I'm just... sick. Absolutely sick.
Mar. 23rd, 2011 03:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eirenicalI posted a link on my FB profile just a short while ago ( http://spcalapresident.blogspot.com/2011/03/military-families-forced-to-leave-pets.html ). As a summary, apparently, military families in Japan are being offered the opportunity to flee the country as long as they leave their pets behind... to be euthanized.
I... I'm literally sick from this. How can we call ourselves human and ask this of people? How? I thought there were lows to which we could not sink. I was clearly wrong.
Anyway, the link that I posted is to the blog of the spcaLA president, Madeline Bernstein, who very eloquently expressed her own horror with the situation and provided a link to contact the White House ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact ) so that all others could do the same. I took advantage of that to write a letter to President Obama in the hopes that it will find its way to someone who can do something about this situation. Please... please do the same.
For those of you who need or want inspiration... here's my letter from before I had to prune it to fit the required 2500 characters. Read it. Share it with whoever you want. Send one of your own. If enough of us raise an outcry, maybe they'll do something about this lunacy before its too late.
President Obama,
I think that we can all agree that the current disaster in Japan is terrifying on many different levels. The thought of the loss of life, human and otherwise, as well as the harm to the environment is staggering. So why are we adding to the pain of an already horrifying situation?
It has recently come to my attention that American military families in Japan have been offered the opportunity to flee the country on government flights... as long as they leave their pets behind. To add further insult to this, they are being advised that once they have departed, their pets will be euthanized. When I first read this, I couldn't believe that it was something that could actually be true. I thought, for certain, it must be exaggerated. I followed the information backwards to the initial article by the Wall Street Journal -- a source I was horrified to discover that I could trust.
I am a veterinarian and I believe that all life, human and otherwise, has value. More importantly, when we take an animal into our home, we take on a solemn responsibility to care for them, to protect them and to love them in return for the unconditional love and support which they give us. This must be doubly so for the families who jump the hurdles necessary (and there are many) to bring these pets halfway across the globe with them. Mr. President, you have a dog of your own, surely you must understand that. If you don't, why on Earth do you have one?
The point is that this human-animal bond is a beautiful, powerful thing. I have seen people who have withdrawn from all ability to connect with their fellow humans find a way to connect with a dog and live. I have seen elderly people devastated by health problems and loneliness, reemerge from the depths of depression and heal, all from the love of a pet. And I have heard stories of people who preferred to drown in the floods of Katrina than leave a beloved family member -- their pet -- behind.
Knowing these things and knowing how already traumatized these families are likely to already be after witnessing these disasters, why would we choose to add to that pain by forcing them to make this untenable choice? How do we expect them to live with the guilt of having made it? And how can we call ourselves enlightened and humanitarian if we would consider forcing them to make this choice at all? It isn't ethical. It isn't humane. It isn't _human_. It is cruel and unnecessary. It is abhorrent.
Please, Mr. President, this country has racked up enough shame in recent years to last beyond a lifetime. Don't let the military add to the list with something so senseless and unnecessary. To anyone who has taken one into their home, a pet is a family member, though they run on four legs instead of two. If someone asked you to save your own life by sacrificing your daughters... could you? No. Nor should you. So how can you ask this of our military families when they have already sacrificed so much for this country? If you can... you should be ashamed and you are not the man I voted for.
Please... please do something about this before it's too late.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Dr. Renée -----
I... I'm literally sick from this. How can we call ourselves human and ask this of people? How? I thought there were lows to which we could not sink. I was clearly wrong.
Anyway, the link that I posted is to the blog of the spcaLA president, Madeline Bernstein, who very eloquently expressed her own horror with the situation and provided a link to contact the White House ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact ) so that all others could do the same. I took advantage of that to write a letter to President Obama in the hopes that it will find its way to someone who can do something about this situation. Please... please do the same.
For those of you who need or want inspiration... here's my letter from before I had to prune it to fit the required 2500 characters. Read it. Share it with whoever you want. Send one of your own. If enough of us raise an outcry, maybe they'll do something about this lunacy before its too late.
President Obama,
I think that we can all agree that the current disaster in Japan is terrifying on many different levels. The thought of the loss of life, human and otherwise, as well as the harm to the environment is staggering. So why are we adding to the pain of an already horrifying situation?
It has recently come to my attention that American military families in Japan have been offered the opportunity to flee the country on government flights... as long as they leave their pets behind. To add further insult to this, they are being advised that once they have departed, their pets will be euthanized. When I first read this, I couldn't believe that it was something that could actually be true. I thought, for certain, it must be exaggerated. I followed the information backwards to the initial article by the Wall Street Journal -- a source I was horrified to discover that I could trust.
I am a veterinarian and I believe that all life, human and otherwise, has value. More importantly, when we take an animal into our home, we take on a solemn responsibility to care for them, to protect them and to love them in return for the unconditional love and support which they give us. This must be doubly so for the families who jump the hurdles necessary (and there are many) to bring these pets halfway across the globe with them. Mr. President, you have a dog of your own, surely you must understand that. If you don't, why on Earth do you have one?
The point is that this human-animal bond is a beautiful, powerful thing. I have seen people who have withdrawn from all ability to connect with their fellow humans find a way to connect with a dog and live. I have seen elderly people devastated by health problems and loneliness, reemerge from the depths of depression and heal, all from the love of a pet. And I have heard stories of people who preferred to drown in the floods of Katrina than leave a beloved family member -- their pet -- behind.
Knowing these things and knowing how already traumatized these families are likely to already be after witnessing these disasters, why would we choose to add to that pain by forcing them to make this untenable choice? How do we expect them to live with the guilt of having made it? And how can we call ourselves enlightened and humanitarian if we would consider forcing them to make this choice at all? It isn't ethical. It isn't humane. It isn't _human_. It is cruel and unnecessary. It is abhorrent.
Please, Mr. President, this country has racked up enough shame in recent years to last beyond a lifetime. Don't let the military add to the list with something so senseless and unnecessary. To anyone who has taken one into their home, a pet is a family member, though they run on four legs instead of two. If someone asked you to save your own life by sacrificing your daughters... could you? No. Nor should you. So how can you ask this of our military families when they have already sacrificed so much for this country? If you can... you should be ashamed and you are not the man I voted for.
Please... please do something about this before it's too late.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Dr. Renée -----
