Animal groups in Philadelphia are meeting with team officials from the Eagles franchise today to discuss ... What? Dog fighting. Vick. Money, we would imagine. Source
We don't envy the difficult position this puts Philly animal groups in. How do you accept help without compromising your values?
We have some thoughts. It's a longer statement, so we linked it on our website to avoid stealing inches of bandwidth away from the blog.
* Seize the Moment *
21 comments:
You work late! And I get up early--so I've already sent this off to my Philly friends.
Thought you guys might like to read this one..
http://damieroberts.blogspot.com/2009/08/if-it-is-to-be-it-is-up-to-me.html
From one of the local blogs I read in the Memphis area..
That was a well-written and well-thought out piece that reinforced valid points and raised even more new ones. I especially appreciated the much-needed reminder that Vick served NO TIME for harming animals. I feel as if far too many people don't remember or even never knew that. Thank you as usual for your excellent work and commitment to our dogs!
Donna, Thank you...I am from Philly and will send this to everyone I know. I do it for Stan, for Lily, for Leni, for Cutie, for Cherie and for Kiera.
Dina
Philly Chick here, Sent out over my feed, 1500+, out over my twitter etc...I back you 110%.......
This is just so perfect it brought tears to my eyes ...
Yes, tears in deed. Poignant, well-written and healing even for those of us who hurt with the injustice of this situation. You never cease to amaze me Donna -this piece is pure genius and again displays your grace and solid commitment to the dogs and those that love them. It leads the way for the Philly group to work with the NFL with clear conscious. Thank you again,
Lynn in N. Cal
Well thank you Lynn and Dianne. Tim helped me write it while we were watching True Blood and Hung last night. So, we were inspired by Hollywood vampires, ghouls and male prostitutes. What could be better?
All fingers crossed for healthy negotiations in Philly today.
Well said.
Bob W.
Nicely written!
P.S. Eric the vampire is hot ;)
I find it interesting that any welfare group would want to partner with MV...take his money, maybe, but allow him to participate, or speak out in any way? No. It would be like letting a child molester be associated with an orphanage, or child care program. Yeah, they may have served their time in jail...but we still dont want them around kids.
Anon - I think most animal orgs are steering clear of Vick. To date, I believe the HSUS is alone in their support and promotion of Vick as a spokesman for humane treatment of animals.
hear, hear
But it nauseated me no end that our own NPR station, show Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane, had the HSUS and only the Main Line Rescue (who don't take very many pitbulls, I just checked their website) on her show...no one from BR and no one from ASPCA. So we were all fed the B.S. about the teachable moment for kids from the HSUS, even though MLR made the case for not giving MV another chance. I was disappointed because there were no true, devoted pitbull advocates on that show, listened to by lots of liberals in the Philadelphia area, every day.
Hey Donna - you guys couldn't have said it better.
I thought you had better read this - http://countrynewshome.com/ it is from GILROY! I am so disappointed that they event wrote this, it is totally biased. They did not talk to one pit bull owner or pit bull rescue society. Every time I see an article like this I get all fired up. I will be responding and sending pics of my 2 year old and 4 year old with our 2 pitties! AAAARRRGGH!
I think a lot of people are missing the golden opportunity here. Working with the Eagles can save a lot of dogs. And at the end of the day, that's not what matters. I don't think it's right to miss an opportunity to save lives, all in the name of "not compromising your values". From the dogs perspective, it's a zero sum battle.
Thanks so much. Caught in this whirlwind out here in Philadelphia, I'm very great full have a rope thrown out to me and my city. All of this NFL nonsense going on so soon after the death of my own little pit bull: it's been hard to focus and have hope.
Thank you very much to everyone at BADRAP. You were a wonderful resource and tool when I first got my little one 10 years ago and paraded her around promoting the breed, and your success stories have been quite helpful in my grief and recovery.
Will, I think the question is "How many dogs can be saved by endorsing a hero who has never admitted the electrocuting dogs is wrong?" Or, "Can young people be discouraged from making the same mistakes if no one is willing to talk about what actually took place?" Yes, maybe the NFL can save some dogs (although we've yet to hear what they are offering). But deduct from that number the lives lost because the message, so far, is that is isn't that big a deal.
>the message, so far, is that is isn't that big a deal.
Good point, Ken.
ken, excellent point. when i hear people talking and acting like its no big deal what took place at that property in surry county, which is not too many hours from where i live in richmond va. it angers me. i just have such a hard time when people act like that, and i am the type of person that has always spoke her mind. so i end up in some "heated dicussions" trying to explain to people why this is such a big deal and why the return of "that dead eyed man" to the nfl is so infuriating.
and today thursday, to know that he will be playing on the field, and the feelings, the hatred, the sadness, the anger, and the disappointment that i feel over that are at times overwhelming.
Excellent letter. The pic at the end cracked me up, though. There's Vick, trying to look all tough with his smiley pit bull. I just wanted to squish that guy to my chest, rub his pink belly, and pepper him with kisses and baby talk.
BTW, is that Ted?
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