Opening the doors of perception

Animal rights activists. That phrase can conjure up a lot of ugly images. Wild eyed lunatics wearing meat and flinging blood on people wearing fur. We've all read the headlines or seen the sound bites for stories like this. The extremists are the ones that get the attention, no matter what the cause is. Apparently that is the image that certain elements in the Oklahoma state government want us all to think of whenever we hear animal rights mentioned.

 This years "right to farm" bill, supposedly created to protect the citizens of Oklahoma's right to farm and ranch, is an example of that.  No one was ever trying to take that right away. Why was such a bill needed? Why did the advertisements include the part about "preventing outside interests from telling us how to care for our animals. Why is it that each year a bill is introduced in the Oklahoma state government that would ban the use of gas chambers for euthanasia and each year these bills disappear after being sent to the department of agriculture for "evaluation"? Why? Why are puppy mills so plentiful in Oklahoma? Why are there so many inhumane practices allowed in farming and ranching here in Oklahoma? Are there crazy animal rights activists lining the streets flinging meat and blood at the farmers and ranchers? I don't think so.

Is someone profiting from keeping these practices in place? Or is it just a simple fear of change, those outside influences the advertising for the right to farm bill warns us of? Could it be just the simple fact that Oklahoma needs to take steps to enter the modern world. The "good old boys" in our state government and their lobbying friends need to be replaced with some new ideas and fresh thinking. 

We don't want to throw blood on anyone nor do we want to take away anyone's livelihood. All we want is to see our animals treated more humanely and have more opportunities to live! It's time for the people of Oklahoma to make their voices heard. Contact your state officials, your local city and county governments, tell them to stop listening to voices from the past and start listening to the voices of our animals. 

This is what most "animal rights activists" really look like. We don't fling blood or wear meat, we don't do  anything crazy. We put in countless hours, unbelievable effort, lots of tears,  often our last dime, all in the hopes of saving and improving the lives of our furry friends.