Posted on 07/05/2010 6:45:25 PM PDT by ModernDayCato
Hi Everyone. Cato here. Pets Alive is an animal sanctuary in upstate New York run by friends of mine. I support Pets Alive with my time and money. They recently rescued 120 beagles from a lab in New Jersey that had gone bankrupt.
Below is the story:
Independence Day is a day of great celebration at my house. In fact, it is the only party that I host all year. The party is today, and I’m expecting 50 to 60 people this evening.
Unlike certain people and Presidents, I do not apologize for being American.This was the document marking the birth of this nation. My den has many pictures and photos on the wall, but the one that hangs over the desk where I work and write and think has a large painting of George Washington addressing that Congress so that I always remember the toil and sacrifice those great men made so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Those words have been called the most potent and consequential words in American History.
Freedom. Freedom is the ability to make choices without constraint.
Liberty. Liberty is the right to behave according to one’s own personal responsibility and free will.
Have you ever considered that the root word of liberate is liberty? A few weeks ago we got a call from our friends at Best Friends. They had been contacted by Win Animal Rights (WAR), a New York City based organization that had gotten wind of an animal testing lab in New Jersey that had gone bankrupt. There were 120 Beagles and 55 monkeys that had been left there to die.
66,000 dogs and 26,000 cats were used in labs in 2005. While some of the animals are purpose bred (like our beagles), meaning that they are born to be experimented on and then disposed of, but most are supplied by so-called Class B dealers who buy them from auctions, shelters and newspaper ads and send them to the labs.
So our beagles were born with neither freedom nor liberty, while most lab animals have both their freedom and liberty taken away.
Are animals entitled to liberty? That’s a debate for another time. I believe they are within the context of our stewardship of them. In researching this blog I came across a succinct argument that sums it up:
Any animal that has the capacity for suffering pain has a right not to be tortured; and the reason for this is connected with the fact that suffering pain is intrinsically bad. Similarly, if we grant to men a right to liberty simply because we regard liberty as something good in itself which men are capable of enjoying, then we must also grant a right to liberty to any other animal that is capable of desiring to act one way rather than another.
Lab animals suffer. They are in steel cages most of their lives without contact with other animals and with people who treat them as objects rather then sentient beings. They are called companion animals for a reason. They are meant to be our companions and we have a moral responsibility to care for them.
Kerry was very excited as our caravan of four white vans headed toward the lab in New Jersey where we would pick up our beagles. “These are animals that were bred to be experimented on and thrown away. They were never meant to have homes, never meant to be loved, never meant to have lives. And now they will.”
I thought about that a lot yesterday and repeated it to the press many times. It is the essence of why we exist as a humane organization.
When we pulled up to the lab I was surprised at how nondescript it was. It looked like a house with some outbuildings, even though if you looked closely there was security fence around the entire property and none of the buildings had any windows. Great way to live.
They wouldn’t let us all on the property and they wouldn’t let more than one van in at at time. Kerry and I went in first.
We were greeted by four guys, two in Tyvek suits with earplugs in their ears. We would not be allowed in the area where the dogs lived, but they would be brought out
one at a time and placed in the van. Standing around talking to these guys I was struck by the contradiction of their affection for the animals and their enabling their suffering. One of them actually decided to adopt one of the animals in their “care.” They asked us to be sure to keep the air conditioner on for the dogs and to take good care of them.
When we stopped for gas just before we got there we ran into a former employee of the lab who told us that they were going to start performing “electrical testing” on the dogs just before they closed, and I wondered how the guys in the Tyvek suits could possibly live with themselves for allowing that to happen.
The first Beagle came out. There was a number on her crate but no name. These dogs are nameless. She was so small. She was absolutely beautiful. And gentle. And terrified. How much had she endured? What had been done to her? What was her life like? The thought of her being experimented on cast a dark shadow across my soul that left me with a combination of despair and profound anger.
We needed more crates, so it was decided that Molly, the photographer from Best Friends and I would drive back with the first vanload of Beagles and get things ready for the rest. As we were leaving Molly thought we could fit one more if she rode in her lap. I thought this was a great idea. Molly walked back up the driveway and returned with another sweet little Beagle.
We named her Liberty. She had never seen a van before. Never been in motion (she vomited violently). Never been in someone’s lap. She was scared for the first half hour and didn’t really do much as we rode through the back roads of New Jersey. We got a peek into her sweet, gentle nature though. One of the sickest dogs was in the crate closest to our seats. Every time he would stir she would look at him and wag her tail. It was really heartwarming.
When she got comfortable, she was interested in everything. She poked her nose against the window. She climbed on to the center console. She tried to jump over into my lap. She licked Molly’s hand. She swatted at Molly’s camera. And every now and then I would reach over and gently rub the side of her face. She leaned into my hand and closed her eyes. I’ve always thought dogs know when they’re safe, and while their lives had suddenly expanded so far beyond the sterile metal cubbyholes they lived in alone, they all knew they were finally free.
Freedom. It’s truly relative, isn’t it? In China today you can’t even surf the Internet without being censored. In North Korea three generations of your family can go to the slave labor camp if you say something negative about Kim Jong Il. And freedom for Liberty can mean something as simple as feeling the warmth of the sun on her face.
We saw the American flags and the bunting as we pulled into Pets Alive, and we were swallowed up in a sea of Pets Alive t-shirts and cooing voices and loving arms for each of these sweet animals, and it really touched me. I went up into my office to be alone for a few minutes and returned to the pasture that the dogs would call home.
I have to tell you that being at Pets Alive has brought me pain that is so deep and so profound that it is debilitating. But it also brings joy that is absolutely indescribable. As I walked down the driveway across the street from my office I felt that deep, uplifting, amazing joy that is almost overpowering. It was amazing. There was a line of people curled around the table where Janet and Jen were examining each dog. Every person had a beagle in their arms. They were being cradled gently and lovingly. Every single dog was being hugged by someone in a Pets Alive T-shirt. Some were scared, leaning against their person, trying to bury their little heads in their shirt. Some were thrilled to be held, little eyes darting back and forth trying to drink it all in.
What brought me such joy were their tails. Every single one was wagging. Some were thumping gently against their person’s stomach. Some were whipping wildly back and forth. But every single dog was happy. They may never have gotten this much love, but they knew how wonderful it was right from the beginning. And that’s freedom for them as far as I’m concerned.
It was difficult for me to not get choked up walking through their living areas. The tail wagging continued unabated. It was absolutely amazing. As we started pairing them up (same sex because they’re not altered) I could see them sniffing each other tentatively. In minutes they were chasing each other around the kennels. I saw one tackle another and start playing. I could hear little Anna squealing as two of them chased her while the two in the next kennel stuck their noses through the fencing to play with the bottom of her clothes.
But what touched me the most profoundly was Liberty. She was sprawled out in the middle of her kennel in a patch of sunlight that was shining in to her area. Her mouth was open and she had a face of contentment and happiness. Her kennelmate was inches away from her enjoying the sunlight as well. She was four years old and had never seen the sun, or felt the grass, or ever seen another animal let alone lie next to one.
Our eyes locked and her tail started wagging. She has her freedom from pain and captivity and anonimity. And she has liberty, even if that just means she can lie in the sun when she wants to.
I watched a beagle walk tentatively on the grass for the first time and felt the same joy in my heart. Later I took one of them out of her crate and stood in line with her. She was wet from her own vomit and obviously scared. I had to coax her out of the crate because she was afraid to put her paws down on the grass. But the whole time that tail wagged and she looked at me with love in her eyes.
I placed her gently with another dog and watched her freeze on the grass, sniff it a few times and take her first tentative steps toward the other dog. They sniffed, tails wagged and they were pals. Just like that. Another dog free.
This morning when I opened my eyes to Roscoe and Tyson running at full speed across my bedroom floor, one of my socks dangling from Roscoe’s mouth I thought of these little dogs who had been bred to be experimented on and then thrown away like sponges or test tubes. In my mind’s eye I saw Liberty running across the room with one of my socks in her mouth and I laughed out loud.
Freedom and Liberty are something we are born with. Something we celebrate on this Independence Day, with fireworks and barbeques and Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest. But let’s also take a moment to celebrate the lives of these animals that we have had the honor to liberate this weekend, and pause to mourn the lives of those we haven’t.
Thank you to Best Friends Animal Society for being our best friends, thanks to Camille and W.A.R. for caring about these sweet animals, thanks to Anthony and our friends at Enterprise for scaring up four vans and charging us next to nothing for them. Thanks to our friends in the media for coming out to record this event. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers and supporters who showed up in droves to shower these sweet gentle animals with love. And thanks to all of you who support us for giving Kerry and I the honor of doing what we do.
God Bless America.
Can you freaking believe it? They are truly insane. He got the usual notes about how they were going to boycott the rescue and blah blah blah. I looked at the post here, and they call him a d----e bag. Reading further it's obvious they don't understand the concepts of free speech or liberty, but that's no surprise.
I was hoping some of you guys could post a comment or two and support Pets Alive. I know the people who run it are conservatives and they do a lot of good. Read the blog.
Happy Indpendence Day
We should be doing medical tests on liberals.
Don’t worry about DU’ers. They are a minority that other libs laugh at.
Whoa...wait a minute...there is someone that LIBERALS laugh at? Holy crap.
The Kos Kids make fun of DU’ers.
Amazing story, and sad at the same time. It pains me to know that dogs are treated this way.
I read somewhere earlier, that one of the ways that we could fight the downfall of THIS country is to FREEZE and TARGET the horrible animal abuse that China is responsible for.
Get the hackles of the PETA people involved and maybe we’ll get some mileage.
Geeze!!!! Liberals are hypocritical, aren’t they?
May God bless the wonderful animals in their (Pets Alive) care and may He also bless them for their compassion.
Darn moniter is blurry again.
Thanks everybody. It’s tough for a Conservative up there in NY, and the DUmmies were the icing on the cake.
Ping, just because....
I’m sickened that some DUers would flip out enough over a comment that they would hinder such humane and loving work. It’s beyond contempt and heartless.
I hope these babies are happy for the rest of their lives.
Animal testing is a necessary evil. That said, I rejoice when lab animals get a shot at a better life.
Wow, are they delusional. Here’s the latest:
Having read your blog at the request of my friends, and realizing you have injected your personal political viewpoint into the rescuing of these beautiful animals, I am hesitant to continue any further support for Pets Alive. I donated to the fence today, I sponsored a cat on a month to month basis, and contributed via naming one of the beagles.
I think that is the end of my support. These animals have no politics, and I take your political proselytizing as an insult. America VOTED President Obama into office, and unless you folks can gather enough votes in 2012 (you won’t) America will re-elect him. Additionally, he never apologized for being an American, that’s Right-wing crap.
You should have kept your views to yourself. We canceled a trip up there with a SUV full of stuff today, including leashes, collars, harnesses, litter, food, etc. valued at hundreds of dollars, and will be donating it to a few local shelters instead this week. Additionally, friends of mine who were going to join us in kind have already taken their load and distributed it. We aren’t poor, but there are many deserving shelters around where we live.
You folks never miss an opportunity to bash those who disagree with your convoluted vision of politics. And the animals should never be thrust in between you and folks like ourselves. The people showering you with praise in your blog are blind, so be it. Get money from them
Goodbye.
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