tara's Sharebook 

I signed a petiton the other day in support of giving the man who killed an Akita the maximum sentencing. It never fails, just when I think I've heard or read the most disturbing inhumane act toward an animal.....I haven't, because there's 2 or 3 more in the news.

Sometimes when I meditate at night, I cry. 

I cry because in the stilllness of meditating I feel a pain, the pain of so much evil in the world, so much suffering. I wonder if the letters I write, the petitions I sign, the information I try to spread....I wonder if that's enough. The things I do, does it matter, does it REALLY make a difference? 

I don't understand when we as a people forgot how precious life truly is, when we stopped seeing it as a gift. I believe it is through human, animal, and plant life dynamically functioning together that are able to sustain existence on this planet. It is when we forget the importance of those intricate relationships, that we need to take a step back and re-evaluate ourselves. Inhumane acts toward innocent animals clearly shows that we are loosing a part of our humanity, and that is VERY dangerous. Our humanity is the very essence of what puts the "human" in human beings. And, when we loose that, what hope do we have for the future?

It was recently brought to my attention by way of the "In Defense of Animals Newsletter," that a dog was killed in a medical device training session at The Cleveland Clinic. I was appauled and sickened by the story. I wrote a letter to the Animal Reserach Committe, and  just wanted to share some thoughts from my letter here as well:

" Life is a gift. Intricate values are instilled in us during our developmental years as children. We learn the dynamics of functioning as human beings as a part of those stages, which includes our interaction with animal life. We learn the difference between right and wrong, and for me, the use of an animal for a training session is WRONG, INHUMANE and UNACCEPTABLE. 

Dogs have always been a part of my life and their companionship has brought me joy that I would have never known otherwise. Dogs at the most basic level operate by instinct, yet love us humans unconditional…..something we don’t even do for each other. Isn’t that amazing?  "