When you think about it…the answer is simple…stop greyhound racing.

Greyhounds are subjected to extreme conditions in the racing industry and are often times put to death once they are no longer able to race.

While Florida has instituted stricter rules regarding the care and safety of racing greyhounds, greyhounds are still subjected to extreme conditions at many racing parks around the country. According to an article about greyhound racing, “at least 1,400 dogs [were] injured and 100 killed at Wheeling Island [WV] since 2008.”

Greyhounds were valued by Egyptian pharaohs for their grace, beauty, and gentle manner. Today, however, they often live their entire lives in kennels barely large enough for them to turn around in. They have little human contact except during training and when taken out of the kennels on race day. They have short careers and are usually shot at the end of them if they are not rescued.

Not only do the dogs suffer but there are other animals who suffer, too. Rabbits are often used to train greyhounds. They become lures and are killed by the dogs when caught. Nearly 100,000 live rabbits and other small animals are literally torn apart in live-lure training.

Even though there are numerous greyhound rescue groups around the country, there are not enough to protect all the dogs who either retire from the track or who wash out after one or two races.

Never visit a track, never support a track, never watch racing on television. Because when you think about it…the answer is simple…stop greyhound racing.

When you think about it…sending animals into space is simply unnecessary.

Scientists have been sending animals such as geckos, gerbils, and mice into space to determine the effects of space travel on humans.

Why must space agencies continue to send animals into space to determine the effects of lengthy space travel on humans when we’ve had so many humans in space and for long periods of time? Recently, Russian scientists sent mice, gerbils, and geckos, among other animals, into space for a month to determine the prolonged effects of space exposure and weightlessness on living organisms. Many of the animals returned dead.

Humans have lived in space for much longer than 30 days; for example, Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov, a Russian cosmonaut, spent 14 months aboard the Mir space station. Why then do we need to subject gerbils, geckos, and other animals to space travel when there are enough humans who have already experienced prolonged space living? When you think about it…sending animals into space is simply unnecessary.

When you think about it…a change in one’s diet can save an icon of the Wild West.

A change in our diets would not only decrease the amount of grazing land needed for cattle but would also increase the number of wild horses free to roam the land.

Wild horses are rounded up and put into pens to get them off public lands so ranchers can graze their cattle on them. Many people are horrified that these wild mustangs, who run with a free spirit and evoke images of the Wild West, are being hazed and harassed off the land. However, do these same people realize that if they gave up eating meat, beef in particular, there would be less need for land to graze cattle and more land for the mustangs to roam free and wild?

These horses are often rounded up using helicopters to drive them into pens. Steel gates slam shut behind them once they are corralled. Herds are split up, family members separated. All so cattle can roam the land that once belonged to these horses.

According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), almost 50,000 wild horses are living in captivity with only about 32,000 still left on the range. The horses living in captivity have to be cared for at the government’s expense. Some are adopted by caring individuals but most will live in BLM pens for the rest of their lives.

How can we prevent the destruction of the last vestige of our wilderness? When you think about it…a change in one’s diet can save an icon of the Wild West.

When you think about it…the words “gas chamber” and “euthanasia” do not belong in the same sentence.

Many animal shelters still consider the use of gas chambers a humane form of euthanasia.

Unwanted shelter animals are often euthanized (from the Greek, means good death) by means of a gas chamber (which means a horrible death). Depending on the size of the chamber, as many as 20 animals may be placed in an airless metal container where they are piled one upon another. The lid is closed and carbon monoxide (CO) is pumped into the chamber until all the animals die, which can take upwards of 30 minutes. The animals are in a panic and show fear and possibly aggression toward others in the crowded environment. Some come out of the chamber alive only to be placed in with another group. Such barbarism does not meet the criteria of euthanasia.

So, if euthanasia by gas chamber is so abhorrent, why is it still the method of choice for many animal shelters across the country? Convenience is often cited as one reason. A shelter can euthanize more animals at one time than it can inject each individual animal with a euthanizing agent. Cost is another, though in reality the cost to operate a gas chamber is approximately $5 an animal and for euthanasia by injection $2.30 an animal. Finally, often lack of training and lack of access to controlled substances and/or the personnel authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to administer them keeps a shelter from using the humane choice of hundreds of national, state, and local protection agencies—euthanasia by injection.

It is time to replace abhorrent methods of euthanasia with humane methods. Because when you think about it…the words “gas chamber” and “euthanasia” do not belong in the same sentence.

When you think about it…why not lion burgers?

Several restaurants in the United States offer exotic meat such as lion burgers on their menus.

Every now and again a restaurant decides to offer exotic animal meat, sometimes sold as burgers. There have been lion burgers and kangaroo burgers, among others. Many exotic animals find themselves on the menu as yak steaks or turtle soup.

Why do we become enraged when a lion burger is on the menu but not when a hamburger—or more correctly a cow or steer burger—is on the menu? As long as the animals are being bred for the restaurant trade and not captured in their native lands, what difference does it make if a chef wants to offer exotic, wild game animals on his or her menu? Actually, it makes no difference. Killing a living, breathing, sentient being for our tastes buds is wrong regardless of whether the animal is a wild being or a domesticated creature.

Sausage is still pig flesh, shish kabob is still lamb flesh, and nuggets are still chicken flesh. Instead of eating anyone’s flesh, regardless of how it is labeled, try a vegan/vegetarian approach to life and let others live. Because when you think about it…the question isn’t “Why not lion burgers?” The question really is: Why lion burgers? Why hamburgers? Why pork chops? Why animal meat?

When you think about it…regardless of where we live, we need to be prepared for disaster.

Preparing for disaster before it strikes can benefit you and your companion animals in emergency situations.

We’ve seen the pictures on the news of the devastating fires in the western part of the United States. We all saw pictures of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. While we humans may be terrified at the thought of a natural disaster, we usually have some time to prepare before we might have to evacuate. Our companion animals are at a total loss as to what is going on around them. Sadly, in some instances, they are abandoned to cope on their own while their humans are sent to locations that do not allow animals. In other cases, they wind up living in cars or boats for days with their guardians who are wondering where the next safe harbor is.

Before disaster strikes, prepare yourself and your companion animals…just in case. Know what shelters allow you and your animal to find a safe haven during an evacuation. If there aren’t any in your immediate area, find out what hotels/motels accept pets. If you haven’t travelled much with your companion animals, here are some tips.

Pack emergency kits for each of your animals—medical records, photos (in case you are separated), medicines, first aid kit, food, water, bowls, litter, leashes, carriers, etc. In other words, whatever your companion animal will need while away from home. Do the same for yourself and your family members as well. Make sure your animals are wearing identification tags.

Because, when you think about it…no matter where we are, disaster can strike. Are you and your companion animals ready?

When you think about it…who’s the real winner/loser in the animal racing industry?

We are crossing our fingers that every horse in today’s big races at Churchill Downs crosses the finish line safely.

Why do we race animals? What is the thrill for us? For them? When we bet on the animals, sometimes we lose our proverbial shirt; sometimes we win a few dollars, sometimes many dollars. But who are the real winners/losers? Regardless of the outcome of the race, the animals always lose. They lose because they are being asked to do abnormal and unnatural feats of endurance and strength. They lose because so many have to be born in order to get one champion. Those who don’t make it are often killed when quite young, sold to research laboratories, or relegated to live their lives in substandard conditions. They lose because when they are too old to race or have an injury, it is often more expedient for the owner to shoot the animal in the head or pass him or her off to a roadside zoo or circus than make a lifetime commitment to the animal. The winners: there are none. When we engage in racing animals or betting on animal racing or even watching animal races, we lose, too. We lose a bit of our humanity, our compassion toward the animals forced to race. So, when you think about it…no one wins in the animal racing industry.

When you think about it…why do we do it?

Changing the way animals look causes unnecessary suffering and serves no purpose for them.

Why do we have to change the original design of animals? Why should cats and dogs have flat faces, no tails, sloping backs, and other useless aberrations of the original design? Why do we have to alter nature? Is it because we can? Should we? Some alterations seem somewhat harmless and in many ways quite humorous. For example, did you know that male dogs whose owners have an issue with neutering their companion, can have Neuticles implanted to make the dog look more “manly”?

Other alterations aren’t as humorous. In South Korea several years ago, researchers cloned one puppy from hundreds of harvested eggs. Why? Just because they could? And then there are the scientists who want to bring back the stone age, or its equivalent, by trying to clone extinct species. Where would those species live since their habitat most likely no longer exists—and maybe that’s the reason they went extinct in the first place?

Who are we to alter some species so that they become unrecognizable from the original? What other anomalies of nature will we be creating in the not too distant future? Accepting animals as they are and realizing that those who are gone, are gone for good—whether a beloved companion animal or a wild species—gives us more time and freedom to enjoy the animals who are here, in our midst, every day.
Changing them says more about us than it does about them. So, when you think about it…why do we do it?

When you think about it…support healthy living, not dumpster waste.

Millions of pounds of animal products are thrown away each year. By supporting a healthier lifestyle, our society could greatly reduce the amount of waste generated.

We are a wasteful society. We throw more things in the landfill, and, hopefully, the recycling bin, than most cultures. Some of those things, however, were once living, breathing, sentient beings who were raised only to be slaughtered for our taste buds. Of course, not all food waste comes from the slaughtered remains of pigs, cows, chickens, fish, etc. We throw away vegetables and fruits; we throw away grains; we throw away food, in general.

However, if we want to cut down on the suffering of farmed animals in this country, we need to focus on reducing the amount of animal food purchased but never eaten that winds up in the dumpster. If we could cut in half our animal wastefulness, we “would spare the lives of over 500 million chickens used for their meat, over 35 million egg-laying hens, over 15 million pigs and over 3 million cows each year .”

Along with being less wasteful, we can also turn our sights to eating fewer animals. A vegan/vegetarian lifestyle supports your health and the planet’s health. And, it automatically cuts down on the number of animals being farmed for food who may eventually wind up in the trash bin.

When you think about it…by supporting healthy living, fewer animals’ remains will wind up in the dumpster.

When you think about it…animals as gifts are not a good idea.

Sometimes a stuffed animal is a better choice than a real animal.

Did you adopt your current companion animal or did someone else in your home adopt the animal for you? Were you given a companion animal by a friend or relative?

Sometimes how we come to be living with a companion animal affects our relationship with that animal. We may not be as invested in his or her welfare and day-to-day care if we did not actively seek out the animal. We may be less bonded if a housemate or friend brings an animal into our home for us to share.

To reduce the number of animals abandoned at animal shelters or simply given away, we need to be completely honest in why we are obtaining a companion animal. If we are obtaining an animal for ourselves, we are more likely to commit to the animal for his or her lifetime. However, if we find a puppy underneath the Christmas tree or receive a kitten as a birthday present, chances are we will not form the bonds that last forever.

Therefore, buying animals as gifts is usually not a good idea. If you have a friend, relative, or significant other who you think wants a companion animal, let that person know you will pay the adoption fee and even buy some toys and bedding for the animal. But, let that person select the animal who is best for him or her. And if the person does not want an animal, please, do not think by bringing in a cute little furry creature, he or she will relent. The animal always loses in that sort of situation and may wind up back in the shelter, or worse, put outdoors to fend for him or herself. Because, when you think about it…animals as gifts are not a good idea.