Are You Passionate About Animals?

Ever since I was a young child I was passionate about animals. Like many young animal lovers of my generation, I watched Animal Kingdom every weekend on CBS. I had more dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, lizards, hermit crabs, etc., than any other child on the block. And I was fortunate to have a father whom taught me the importance of respecting and caring for animals.

So, when I joined up the local animal sanctuary over ten years ago, I decided I wanted to part of an organization that was passionate about saving, caring, and loving animals. Even though I did not see the sanctuary's directors around the animals much, the workers seemed to have heart and compassion for the animals. But as time passed, the workers' passion to save and love the animals changed. Caring for the animals became "work." There was no passion in feeding the animals--feeding the animals became a chore. Water bowls were not cleaned because the workers didn't have "enough time" to take care of the littlest chores--so often the automatic water lines did not work properly because they were chocked full of algae. Animal injuries went unnoticed because the workers were too busy in their "routines" to even notice an animal in pain. Heartbroken, I further learned from one of the animal caretakers that they were told by the directors not to "get emotionally attached" to the animals. I was told by one of the directors not to development any emotional attachments to the animals--"don't get too attached" I was told on more than one occasion. What kind of place did this sanctuary turn into? Sadly, it became a passionless, dare I say, heartless sanctuary. Not only did the sanctuary lose passion for the animals, it also lost it's passion for integrity. What kind of sanctuary would post false information on their website? What kind of sanctuary submitted two separate set of tax returns to the general public? What kind of sanctuary falsified financial reports? What kind of sanctuary lied to the public about the health and welfare of the animals? What kind of sanctuary printed false newsletters and then mailed them to the public, soliciting funds under false pretenses? And so on and so forth. I asked those very same questions time and time again throughout my investigation. Sadly, I learned that a sanctuary without heart can also be a sanctuary without integrity. Once the animal sanctuary lost its passion for the animals and its integrity for the truth, it became quite clear it lost it's passion for righteousness. Therefore, if the directors and animal caretakers can not conduct themselves in an honest and caring manner, then how can they be expected to properly care for hundreds of animals? So I ask you again, are you passionate for animals? Are you part of a "sanctuary" that treats animals like a commodity instead of beautiful creations God placed in your care? I have no doubt the animal caretakers from my local sanctuary are reading this blog, so I am directing these questions to them now: Why did you lose heart and passion for the animals? Why didn't you do everything you could to save them? Are you more concerned about your job than the lives placed in your care? You promised to care for the animals -- why did you let them down? When are you going to do the right thing? The animals cannot speak for themselves -- they need you to speak up for them...so speak up! Now is the time to do the right thing -- that is, if you are still passionate for animals...

So, what can you expect if you do speak out for the animals? All I can say is, be prepared for an up hill battle... as an animal warrior, you will need to be prepared for the unexpected...