It's Not Cool to Be Cruel

I’m a big fan of the best-selling author, Anne Lamott. She is not only a wise and witty wordsmith, but she’s an animal lover to boot. Tucked among the pages of “Traveling Mercies,” for instance, the dreadlock-drenched novelist writes about an idyllic summer day she spent at the beach with Sam, her son, and Sadie, their Black Lab. It was here, lulled by the sounds of the surf, that the family came face to face with evil.

She writes, “[Sadie] was romping around like a shy, coltish 12-year-old girl, playing with the other dogs, when the man arrived. There was nothing unusual about the man's look, or pose, or dog. He looked out over the ocean. His big dog stood very still and stared straight ahead. Sadie headed over. The two dogs touched noses, sniffed each other, kissed, cuffed. Then the man tugged gently on the leash, to get his dog walking with him down the beach, but the dog turned to Sadie one more time, and took one step toward her. And the man bent down, picked up a thick stick from the ground and smashed it into his dog’s ribcage. The dog flinched, big time, but did not even yelp. Sam did; he yelped from 15 feet away. It was absolutely stunning and all I could do was to whisper, “No.” Sadie looked at the dog, and then tore over to us. The retriever turned to watch her go, and the man hit her again in the ribs.”

Reading Anne’s disturbing description of animal abuse, I felt like I had been the one who had been struck with a stick. Anyone with a modicum of morality would feel the same way. I’m not a person prone to violence, but I honestly don’t know what I would have done if I were in Anne’s flip flops that day….especially if I had a baseball bat close at hand. I might have been tempted to give the malicious man a taste of his own medicine. More likely, though, I would have hightailed it to the nearest telephone and placed a frantic call to Animal Control to report the callous act of cruelty.

Speaking of cruelty…..April is National Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month, an annual event initiated in 1868 by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to raise awareness of animal cruelty and what can be done to stop it. According to the ASPCA, 35 states and the District of Columbia have laws that make intentional cruelty to an animal a felony charge; California ’s felony statute is one of the toughest in the nation.

What’s amazing to me is the fact that laws prohibiting animal cruelty have been around for nearly 140 years and yet neglect and abuse appear to be on the rise. Aside from being riveted to reality TV shows like “Animal Cops” on the Animal Planet Network, I have witnessed atrocious acts of animal abuse right here in Santa Barbara:  the dog panting in a car on a sweltering summer day with all the windows tightly closed…the cat left behind to fend for herself when a family moves away…. the dog sitting helplessly at the end of a chain in his backyard, day after lonely day…..the calf chased, roped and thrown to the ground and touted as “entertainment.” The list is endless, but things aren’t entirely hopeless. As a concerned citizen, you can help a neglected or abused animal. How? BY TAKING ACTION. Now. Report any incidence to the Animal Control Division of the Santa Barbara Police Department at (805) 963-1513. Your phone call just might save the life of an innocent creature.

Perhaps American poet Emily Dickinson said it best when she penned this poignant prose:  “If I can help one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; if I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”

 

When Karen isn’t reading or shopping for baseball bats, she can be found rescuing animals from abusive situations. Send an email message to her at karenleestevens@cox.net.

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By Karen Lee Stevens,
Founder & President, ALL FOR ANIMALS, Inc.
Copyright © 2008. All Rights Reserved.

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