Earlier this summer, I did a blog post with a young woman who had just purchased her first pet. Within a day, her pet store purchased puppy was deathly ill and was diagnosed with canine parvovirus. Her story had barely gone live when she called me and sounded heartbroken.
Allie became ill shortly after purchased from Furry Babies. Her story sparked a mean reaction from some advocates.
Why are they so mean?
They are the animal advocates that launched nasty, personal attacks against her on my blog post. I won’t get into some of the vile comments that I quickly took down. My reader was hoping to be helpful by telling her story and was crucified for doing it. She was not only dealing with a deathly ill dog but with being bullied when she told her story.
It's not cool to be cruel.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. I’ve lost track of the number of very nasty and personal attacks that have been posted on some of my blogs. I’ve been pilloried by puppy mill owners and puppy brokers – that is to be expected, they make a living off a vile business model. They are almost laughable and I can work with that.
But, it’s the lack of compassion from a small group of people from the community that baffles me. Why can’t we be kind to animals and people too? Why do people think this is OK? It's not cool to be cruel.
I’m not alone.
One of my fellow bloggers – Jenna Karvunidis who writes High Gloss and Sauce – wrote a great post recently criticizing Hillary Clinton. It focused on Clinton’s humanitarian efforts in the fight against elephant poachers while ignoring very important local issues. Jenna concentrated on a very key issue for her – water pollution (more specifically chemical contamination caused by Atrazine) – an issue that had taken the life of her unborn child. It was a very personal and heartfelt post.
Shortly after her post went live, the stampede came from the pro-elephant crowd. Whole groups of people that couldn’t just state their case…they had to summons the depth of nastiness to make it.
How does that help your cause?
"I'm actually very careful that my 'activism' for clean water stays the distance from verbal assault territory," says Karvunidis. "Sadly, and I say this as a 20+ year vegetarian, I use PETA as my anti-example. When your message, however true, is too harsh, no one can stand to look at you. I try to mix funny stuff and posts about my thrift finds into my overall message about the dangers of atrazine. I just don't want to be the proverbial paint-throwing activist."
It's a good point. Why would anyone want to listen to your way of thinking after you channel your inner middle school bully and let loose? Does the relative anonymity of social media give you super powers to help animals by being hurtful to people? Is it cool to be cruel? I don’t think so.
This dog was rescued from puppy mill/hoarding situation.
Here’s the deal. If you’re involved in animal welfare or pet rescue, you often see the worse people have to offer. You see cruel everyday. People tiring of their pets and dumping them, animal abuse, dog fighting, puppy mills, factory farming and so much more.
The phrases – people suck and I hate people – pop up often in our threads. When you are battling against the worst people have to offer and the heartless acts of so many…it’s perfectly understandable to go postal on animal abusers. That’s not the focus of this column at all.
I’m seeing a mean streak too frequently when people with a common interest – pets and other animals – that have no compassion for people who don’t share their experiences. The people who don't have the background or knowledge from being involved in rescue to know where pet store puppies come from. That haven't had the experiences to know certain behaviors may put their pets at risk until it happens to them.
When people tell their stories about sick puppies from pet stores or a dog snatched from their yard or other topics, it tells a powerful story. Those stories reach far more pet lovers than any public service announcement or Saturday protest. Many people don’t know the back-story of an issue until it hits them.
So, what’s the point in being a jerk?
Bird supporters have frequently gone after groups supporting feral cat management.
Why can’t you be kind to animals and people too?
One Chicago organization, The Puppy Mill Project, has launched their own campaign focusing on the It's Not Cool to Be Cruel message.
“The “It’s Not Cool to Be Cruel” campaign is the cornerstone of our new educational program that we're using, especially with school children,” says Cari Meyers, founder of the organization. “This campaign covers so many aspects of what children are facing everyday beyond just focusing on how we treat dogs and other animals.”
I have no problem with controversy and debate when it’s respectful. I have ZERO tolerance for those that need to bully anyone – whether you are on the same side of the issue as I am or not. If you disagree…make your point without channeling your inner Mean Girl.
My focus here is the pet-related stories. But, if you write a blog or run an advocacy page anywhere, you’ve been hit. There’s a lot of stupid nastiness by the garden-variety social media trolls that spew venom any place with a comment button. It’s enough that it makes you want to pack up the group of trolls and ship back to middle school, lock them up and throw away the key. (I’m not even touching nasty political debates here.)
Yikes.
That being said – I do love a good debate. Earlier this year, I blogged about the rescue of 23 English Bulldogs from one of the worst puppy mills in Iowa. As the story was cross-posted beyond the animal welfare community, it landed on the page of puppy millers and some breeders who have been known to be nasty. They let loose and even accused the rescue of stealing dogs.
Portia was one of 23 English Bulldogs rescued by CEBR from a puppy mill in April.
The Chicago English Bulldog Rescue and many of its followers responded with facts and documentation. Even though they were being baited by the same people they were trying to put out of business, they didn’t go there. They used the forum to speak up and educate in a way that more people should mirror. It's not cool to be cruel.
There are so many issues in the animal welfare community that need support – from puppy mills and feral cats to responsible pet ownership and, yes, elephants. As we look at the bigger picture in Chicago, the violence continues to spill out on our streets and we are about to start what could be a very dicey school year.
Maybe if we all worked a little harder at being kind to animals and people too, we could continue to have a dramatic impact for our causes because it's not cool to be cruel.
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