Category: Morality

So many good people.

Demonstrating the power of goodwill.

It is a function of the news media to highlight alarming events; many of them with some justification.

But it’s all too easy to be drawn into a world that seems almost to be uniformly dark and foreboding.

Thus the following item seen over on the Care2 site really does deserve the widest sharing because it reminds us that there are countless good people who work so hard for our wonderful animals.

ooOOoo

Christmas Rescuers Save 1,300 Dogs and Cats From Winter Without Electricity

By: Laura S. December 24, 2016

About Laura

DONETSK — In the days before Christmas, a Ukrainian animal shelter drifting toward a winter of complete darkness has experienced an unexpected tidal wave of support from international animal lovers determined to keep the power on.

Last week, the shelter – located on the Russian border- sent out a distress call about the imminent threat of blackout for their 1,300 dogs and cats, many of whom were left behind by refugees during violent attacks over the last two years. After losing their local business sponsor during the military conflict, the shelter team have been enduring an intense struggle to feed the animals and to simply stay afloat.

“I can’t even remember the last time something good happened to us,” shelter manager Vita Bryzgalova explained in an email to the Harmony Fund international rescue charity. “We are now facing a power shut-down since the debt for electricity accumulated over the past year. It is almost $7,000 since the beginning of 2016.”

“If the electricity in the shelter would be cut, the veterinary appliances will not work and the shelter will be under sub-zero temperatures with no way to provide treatment or carry out operations,” Vita continued. “There will be no place to keep medications and vaccines and food for all animals living in the shelter as everything will freeze. The building is heated by a boiler but it doesn’t not work without the electric pump. There are three hospital wards with animals here and there are about 80 animals that are being treated and they especially need warmth and care. Also we have 35 employees who give daily care of the animals and they will be sick more often without heat in the rooms. Without electricity, we will also have no external communications by telephone or internet.”

Having provided donations of food and staff wages during this difficult time, the Harmony Fund turned to Facebook to see if people might be willing to help keep the electricity on. Within 48 hours, half the funds were raised ($3,500) and this sum was enough to keep the power on for the next few months while the charity attempts to raise funds for the rest of the debt to the electricity supplier.

ooOOoo

Now quickly drop over to the Harmony Fund’s website where you will read:

About Us – Overview

The Great Animal Rescue Chase

The Great Animal Rescue Chase celebrates the art of animal rescue with a worldwide race to rescue one million. It’s a free event, open to all, and is perhaps the only global animal rescue event aimed at helping any animal in distress, anywhere in the world. Our ambition is to create a culture of enthusiasm and pride in animal activism. We believe in teaching, by example, that there is a hero in each of us just waiting to be unleashed. Empowered animal lovers can not only save lives, but build the momentum for powerful animal welfare reform.

The Harmony Fund

The Harmony Fund offers a lifeline to so called “underdog” animal rescue squads across the planet. Our partners are the small but incredibly courageous and effective animal rescue teams who operate in parts of the world where funding is very hard to come by. Our supporters are helping us to dramatically impact the capacity of these rescue teams to touch thousands upon thousands of animals who might otherwise be unreachable.

Gratitude and respect are at the cornerstone of our relationship with our supporters. We do not expose our supporters to graphic photos of animal suffering or distribute dire forecasts about animal suffering. Instead we focus on a spirit of joy and determination as we pursue essential operations to provide food, veterinary medicine, shelter and protection from cruelty for animals worldwide.

Contact Us

To contact The Great Animal Rescue Chase or the Harmony Fund, view our Contact Us page.

Now go and read some of the awe-inspiring stories of rescues: The Great Animal Rescue.

Welcome Heroes

In the space of time it takes a raindrop to roll down your cheek, a life changing decision is made. You either turn sorrowfully away from an animal in distress or summon the courage to run forward and help. For all you runners out there, welcome home.

Come on in and rest your feet a while. Then join us in a planet-wide race to save 1 million suffering animals who are about to learn the spectacular meaning of second chances.

I know that all of you dear readers of this place will, without hesitation, summon the courage to run forward and help.

So many good, loving people.

A wonderful Saturday Smile

Rakesh Shukla gives lost dogs a wonderful voice.

Last Monday, the BBC News website featured an item about Rakesh Shukla.

Rakesh runs a charity called The Voice of Stray Dogs (VoSD).The WikiPedia entry is a bit light on details but the UK arm of The Huffington Post makes up for that. Here’s an extract from the news item:

VoSD was founded by Mr Rakesh Shukla, affectionately known as the “Dog Father”. It was set up single-handedly after he felt obliged to do something about the plight of stray dogs in India. Well known for keeping dogs in his home [ the VoSD Sanctuary] and in his office, Rakesh has worked tirelessly to raise funds for the care of stray dogs [ with greater than 90% contributed by himself]. One visitor said ““Rakesh’s growing family of rescued dogs is a sight to behold. It is amazing how so many dogs together get on so well“.

He operates a system that has rescued more than 3000 dogs in 2 years with 400+ permanent dogs under his care. VoSD offers the highest standard of service and is equipped with the latest technology so that stray dogs get the best possible care.

Back to the BBC item that I am taking the liberty of republishing in full.

ooOOoo

The man who looks after 735 dogs

19 December 2016, India

Rakesh Shukla is a software engineer who’s found his life’s calling in looking after dogs that no-one wants, writes the BBC’s Geeta Pandey in Bangalore.

The car pulled up outside a dusty farmhouse near the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka and suddenly dogs were everywhere, yelping and barking, jumping with joy.

Within seconds, they were all over Rakesh Shukla, nuzzling him and licking him, and Mr Shukla was as delighted to see them. He spoke to them, patted some, scratched one behind the ears, and lofted another onto his shoulder.

Then he gave me a tour of his three and a half acre farm. At last count, Mr Shukla had 735 dogs.

There are Labradors on the farm, there are Golden Retrievers, Great Danes, Beagles, Dachshunds, Rottweilers, Saint Bernards and even a pug. There are hundreds of mongrels too.

Most of the dogs are strays, the others have been abandoned by their owners. The latest arrivals was a group of 22 pedigreed dogs whose owner, a city businessman, was shot dead recently by criminals.

“I’m the last stop for these dogs. They are no longer cute and cuddly. Many are sick and no longer wanted,” said Mr Shukla, 45.

Affectionately known as the “Dog Father”, he calls the dogs his babies and him their “papa”.

Mr Shukla, who founded a software company along with his wife 10 years ago, spends three to four days every week on the farm, taking care of his canines.

“I had worked in Delhi, in the United States and then set up my own company in Bangalore,” he said. “Life was all about buying big cars and expensive watches and living a fancy life. I had travelled and seen the world many times over, but then I was not happy.”

Then Kavya came into his life: a beautiful 45-day-old Golden Retriever that he fell hopelessly in love with. It was in June 2009, and Mr Shukla remembers clearly the day he brought her home.

“When we got home, she went and hid in a corner. I got down to her level on the floor and I was calling out to her. She was looking at me, she was scared, but I could see she wanted to trust me,” he said.

“And that’s when the moment happened – it was a physical feeling, my hair was tingling, I could feel a warm glow. And I’ve never needed to ask myself that question – ‘why am I here?’ – again after that.”

Mr Shukla’s second dog, Lucky, came to him three months later when he rescued her from the streets. “It had been raining for 12-13 days, she was wet and miserable, so I brought her home too,” he said.

Over the coming days and weeks, whenever he met a stray or abandoned dog, he brought it home. Initially he kept them there but when his wife protested, he moved some of them to the office, where the top floor was turned into a home for dogs.

In 2012, as the pack grew, Mr Shukla bought land in Doddballapur town and set up the farm – a haven for dogs that are old, ailing or simply unwanted.

The farm is designed for its canine residents, with lots of open spaces for them to run around and ponds to swim in, and there’s double fencing to keep them safe.

Every time we entered an enclosure, a cacophony of barks greeted us.

The farm employs about 10 people, including trained veterinary assistants, to look after the dogs, cook for them and feed them. The dogs are fed 200kg of chicken and another 200kg of rice daily and many of the sick ones need regular medicines and attention.

The daily cost of running the centre is 45,000 to 50,000 rupees ($663; £532 to $737; £592), according to Mr Shukla, who said he provided 93% of the funds.

In the past year though, he has run into problems with some animal activists, who have demanded that they be allowed onto the farm. He has also faced complaints that he is creating public unrest by keeping so many dogs. There have also been demands that he shut down the farm.

He has refused to concede.

“I’ve made a pact with my dogs,” he said. “We will part only when one of us kicks the bucket.”

ooOOoo

You know that there are many who are desperately worried about 2017 and beyond. The next few years, ten at most, will see the results of this great experiment that humanity is conducting.

Now, I’m happy to put my hand up as someone who does worry at what my generation is leaving for our grandchildren.

Then one comes across people like Rakesh and, somehow, the future doesn’t seem quite so grim.

What a wonderful man.

Published on Oct 8, 2014

Rakesh Shukla is the go-to guy for dog rescue in Bangalore. His privately-funded venture, ‘The Voice of Stray Dogs’ champions the cause of India’s stray/ street dogs with research, publication, litigation, veterinary and healthcare services for stray dogs.

See you all on the other side of Christmas!

But promise me one thing: Never turn your back on a dog in need.

Pure, unconditional love.

Giving from the heart; in this case a dog’s heart.

As many readers know we have nine dogs here at home, divided into the ‘kitchen’ group (Paloma, Casey and Ruby) and the ‘bedroom’ group (Pharaoh, Brandy, Cleo, Sweeny, Pedy and Oliver). Inevitably the latter group are closer to us because they share the bulk of the home with Jeannie and me, and sleep in our bedroom. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the kitchen group are any less affectionate than the bedroom group it’s just that, for me especially, I am able to be emotionally and physically closer to our bedroom group because for most of the hours of each day they are close to me.

Brandy, Cleo and Oliver seem to be incredibly sensitive to Jeannie’s and my feelings. If something makes me cry then one of them will be next to me in seconds. When Jeannie and I hug, Oliver will stand on his rear legs, place his front legs on our bodies above our waists and act as if he is hugging us. Even the mention of the word “out” has Cleo running to the front door.

So many more examples but you get the drift!

Last Friday The Washington Post published a heart-breaking story. It concerned a young man, just 33-years-old, who was dying from a brain hemorrhage. Here’s an extract from that story:

Ryan Thomas Jessen had gone to the hospital for what he thought was a migraine, but it turned out to be a brain hemorrhage, his sister, Michelle Jessen, wrote on Facebook earlier this month.

The hemorrhage, which doctors believe may have been brought on by high blood pressure, would prove fatal.

But before Jessen died, the 33-year-old Californian’s family wanted to let his dog, Mollie, see him one last time.

Michelle Jessen filmed that last visit by Mollie and, as one might expect, the video has been shared right across the world.

So very often words come so difficult when one wants to reflect on what we have just watched.

Which is why I’m allowing Jimmy Stewart to make it easier.

He never came to me when I would call

Unless I had a tennis ball,

Or he felt like it,

But mostly he didn’t come at all.

When he was young

He never learned to heel

Or sit or stay,

He did things his way.

Discipline was not his bag

But when you were with him things sure didn’t drag.

He’d dig up a rosebush just to spite me,

And when I’d grab him, he’d turn and bite me.

He bit lots of folks from day to day,

The delivery boy was his favorite prey.

The gas man wouldn’t read our meter,

He said we owned a real man-eater.

He set the house on fire

But the story’s long to tell.

Suffice it to say that he survived

And the house survived as well.

On the evening walks, and Gloria took him,

He was always first out the door.

The Old One and I brought up the rear

Because our bones were sore.

He would charge up the street with Mom hanging on,

What a beautiful pair they were!

And if it was still light and the tourists were out,

They created a bit of a stir.

But every once in a while, he would stop in his tracks

And with a frown on his face look around.

It was just to make sure that the Old One was there

And would follow him where he was bound.

We are early-to-bedders at our house — I guess I’m the first to retire.

And as I’d leave the room he’d look at me

And get up from his place by the fire.

He knew where the tennis balls were upstairs,

And I’d give him one for a while.

He would push it under the bed with his nose

And I’d fish it out with a smile.

And before very long He’d tire of the ball

And be asleep in his corner In no time at all.

And there were nights when I’d feel him Climb upon our bed

And lie between us,

And I’d pat his head.

And there were nights when I’d feel this stare

And I’d wake up and he’d be sitting there

And I reach out my hand and stroke his hair.

And sometimes I’d feel him sigh and I think I know the reason why.

He would wake up at night

And he would have this fear

Of the dark, of life, of lots of things,

And he’d be glad to have me near.

And now he’s dead.

And there are nights when I think I feel him

Climb upon our bed and lie between us,

And I pat his head.

And there are nights when I think I feel that stare

And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,

But he’s not there.

Oh, how I wish that wasn’t so,

I’ll always love a dog named Beau.

There is no love without pain,

But to have lived without the love of a dog in one’s life would be not to have lived at all.

Our dear, dear dogs!

What to say to the kids.

Reflections on what we leave behind.

I included in yesterday’s post the interview with Bill Kotke and his concern that humanity’s greed, and that’s the correct term in my view, focusing on each generation having more, howsoever one defines ‘more’, was utterly at odds with a sustainable future on the only home we have: Planet Earth. A finite planet in a finite solar system.

On Monday I was chatting with Roger D. back in the old country. It was Roger who introduced me to gliding back in the late 70s. Later we were in business together in Colchester, Essex and we still keep in touch.

Anyway, Roger was bemoaning the current state of affairs in the UK regarding Brexit and went on to say that every economic strategy offered by this or that UK Government was about growth. Whether we are talking economic growth, improvement in living standards or population growth why are there no leading figures in any leading government standing up and saying this can’t go on! Because it can’t!

We are presently a global population of 7.5 billion. This year alone, as of today, there have been 56,000,000 deaths. But also, as of today, there have been 133,000,000 births. (I rounded the figures but what difference does it make!) That’s a growth of 77 million persons in this one year. It cannot go on!

Bill Kotke also spoke of soil loss. Just last Sunday there was a Care2 item about soil loss. From which I extract:

Could soil ever actually run out?

Yes. If we continue to harm and degrade topsoil at the current rate, it’s estimated that the world could lose all its topsoil within 60 years.

Topsoil is the uppermost layer of soil on the surface of the earth. It’s the most fertile type of soil that typically contains lots of nutrient-rich organic matter from broken down plants and other organisms. Topsoil is also alive with beneficial microbes, fungi and critters like earth worms, which feed on the organic matter.

The deeper layers of soil beneath the topsoil are not nearly as rich. They are primarily made up of decomposing rock that provides the raw material for future topsoil as well as a substrate for deeply rooted plants to anchor in.

If the delicate ecosystem within topsoil is disrupted, it will essentially die. Plants can’t grow in topsoil that doesn’t have abundant organic matter and thriving populations of microbes.

Yes, there are street protests about this political action or that political action but why aren’t we seeing tens of thousands on the streets protesting about the loss of our topsoil!!

Moving on.

There was a recent essay from Patrice Ayme in which he wrote about the Australian Asthma Thunderstorm. Just read this long extract from that essay:

(November 29th, 2016 Italics are from the story as presented in the New York Times)

Mr. McGann was one of thousands of people in Melbourne having an attack of thunderstorm asthma. About 8,500 people went to hospitals. Eight have died, and one remains in intensive care more than a week after a thunderstorm surged across Melbourne, carrying pollen that strong winds and rain broke into tiny fragments.

Perennial ryegrass seeds were swept up in whorls of wind and carried from four million hectares of pasturelands (about 9.9 million acres) that lie to Melbourne’s north and west. If broken into fragments, they are so fine that they can be inhaled.”

Actually what also lie north and west of Melbourne are giant fields of canola. Consider the following propaganda picture:

Mr. McGann did not end up in the hospital. “Every breath I took made the next breath harder,” he said, adding that he had no family history of asthma. “I just didn’t realize it could have the effect it had.”

Grass pollen is the primary source of allergies in southern Australia, and tracking the data allowed scientists to forecast high levels of grass seeds in the atmosphere on Nov. 21. Still, Ms. Hennessy said, the government was taken by surprise.”

Surprise, indeed, this did not happen before, by two orders of magnitude. How come so much more severity?

My lawyer’s theory is different. It evolved from my own observations and theories of why asthma and allergies, let alone weird cancers, have been augmenting spectacularly. There are around 150,000 artificial, man-made chemical products in use. By medical drug standards, they are untested (in earlier essays, I mentioned 80,000, which is the number brandished in the USA; however, French specialists talk about 150,000 untested chemicals.).

Canola (or rapeseed), Brassica napus, is an oilseed crop which is cultivated for its high quality edible oil used in many foods (eg. margarines and cooking oil) and seed meal (the fibrous material left after the oil pressing process), which has a high protein content. That makes it highly desirable as a stock feed.

In 2010-11, the Australian state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, produced 476 thousand tonnes of canola with a gross value of $293 million.

Control of weeds, particularly weeds from the Brassicaceae family (broadleaf), through herbicide application during the canola-growing season, significantly improves the quantity of the grain produced. Weeds compete for space, nutrients and sunlight. (African countries have dismissed that the quality of GMO seed is higher, in contradistinction with US propaganda; quite the opposite, they say)

Two genetically modified (GM) canola varieties have been developed in Australia, Roundup Ready® (by Monsanto Australia Ltd) and InVigor® (by Bayer CropSciences Pty Ltd). For maximum effect, each GM variety has been developed to be tolerant to and hence used with, a specific herbicide. The result is the mass poisoning of the planet, horizon to horizon.

The same poisoning trick is used for insecticides. To boot, the poison resistance spreads, demanding even higher doses of poison to be used in the grand outdoors..

In other words, massive quantities of poisons are put in the soil, and from there, are kicked up, in the air.

Exposed to this life destroying poisons, the body reacts by shutting down all pores. Asthma.

It cannot go on!

It is time for you and me and millions of others to be the change we want to see. Whether it’s the little things like recycling, or car sharing, or the bigger things like moving to an eco village we have to make a difference.

We have to learn from those communities that for thousands of years lived harmonious and sustainable lives on the planet. Doing so many thousands of years before farming man came on to the scene

In 1969 I spent a year in the outback of Australia as a correspondent for KotiPosti; a Finnish magazine. While I was out in the wilderness looking for Finns to write about it was impossible not to be drawn into the history of the aboriginal Australian.

ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS ARE descendents of the first people to leave Africa up to 75,000 years ago, a genetic study has found, confirming they may have the oldest continuous culture on the planet.
Professor Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen, who led the study, says Aboriginal Australians were the first modern humans to traverse unknown territory in Asia and Australia. “It was a truly amazing journey that must have demanded exceptional survival skills and bravery,” he says.
A century-old lock of hair, given by a West Australian indigenous man to an anthropologist, has led to the discovery that ancestors of Aboriginal Australians reached Asia at least 24,000 years before another wave of migration that populated Europe and Asia.

It was back then that I truly understood the relationship that those early Australians had with the earth; with their planet. Forget religions and churches, the Aborigines had a spiritual relationship with the planet that sustained them.

I will never forget exploring quietly, just me and my wife of those days, the caves and darker recesses around the base of Ayers Rock, better called Uluru, the most amazing monolith right out there in the middle of the desert. The unmistakable signs of so many of those quiet recesses being spiritual places for those ancient people.
Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid “Red Centre”. The nearest large town is Alice Springs, 450km away. Uluru is sacred to indigenous Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550 million years ago. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which also includes the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (colloquially “The Olgas”) formation.

It is just he same for the North American Indians. They have a spiritual relationship with the land.

Back to Bill Kotke’s talk. He spoke of how when each of us was the product of the fertilisation of the egg by the sperm in utero we grow first as a fish, then as a mammal and, finally, emerge as a human: “We are connected to the earth!”

As you all know I am a secular humanist. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have deep, as in spiritual, feelings for the lands and the oceans and for the wildlife of this planet

So let me close by repeating what I said at that meeting where Bill was presenting. For Bill spoke of being connected, in a heartfelt manner, with the planet. For if one is so connected then it is natural for one to want to love and protect the planet.

This is what I said:

Bill,

In 1991 I departed Gibraltar Harbour solo on my yacht Songbird of Kent heading West out across the Atlantic.

After I had settled in to the routine of being at sea, better described as settling in to being connected to the ocean, I loved watching the dolphins come up to the boat, give it the once over, raise their heads and offer me a brief eye contact and then slip away.

Then I became aware that when I was laying down on my bunk in the cabin I could sense when the dolphins were close to my hull. Each time I had that sense I would come up to the deck, briefly pausing to clip on my safety harness lest I truly joined the dolphins, and one or two of those dolphins were always by my boat.

I called this post What To Say To The Kids. Not just my son and daughter, now both mature adults, but my grandson Morten son to my daughter and her husband.

Because I feel so strongly that waiting for our leaders and politicians to lead humanity in protecting our planet is pointless. They are driven by other values.

It cannot go on!

I want to be measured by my son and my daughter, and by my grandson in due time, as a person who made a difference; even just a small one.

For I truly believe that showing love for our planet will make a difference and that is what I want to say to my kids.

We have to return to community living; a twenty-first century version of such living. Even in the giant populations of big cities we have to reach out and form local communities. Groups of people who are driven by the imperative to curtail population growth, eager to share in as many ways as possible and totally committed to taking no more from the planet than they put in.

Because It cannot go on!

This is what I want to say to my kids.

Staying in balance.

We, as in humanity, could be very close to the end!

Now my sub-title could be argued as being a tad provocative and, perhaps, it is. But I wanted to catch your attention and then hope that you stay with me for today’s post.

Jean and I belong to the Humanists & Freethinkers Group of Grants Pass. At last Saturday’s meeting the main item was a talk given by William Kötke: His website is here. Bill, as he was happy to be called, is the author of the books The Final Empire and Garden Planet (the links take you to the respective Amazon pages). Bill also has more details of his first book here.

The essence of Bill’s talk was that when we ‘evolved’ from a life of hunting and gathering to developing the land for agricultural purposes we lost our connection to the planet. For the simple reason that as foragers we depended on always being able to find edible wild plants and fruit, and therefore lived in balance with the land, but when we started to farm we became protective, materialistic and greedy. For having more land, even if one took it by force from another, equated to making more; making more food, using the surplus to buy favours, sell, etc.

Some of the facts that Bill presented in his talk were truly frightening such as soil loss; a topic I highlight in tomorrow’s post.

But for now just settle down and watch this interview of Bill filmed by Woodburn Community Access Television.

Published on Jan 10, 2016

Author and Futurist William H. Kotke shares with Woodburn his years of knowledge and understandings of the Human History and The Current Dilemma all of us face as a species.

Is there a way forward?

Yes, I think so and it’s all to do with communities; more on that in a later post.

Is this anything to do with dogs?

Here’s what the Welcome page of this blog says (in part):

As man’s companion, protector and helper, history suggests that dogs were critically important in man achieving success as a hunter-gatherer. Dogs ‘teaching’ man to be so successful a hunter enabled evolution, some 20,000 years later, to farming, thence the long journey to modern man. But in the last, say 100 years, that farming spirit has become corrupted to the point where we see the planet’s plant and mineral resources as infinite. Mankind is close to the edge of extinction, literally and spiritually.

Dogs know better, much better! Time again for man to learn from dogs!

I rest my case.

Maybe we all need saving!

Back to that wonderful theme.

My post of last Tuesday week, the one about Murat Şahin feeding the dogs and cats in Istanbul, was so warmly welcomed by you.

So with your ‘Likes’ and wonderful comments still feeling like a long hug, metaphorically speaking, a week-and-a-half later I thought it would be nice to publish this today. It was seen over on the Care2 website.

ooOOoo

Over-The-Moon Taxi Driver Saves Dog From River

Caki Bravo is becoming rather well known across Sarajevo as the man who saves dogs. The 6′ 2″ tall taxi driver is a gentle giant whose passion leads to the rescue of at least a dozen street dogs each month. Caki’s latest rescue was caught on video, and his over-the-moon reaction is something viewers can’t stop watching.

Watch Caki’s Unbridled Happiness When He Saves The Dog

(The video is not on YouTube but you may watch it by going here.)

“People said that he was pushed by a passerby, a man of about 30 years old,” Caki says explaining how the dog now named Rio ended up in the river. “We were trying to pull him up but it was really hard because he was in a panic.”

And when dealing with a frightened dog, patience is an essential element for success. Fortunately, having rescued several hundred dogs in recent years, Caki knew just what to do.

“When he was brought to dry ground, he was shaking from the cold and from the fear,” Caki explains.

But within minutes, Rio was warming to the idea of human touch and sitting comfortably in the lap of rescue teammate Edina Pasic. Rio is now adjusting very well in foster care.”

Caki belongs to a collective of rescuers in Bosnia who are caring for at least a couple thousand dogs in any given month. He and the others spent last weekend delivering bales of straw to a municipal dog pound to keep the dogs warm for winter.

The volunteer visit each Sunday includes delivering a large meal to each and every dog. Unfortunately, the town feeds the dogs only stale bread during the week. Rescuers are attempting to provide good quality food more often.

The USA-based Harmony Fund charity has just provided meals for the volunteers to deliver to the dogs throughout the month of December. The group often posts updates of the Bosnian rescue efforts on their Facebook page.

ooOOoo

Again and again dogs show us the power of love! (And forgiveness!)

Decisions; decisions.

“Things do not change; we change.“

That saying from the lips of Henry David Thoreau, the American essayist, poet and philosopher, reminds us that we must be that change before that change comes along.

Thus whatever you or I, or anyone else, thinks is wrong with these times, so eloquently expressed by George Monbiot in his essay republished in this place yesterday, bringing about the changes that you or I, or anyone else, want has to start with the individual.

That, inevitably, requires many to chose which path to follow.

Last Saturday, Sue Dreamwalker of the blog Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary, published a post that truly couldn’t have been better written in terms of following on to yesterday’s post.

Here it is republished with Sue’s kind permission.

ooOOoo

Crossroads~ Which path do you choose?

26 Nov 2016

by Sue Dreamwalker

I felt the need to post something deeper again today, and I could find no better words to write than I have already written as my thoughts go out to the many places around our globe in conflict right now.

I know there are many new subscribers here to Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary this year who may not have read this post.. I thank all in advance for their contributions..

If I am slow getting back to you, it’s because I want some time to paint this weekend and walk out in nature..
So look after each other and choose your Pathway well..
Love and Blessings
Sue❤

Much is happening with our Earth Plane at this time of transformation, the Mayans called it

“ A crossroads of time of Great External Changes and Major Internal Upheavals”.

We have seen around the globe how many nations are starting to change, we are also changing ourselves internally through our awareness and intuition and I see many withdrawing into themselves as they seek peace as they set about clearing the debris of our emotional bodies, myself included as we adjust to the vibrations around us.

At times all that is thrown our way is too disturbing to cope with, so we withdraw within our inner sanctuaries finding solace within Nature and our meditations..

I have to remind myself daily of the GOOD in this world as we get constantly bombarded with the BAD… So many things which are UGLY in this world which led me to revisit a post first posted in 2012.. The Good Bad and Ugly.. in which I used the Mayan quote above..

Everything in this world mirrors everything else, and everything is part of everything else, as difficult as that is to comprehend. So while we react with outrage, our rage is joining the tide of Anger already out there which is foaming back and forth in the sea of discontent.

It seems as if our very Earth Mother feels that anger as she too is rumbling ever louder in the bowels of our planet as we have seen how devastating her energies can be in Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which are now becoming more active again around our globe..

We have to be careful not to be taken down the road of Fear.. Lest it trap us into engaging in giving out more fear by our failure to see how we are all quick to judge and use our own prejudices in labelling that which we are not in alignment with. Whether that be in our politics, beliefs, or idealisms. None of us is perfect.

We are now ‘Shifting’ from duality to Unity Consciousness, this was brought home again to me on how many of us are thinking similar thoughts even here on WP we see similar themes as we link into the Mass Consciousness as we join together our thoughts as we link subconsciously to the Cosmic web of thoughts..

We need to be aware of the Power of our thoughts and how we can assist in raising our planets vibration and our own collective Consciousness..

Much has been spoken upon Ascension, but first we need to ascend through our own layers as we climb ever higher, leaving behind the things that no longer serve us.

We do that by not getting swept up in conflict.. by being more loving and tolerant and being compassionate rather than being judgmental holding hate and anger.

We need to put the Care back in the world and if we embrace and choose Love over fear and we stop looking who to blame, but start to set examples of living in harmony and unity, then the true magnificence of who we really are can begin to manifest that ‘Golden Age’ which was once prophesied to bring about Peace..

But it’s up to us to pledge to change our own lives,and when we each start bringing back that peace within our own Lives, It’s up to each of us which road we want to take. And what dominant energy we want to prevail.. I choose Love.

Blessings

Sue.

ooOOoo

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.

So said Jim Rohn, the American businessman who died in 2009.

Troubling times.

We all could easily be drinking in ‘the last chance saloon’.

After I published my book, Learning From Dogs, last December I was invited to a number of book signing events. In each case I gave a short talk of about 20 minutes in which I explained the philosophy behind the book. Perhaps no better articulated than by Dr. Jim Goodbrod’s Foreword to the book. Take this paragraph, for instance, from that Foreword:

Dogs represent to me that innocence lost. Their emotions are pure. They live in the present. They do not suffer existential angst over what they are. They do not covet material wealth. They offer us unconditional love and devotion. Although they certainly have not reached the great heights of intellectual achievement of us humans (I know for a fact that this is true after having lived with a Labrador Retriever for several years), at the same time they have not sunk to the depths of depravity to which we are susceptible. It could be argued that I am being overly anthropomorphic, or that dogs are simply mentally incapable of these thoughts. But nevertheless, metaphorically or otherwise, I believe that dogs demonstrate a simple and uncorrupted approach to life from which we all could benefit.

During my opening talks on each occasion I would ask the audience: “So raise your hands if you are someone who is not worried about the future?”

There was never a raised hand!

My introduction to a recent essay published by George Monbiot that is republished here with Mr. Monbiot’s permission.

ooOOoo

The Drums of War

24th November 2016

The combination of automation, complexity and climate change is dangerous in ways we haven’t even begun to grasp.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 23^rd November 2016

Wave the magic wand and the problem goes away. Those pesky pollution laws, carbon caps and clean power plans: swish them away and the golden age of blue-collar employment will return. This is Donald Trump’s promise, in his video message on Monday, in which he claimed that unleashing coal and fracking will create “many millions of high-paid jobs”. He will tear down everything to make it come true.

But it won’t come true. Even if we ripped the world to pieces in the search for full employment, leaving no mountain unturned, we would not find it. Instead, we would merely jeopardise the prosperity – and the lives – of people everywhere. However slavishly governments grovel to corporate Luddism, they will not bring the smog economy back.

No one can deny the problem Trump claims to be addressing. The old mining and industrial areas are in crisis throughout the rich world. And we have seen nothing yet.

I have just re-read the study published by the Oxford Martin School in 2013 on the impacts of computerisation. What jumps out today, to put it crudely, is that jobs in the rustbelts and rural towns that voted for Trump are at high risk of automation; while the professions of many Clinton supporters are at low risk.

The jobs most likely to be destroyed are in mining, raw materials, manufacturing, transport and logistics, cargo handling, warehousing and retailing, construction (pre-fabricated buildings will be assembled by robots in factories), office support, administration and telemarketing. So what, in the counties that voted for Trump, will be left?

Farm jobs have mostly gone already. Service and care work, where hope for some appeared to lie, will be threatened by a further wave of automation, as service robots – commercial and domestic – take over. Yes, there will be jobs in the green economy, more and better than any that could be revived in the fossil economy. But they won’t be enough to fill the gaps, and many will be in the wrong places.

At lower risk is work that requires negotiation, persuasion, originality and creativity. The management and business jobs that demand these skills are comparatively safe from automation; so are lawyers, teachers, researchers, doctors, journalists, actors and artists. The jobs that demand the highest educational attainment are the least susceptible to computerisation. The divisions tearing America apart will only widen.

Even this bleak analysis does not capture in full the underlying reasons why good, abundant jobs will not return to the places that need them most. As Paul Mason argues in Postcapitalism, the impacts of information technology go way beyond simple automation: it is likely to destroy the very basis of the market economy and the relationship between work and wages.

And, as the independent thinker Paul Arbair notes in the most interesting essay I have read this year, beyond a certain level of complexity, economies become harder to sustain. There’s a point at which further complexity delivers diminishing returns; society is then overwhelmed by its demands and breaks down. He argues that the political crisis in Western countries suggests we may have reached this point.

In the same video address on Monday, Trump announced that he will withdraw America from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He is right to do so, for the wrong reasons. Like TTIP and CETA, the TPP is a fake trade treaty, whose primary impact is to extend corporate property rights at the expense of both competition and democracy. But withdrawal will not, as he claims, “bring jobs and industry back to American shores”. The work in Mexico and China that Trump wants to reclaim will evaporate long before it can be repatriated.

As for the high-quality, high-waged working class jobs he promised, these are never handed down from on high. They are secured through the organisation of labour. But the unions were smashed by Ronald Reagan, and collective bargaining has been suppressed ever since by casualisation and fragmentation. So how is this going to happen? Out of the kindness of Trump’s heart? Kindness, Trump, heart?

But it’s not just Trump. Clinton and Sanders also made impossible promises to bring back jobs. Half the platform of both parties was based on a delusion. The social, environmental and economic crises we face require a complete reappraisal of the way we live and work. The failure by mainstream political parties to produce a new and persuasive economic narrative, that does not rely on sustaining impossible levels of growth and generating illusory jobs, provides a marvellous opening for demagogues everywhere.

Governments across the world are making promises they cannot keep. In the absence of a new vision, their failure to materialise will mean only one thing: something or someone must be found to blame. As people become angrier and more alienated; as the complexity and connectivity of global systems becomes ever harder to manage; as institutions like the European Union collapse and as climate change renders parts of the world uninhabitable, forcing hundreds of millions of people from their homes, the net of blame will be cast ever wider.

Eventually the anger that cannot be assuaged through policy will be turned outwards, towards other nations. Faced with a choice of hard truths or easy lies, politicians and their supporters in the media will discover that foreign aggression is among the few options for political survival. I now believe that we will see war between the major powers within my lifetime. Which ones it will involve, and on what apparent cause, remains far from clear. But something that once seemed remote now looks probable to me.

A complete reframing of economic life is needed not “just” to suppress the existential risk that climate change presents (a risk marked by a 20°C anomaly reported in the Arctic Ocean while I was writing this article), but other existential threats as well – including war. Today’s governments, whether they are run by Trump or Obama or May or Merkel, lack the courage and imagination even to open this conversation. It is left to others to conceive of a more plausible vision than trying to magic back the good old days. The task for all those who love this world and fear for our children is to imagine a different future, rather than another past.

http://www.monbiot.com

ooOOoo

On my desk in front of me is a small booklet of business quotations that was published by Speedwing Training Ltd, part of the British Airways Group of Companies. I have had it for years. I randomly opened the booklet and there on page 7 is this quotation (and the emboldening is mine):

Our task is not to fix the blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.

John F. Kennedy

Mr. Monbiot speaks for the millions of people who need that course for the future NOW!

Thanksgiving for all!

Including our most precious and beautiful dogs.

(Saw this over on the Care2 site and knew it was perfect for this day!)

Please give all your animals an especially loving hug.

Letting them go!

A beautiful guest post for today

Back on the 22nd October I was in correspondence with Grinia. Here’s a part of an email she sent me that day:

Hi Paul,
Thank you so much. I’m going through your blog in more details to see what would make more sense for me to write about. I will get back to you soon.

Have you seen this post in my blog? https://mirrorsoul.org/2016/10/12/blu-skies-rescue-dogs/

What I’m thinking right now is to write about my former dog, Bella, how we had to let her go live with someone else because we loved her and wanted her to be happy. She was not happy with the toddler especially because I couldn’t take her to her long walks anymore- I was expecting another baby and I knew when the new one comes I would have even less time for her. I’ve been wanting to write about that for a while.

No question to my mind; it was Grinia’s story about Bella that attracted me and I was so looking forward to receiving Grinia’s story and sharing it with you.

Grinia did indeed send me her story on the 29th October and I replied saying I would publish it on Monday, 7th November.

But, of course, events rolled over my promise in the sense that it was clear that my mother was close to death and, as you all know, she did die on the 14th.

So here we are on the 23rd, the day before Thanksgiving Day, nearly a month after Grinia sent it, and, at last, it is being published in full.

You will be moved by Grinia’s story.

ooOOoo

Sometimes you have to let them go.

We were just married living in a cozy apartment with an amazing view of the Boston skyline. As many young couples, we had a lot of plans including buying a house and start growing our little family. After talking it through and looking at our budget and free time, we decided that we should get a dog. The dog would be the first ‘thing’ we would have together to love and care for, so it sounded like a great idea.

I grew up among a lot animals, including dogs, cats and chickens, and my husband also had a dog growing up so we knew the amount of care it would require from us. We both had full time jobs and we were living in a rental. Before agreeing with us having a dog, our landlord set up several requirements: small breed, 4 years old+, house trained, cradle trained, and the nails should be kept short to not damage the furniture and wood floor. From our side, we were looking for a dog that would be friendly with kids (as we wanted to have kids soon) and didn’t shed too much, because I have a lot of allergies. Wow, that seemed like a lot of requirements! I didn’t think we would find this ‘perfect’ dog.

We went to several places, but the searching was tough. Every dog I saw I would fall in love with it. I remember there was pit bull called Lovie. I cried when I got home because we couldn’t adopt her. She was so cute and docile; I really didn’t want to leave her behind. My husband was struggling trying to keep me from getting too attached to the dogs we visited, but it was tough, I have a weak heart. 

I was almost giving up, I thought that the requirements were too many and it was emotionally draining. Then, one day I was searching online and I found this website for rescued dogs. They had a rat terrier that seemed to meet all the requirements. We went to her foster home for a visit and we both fell in love! What a cute dog! She seemed a bit noisy and had tons of energy despite being 6 years old but it felt like she was ours from the moment we first put our eyes on her.

After filling up all the paperwork and doing the adoption process, we brought Bella home. Her back-story, as told to us, was that she was with her owner for 6 years until they adopted a sick older dog. Bella didn’t get along with the older dog and the family decided to give her away since they thought she would have a better chance to be adopted. I don’t know if I believed in this story, I couldn’t understand how you raise a dog for 6 years and then decide to give it away because you got another one. I should not judge, but I did. I made a promise to Bella that I would never let her go. She was my first daughter.

When Bella just moved in with us, she had a lot of issues. She was scared of any noise and it was very hard to walk her on the streets of Boston, even on the quieter ones. Most of the time, we would have to carry Bella as she would freeze and not move her paws at all. It looked like she was going to have a heart attack – her little body would shake so hard and I didn’t know little hearts could beat so fast. Poor Bella…

After a while, she became more confident and happy to walk on the streets. She was greeting people and even running around. When we moved to our new home in the suburbs, Bella was super happy! Maybe it was because the area was less noisy and the house was much bigger. Bella also loved her new dog walkers! They told me she was the leader and was doing very well with other dogs. Everything was perfect for us and for Bella. She had lots of walk and all of our love and attention. She loved to go on hikes with us, but even a little car ride would do her good.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I think Bella knew something was up. She got extremely attached to me and would follow me everywhere. She also started to get more protective on walks, especially around men. I didn’t make much of it; I thought it was just temporary. The baby came and Bella seemed fine with it. She went through sleepiness nights as she would always check in when the baby was crying, poor Bella was as exhausted as I was.

Bella was very loving and gentle with the baby, but she was still more protective than usual on our walks. The baby started to grow, crawling, and then walking. She wanted to play with Bella, so I had my eyes always on them because J still didn’t know how to be gentle. She wanted to hug and kiss Bella, but Bella wasn’t the cuddling type.

I was pregnant with my second baby and resigned from my job to stay home with the kids for a little while. We couldn’t justify paying for Bella walks anymore with only one income and me staying at home. It was okay for a while, but as the belly grew bigger and the winter came it became very challenging. I wasn’t giving Bella long walks as she was used to. Bella started to become a little bit more anxious and didn’t want my toddler around her. J would try to play with her and even a gentle approach let Bella to nip her a couple of times.

My husband and I tried to work it out. He started to give Bella long walks in the morning and evenings and I made sure to have time to play with her even though I was feeling so tired. One winter afternoon, I was walking Bella with my toddler when J had a tantrum and threw herself on the ground; at the same time Bella was barking and pulling the leash trying to escape to run across the street to fight another dog. I was in panic! After that day I realized that it would be very hard to handle the situation moving forward: in a few weeks I would have another baby at home, I couldn’t leave Bella alone with the toddler, and Bella was barking uncontrollably.

We looked for professional help. The ‘diagnose’ was that Bella was insecure; her behavior was driven by fear. I think Bella had the first child syndrome – she was used to have 100% attention and love and now we could not provide it anymore. After talking to a few professionals, the price to have Bella trained was at least $700 per week and they didn’t guarantee results due to her advanced age. We couldn’t afford that, and couldn’t afford Bella nipping behavior either. She even tried to nip the kid’s neighbor and a stranger on the street while we were walking her – she had never done that before.

It was time to face the truth: we couldn’t keep Bella.

I was so stressed. I couldn’t let my first daughter go, I had made her a promise. I’d failed her.

We started to ask friends if they would like to take Bella, this way we would still be around her and know she was being treated well. It was when one of our friends said he would consider taking her. His response was perfect:

“Bella is a great dog but, as you know, being a dog owner – being a good dog owner – is a lot of work, so this isn’t a decision that I can go into lightly. I will need a little bit of time to think about this and plan/budget what I would need in order to be the type of dog owner that Bella deserves.”

His answer brought tears to my eyes. He was the right person to love and care for our little Bella and I couldn’t wait to hear his final response. After a couple of dog sittings, he said yes. Our little Bella had found a new loving owner. My feelings were mixed, I was so happy that our friend was going to take her, but my heart was in pieces for having to let her go. I loved – I love – Bella so much.

The day Bella moved out my husband and I had tears in our eyes. Our little Bella was gone. We kept telling ourselves it was the best decision for her and for us. We couldn’t give her the love and time she deserved. But I couldn’t stop thinking that it is not an excuse to let your child go, Bella was my first child and I had given her away.

Today, my heart still hurts when I think about it. I miss Bella, I miss arriving home and see her jumping around and grabbing one of her squeaky toys. Sometimes I even miss her barking. However, we believe that we did the best for Bella. Her new dad loves her deeply and gives her all the love and attention she deserves. We see photos and videos of Bella everyday and we went to visit once. I don’t like to go visit much, because I feel every time I leave I am abandoning her again. Looking at her videos and photos warms my heart, as I know she is happy and healthy.

Sometimes, we have to let them go. Letting go someone or something you love isn’t an easy decision and it hurts deep in our heart, but knowing that by letting them go you set them free to be happy and to have the love they need and deserve brings some relief to our soul.

Bella’s new Dad!

ooOOoo

What a wonderful, moving account. No question in my mind that Grinia’s story was well worth waiting for.

Christmas Rescuers Save 1,300 Dogs and Cats From Winter Without Electricity

The Great Animal Rescue Chase

The Harmony Fund

Contact Us

Welcome Heroes

Share this:

The man who looks after 735 dogs

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Over-The-Moon Taxi Driver Saves Dog From River

Share this:

Share this:

The Drums of War

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: