<DEVIL'S ADVOCATE> What makes the UK the occupier of the moral high ground when it comes to animal welfare? Isn't money better spent on humanitarian aid rather than animal welfare issues. </DEVILS ADVOCATE>
good points Vern's devil. As to humanitarian vs animal welfare aid, nowt to do with what I wrote & each to their own conscience, but why just limit the devil to humanitarian or animal welfare though? What's wrong with environmental charities, but if not them the which animals?and if not animals either then which humans do you subdivide your concern to: (not exhaustive lists - just off the top of my head) old, young, with cancer, or dementia, or aids, UK based humans or overseas ones, chronically impoverished: sleeping on streets or in favellas / shanty towns, do you favour refugees and victims of wars over famillially abused and the sexploited? Would you prefer to give to a huge multi national charity that may pay your donation into the chief execs six figure salary or a little local one that pays nothing but won't have nearly the reach or impact of the biggies?
Simplifying to Humanitarian v Animal is the tip of the tip of the iceberg's tip & and what's to say it is either or?
As to the moral high ground, again a bit of a distortion. The UK can and does grossly over produce (think racing greyhounds as the standout e.g's of a controversial animal industry here) that there simply aren't the homes for at the end of their working days - rehoming and rescue organisations and soft sods like me & others on here taking them in as pets notwithstanding, thousands of animals are quietly put to death year on year as there is nowhere for them.
If you want a true <DEVILS ADVOCATE> argument, you could claim that everyone who has registered their disgust on this thread but has not taken into their home or sponsored the costs of rescue accommodation of an animal of any sort is vicariously culpable for this kind of slaughter (but that is a stupid and extremist stance) <DEVILS ADVOCATE>
You may recall there was a national story a couple of years back where it was revealed a guy in the north east was bolt gunning unwanted greyhounds at a tenner a time. Horrible enough but as fast and as humane as it gets. My colleagues at work were astonished I wasn't frothing at the mouth until I pointed them in the direction of far more brutal solutions routinely exercised elsewhere in the world and sadly in limited quantity here.
Compare and contrast how the Spanish farmers dispose of their hunting greyhounds Galgo's - google them but don't look at the pictures of the ones that aren't so lucky or are punished to death if you're squeamish- and Podenco dogs and the widespread indifference amongst the general populace and officialdom to their suffering, particularly so in the rural areas.
The difference throughout any example is in the blatancy of it in certain other countries. In Britain there aren't packs of feral dogs, there isn't a casual acceptance of abandonment and strays roaming the streets as a way of life. A pertinent e.g is our summer vs Sochi's winter olympics. The Russian authorities realised that the plethora of abandoned strays roaming the area would not look good on the international stage so decided on a round 'em up and kill 'em all policy. Cue international horror and outrage and even wealthy influential Russians eventually getting involved realising that this callous final solution to a long ignored problem would play out even worse than having left them alone.
Not a problem in London because there simply isn't the same societal attitude of booting animals out and not opening the door again and for those poor creatures that do get that treatment, people generally don't just look the other way but will at least call the council or local dog's home, they will be taken in and every effort made to return/rehome them. Not always successfully and some rescues have as little as 1 week before they'll consider putting an animal to sleep
it'd be a lovely thing to think the UK occupied a moral high ground but it doesn't by any means, it just doesn't sink as low as some other places do.
Why don't YOU fester in silence eh?!
