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Animal Rights………………. Human Wrongs
The day after I arrived home from attending Animal Rights 2002, the largest animal rights gathering in the movement’s history, I read with horror about four separate animal mutilations that occurred a few blocks from my home in Boulder. The conference had me charged and ready to tackle societies injustices towards the animals. Or so I thought. I wasn’t ready for egregious animal abuse in my very own backyard. Many of you may have read about the circumstances in the Denver and Boulder papers. In one incident (the only one that had witnesses) it seems that two young children cornered two young frightened fawns and began to taunt and abuse these defenseless creatures. The reports were mixed as to who was responsible and who witnessed the events. One courageous thirteen-year-old girl, AnnaLee Perez, came to the rescue of the fawns and contacted the authorities. When I was contacted, I went directly to the police and community representatives to get more information and facts. After a half dozen conversations with the commander in charge of this investigation I had as little information as before I had begun. The case as it stood was not a priority for several reasons; they needed to interview 20 children and 30 adults and they were short on Police Officers, ("especially those that speak Spanish") and "they had more important human cases to investigate." I tried to remind them about the seriousness of childhood animal cruelty and the connection between animal abuse and human violence. I explained that this incident could be an early warning sign to an escalating pattern of violence and that the next victim could be human. I stated that some of this country’s most abhorrent criminals began by abusing animals and I reminded them of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two young men of Littleton that had for years mutilated and slaughtered animals before they killed 14 of their classmates. I wasn’t trying to be hysterical or alarmist. I was trying to make the point that acts of this nature rarely occur in isolated circumstances. Often it is a plea for help. Although I wanted the case to be investigated for it’s own merits; not because of what could happen to an adult but because of what did happen to an animal, the link between animal cruelty and human violence is undeniable. As serious as this crime was, what made it even more difficult was the low priority and lack of attention it was given by the Police department. The neighborhood where this occurred is predominantly Hispanic and lower income. There’s not much to do for the kids that hang out in the gravel and grass. And there are lots of kids hanging out looking for something to do. Many callers to the Police expressed their outrage against the violence, but also made racist comments about the residents of the neighborhood. There were those that chose to use this act of violence against defenseless creatures as a way to strengthen their own bigoted and prejudicial stand on a minority of people who likely must deal with oppression on a regular basis. This slant and the fear of racist overtones, made the investigation even more tenuous and less than a priority. It should have been irrelevant if the community was a neighborhood of Jews, Arabs, and African Americans OR Hispanics. It was horrific animal abuse and humans were responsible. The nationality of who might have been responsible was unimportant. But rage and anger know no class. I reminded them of Westy, the cat that used up 8 of his lives in a horrific case of animal abuse perpetrated by two white upper middle class kids living in Westminster. It was because of the extreme sadistic nature of this case that Colorado passed a law making it a felony crime to commit animal abuse. (Before it was a misdemeanor and often times a slap on the wrist.) Members of the community were concerned that if they acknowledged what happened as an indication of something more wrong it would immedialty put the entire community and their culture under the spotlight for all that they struggle with. It was case of personal survival; at least that is how they saw it. The mixed messages we give our children on a daily basis needs to be looked at and questioned. How can we as society condemn and judge an act of animal abuse when daily there are millions and billions of acts of violence on equally defenseless and innocent beings every day in our slaughterhouses and battery cages and dairy lots. Or bring it closer to home; what of the carnage committed by Storage Tec (again, in our own backyard) in early June as they callously massacred over 8000 prairie dogs. Why wasn’t there a police investigation for these criminal acts? Why is one occurrence accepted by society standards and the other not? Why are both events not looked at with equal revulsion and concern? That we have turned a blind eye to one occurrence, and not the other, needs to be more closely examined if we are truly to teach our children about ethics and what actions follow from that ethical code. When we as a community dismiss the moral significance of hurting or killing animals we risk teaching our children a much more destructive lesson- that there is NO moral significance to hurting or killing animals. But as the saying goes "the worst of situations’ brings out the best of people". I was fortunate enough to be fielding all the calls that came in regarding the event. I received dozens of calls from people who wanted to help, who were concerned for the fawns and their protector, AnnaLee Perez and the possible perpetrator. There was no sentiment of revenge or retribution. There was concern and a willingness to help. I inwardly wondered how many of these same people who took the time and effort to express concern over what they felt was a terrible abuse participate in similar acts of cruelty by consuming the flesh and by-products of confined farmed animals every day. We might never know what exactly happened that day, whether the fawn incident was an act of misguided curiosity or outright animal abuse. What we can be certain of is that Annalee serves all of us as a reminder. A reminder of our potential to make a difference. Courage and fearlessness are what AnnaLee embodied as she spoke up for those animals. I believe all of us have that same opportunity countless times a day. Please join us in Boulder at the Sojourner school located in San Juan del Centro (on Valmont and 34th) on Wednesday September 4 at 5:00 to honor this special little girl and shine light on the good that we can do in the face of so much darkness. For the animals, Lisa Shapiro |