >
> > Dog people seem to really dislike cats, and they
> > needed to have something
> > that "wants to please them".
> >
> >
> >
> > Very important.
> >
> >
> >
> > The cat volunteers also liked dogs, but purrfurred
> > cats.
> >
> >
> >
> > The cat people could also appreciate the free spirit
> > of a cat, as opposed to
> > the "neediness" of a dog.
> >
> >
> >
> > And dogs that do not respect the "pack order" in the
> > home environment can be
> > considered unadoptable, unfortunately, due to the
> > fact that they will
> > challenge the children. (And other things, to say
> > the least).
> >
> >
> >
> > Can you tell I took a lot of behavioral classes and
> > used to evaluate dogs
> > for intake into our adoption program...?
> >
> >
> >
> > It was actually pretty sad, we would have to make
> > sure the dogs were "dummy
> > proof".
> >
> >
> >
> > And Caroline, please do not measure yourself by what
> > others have done, be
> > happy that you are more evolved than most folks and
> > that you are doing
> > something to help, and that you know what is right &
> > what is wrong.
> >
> > Susan J. DuBose >^..^<
> > www.PetGirlsPetsitting.com
> > www.Tx.SiameseRescue.org
> > www.shadowcats.net
> > "As Cleopatra lay
> > in state,
> > Faithful Bast at
> > her side did wait,
> > Purring welcomes
> > of soft applause,
> > Ever guarding
> > with sharpened claws."
> > Trajan
> > Tennent
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> > From: Caroline Kaufmann
> > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >
> > To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
> >
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 8:31 PM
> >
> > Subject: Re: OT: Severely OT, dog fights and NFL
> > player
> >
> >
> >
> > The Humane Society is overseeing the care for the 52
> > seized dogs. I fear
> > that some will have to be put down due to injuries
> > and illness. But there
> > has got to be some kind of rehabilitation that is
> > done on the dogs that are
> > not ill/injured beyond repair. Also, I try not to
> > know too much about pit
> > bull fighting because it's too hard for me to
> > stomach...but some females are
> > used just for breeding, so I should think some of
> > the would be salvageable.
> > Again, if you can, log onto the Humane Society's
> > website and you can donate
> > an amount that will be used to help these actual
> > seized dogs.
> >
> > I guess this is just a reminder that our work is
> > never done. Even if you
> > don't do dog rescues or you aren't a "dog person,"
> > it's still important to
> > give what you can...and even more so, to call
> > attention to this matter to
> > the people out there who are dog people! I think in
> > my whole life I have
> > met way too many people who AREN'T cat people and
> > that has always made me
> > sad, but I can count on only one hand the people
> > that claimed to not be dog
> > people. Thus, I feel like if you take the time to
> > get the word out, there's
> > no end to the positive results that could come from
> > that just because of the
> > shear numbers of people who are willing to stand up
> > against cruel treatment
> > of dogs.
> >
> > All of you people have done more than me for animals
> > and it amazes me the
> >
>=== message truncated ===
>
>
>
>
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