Being on the Right Side of Animal Rights

As much as I lambast animal rights organizations for bullying animal shelters for not adopting aggressive dogs so as to meet a 90% statistical number; I find myself on the same side wth them when it comes to wild animals.  I think all roadside zoos should be shut down.

Although my college background is in wildlife resources, I am against State laws that require that trappers only have to check their traplines once every three days.  I can’t imagine an animal being stuck in a leg hold trap for three days.  I can’t imagine an animal having to be in a leg hold trap for even three hours.  Whenever I am given the opportunity to update a city or county animal ordinance, I always work in a prohibition on leg hold traps. There is no use for them in populated or unpopulated areas.  They are a danger to domestic pets and they are intended to harm another living thing.

While I am bandstanding, wild species should never be a backyard pet.  For a while idiots were allowed to purchase ligers, half lion and half tiger.  There are probably still people keeping these animals in their backyards.  The real dumb ones probably have them running around in their houses.  The problem with natural selection is that instead of wiping out the person with deleterious genes (for stupidity) is when a child becomes injured due to someone else’s gene pool.

I worked with someone conducting college research on taking coyote puppies and attempting to domesticate them.  They hand-raised them from birth; only to find that the animals were coded from birth to be wild.  The human species is not smart enough to figure out that wild animals are coded with DNA to be wild.  It is inhumane to make them any different than what they are coded for.

Lost Words

I was reading a Marc Cameron novel, and he used “stalwart”, “forthright”, and “chivalrous”; words, that he calls “dusty-book words”-that seem to have disappeared from our culture.

Our culture is degrading; but thanks to Marc, maybe we need a reminder or two of a few words that used to mean something.

Respecting the Dead

I’ve always said that how you treat a dead animal indicates how you treat a live one.  I bring up this issue today when several of our local police officers were discovered cutting up a dead homeless person.  Pretty outrageous.  They didn’t even cut off their body cameras; pretty stupid as well.  I have a lot of respect for police officers, but these guys do not measure up to the level I expect of their position.

Revelations

“If private revelations agree with Scripture, they are needless; and if they disagree, they are false.”   J.I. Packer.

The Bible constantly warns us about false prophets.  Many religions today claim that they are handing down prophecies from God.  John the Baptist was the last Prophet.  The prophets were paving the way for the Christ.  Once He came, there was no need for prophets to keep telling of His coming.

The Bible

The Bible takes on a whole new meaning when you realize that it isn’t just a great book, but that the author was writing to you.

The Swamp

I began working for the US Customs Service right out of the military.  They gained an early release for me from the Air Force.  I had a skill that they wanted to use on the Mexican Border; I trained and utilized narcotic detection dogs.  I would have had no problem explaining to anyone what my role was in government and I could show the results of my work efforts by the amount of drugs that I found and seized.

I find it odd that Elon Musk asked federal employees to explain what they do and that request has been considered outrageous.  It is possible that many of our current federal employees cannot explain what they do because they do nothing.  They are just part of the swamp, draining away the taxpayer’s money.  It is hard to see what the government does because you have to wade through so much swamp water.

This is not unlike the spiritual swamp water that exists for Christians.  Sometimes the world throws so much at you that it is hard to find God because so much spiritual swamp water surrounds us.  Know that God is closer than you think and you can find Him by taking one step at a time. If you find that the swamp water is getting dirtier, then know that you are headed in the right direction.  The world will do everything it can to stop you from finding God.  When you stumble, just reach up and take God’s hand.

A Message to Our Country

Proverbs 1:20–33 (ESV)

The Call of Wisdom
20  Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23  If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24  Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25  because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26  I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27  when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29  Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30  would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
31  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
32  For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Out of the Darkness

It breaks my heart to hear about how the political climate of Portland, Oregon, has dragged the city into darkness.  It is now much worse than when I worked there in the 1990s.  Portland is in the greatest need for a revival.  I join with my brothers and sisters of Athey Creek to support the PDX Crusade 2025 on August 2nd and 3rd at the Moda Center.  All is not lost for Portland because Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46)  Join with me in prayer to bring Portland out of the darkness.

Integrity

“Integrity is a quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It refers to firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. People with integrity follow moral and ethical principles in life, including professional areas of work such as decision-making, interacting with colleagues and serving customers or clients.” If you still believe anything that the internet says.

Some says that, “Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.” But, God is always watching. Integrity is a rare thing. We are all born with equal amounts of integrity, but as we grow older we begin losing our integrity. Some lose it faster than others. The problem with integrity is that once you lose it, you never get back; over time, losing more of it becomes easier and easier.

Mainstream media may never be trusted again, because they have lost their integrity. The easiest way to keep from losing your integrity is to fear God. If God is always watching, then maybe you don’t want Him looking down on you in disappointment. If you have not cut all of your ties with God, you might feel guilt when cheating in life. It is His way to drive you in the right direction.

If you can’t find your way to fearing God, then imagine wearing a polygraph in all of your dealings with the business of your life.

Trustworthy is the first law of being a Boy Scout. You are to, “Tell the truth and keep promises. People can depend on you.” The world needs more Boy Scouts.

What does this have to do with working in animal welfare?  EVERYTHING!

Bible passages:

Job 2:3
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”
Ps 7:8
The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
Pr 11:3
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
Pr 19:1
Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

Snake Handlers

I was recently watching a YouTube video in which a guy was stroking the chin of a cobra. As he stokes the snake, he says, “This is very dangerous, don’t try this at home.” Apparently, it wasn’t too dangerous to post the video. In all of the years that I’ve spent in animal welfare, snake handlers are by far the most stupid people that I’ve ever encountered. We usually don’t hear much about them until one of them gets bitten.

Then there is such a fuss that anti-venom has to be found that causes the depletion of anti-venom serum supplies. Police get involved and someone decides that the snakes must be rounded up and taken somewhere for safety. Guess where they go? Yep, I’ve been involved in incidents in which my shelter was caring for over 120 snakes at one time, many of them labeled as the most dangerous ones in the world.  I was in a room with a loose albino cobra; it took months for my testicles to decide to drop back down.  I think they still have PTSD.

The Milwaukee area seemed to be the epicenter of these stupid snake handlers. The good news is that during the winter months snakes are pretty easy to catch due to their cold-blood nature that doesn’t mix well with snow. If they ever escape, pray that it is winter.

I don’t fancy government regulation, but if someone wanted to regulate snake ownership, they would have my support. Without snakes, I wouldn’t have to check my toilet to make sure nothing was there to bite my butt. Sure, you don’t worry about such things. Apparently, you have not taken enough snake calls.

I didn’t watch the entire video because eventually, that guy is going to get bitten. Maybe not in that video, but eventually. That’s how Mother Nature works; she is patient. If you engage in enough activities that demonstrate that you have deleterious genes for stupidity, eventually, you’ll be permanently removed from the gene pool. I have to be honest. There is enough stupidity in our gene pool that these snake handlers won’t be missed.