Unprecedented Levels of Animal Cruelty!

I'd been writing and researching when yet another link appeared on the screen, that of a video of a little dog, left to die, in a canal, for two long days when he was rescued. To everyone's shock, the puppy was missing its hind leg, hewn like a piece of green wood, in another repeated act of brutality that tore at the heart strings.

Today, the torturous treatment of animals now seems to have been sadistically elevated to something I call 'design' neglect, an intentional re-arrangement of the animal's body when 'benign' neglect would have sufficed. By 'removing' or 're-shaping' parts of the animal's body, death is most assuredly hastened but with more pain and suffering. These 'purposeful' demonic acts on animals, man's 'best friend', seem to reflect the perpetrator's true intention: to expedite death.  Benign neglect, otherwise known as abandonment and the withholding of food and water, is not enough, anymore! Sadistic treatment is now the new 'power' tool being used on these powerless, helpless, gentle creatures! Oh, My!

Brutality is ugly. What was the purpose of this newest 'twist' of animal perversion, I wondered? The little pup had been seen, two days earlier, being abused, then strangled by an adult member of the human race. I could not watch the heart wrenching video but forced myself to do so. Turning away from evil does not make it go away. Solutions must be found. We must learn from it, then protect those with no voice at all, do what we must, then create the systems that will eliminate the cruelty from its origins.

The insanity of abuse was now rearing its ugly head in a more virulent manner with the most innocent of all creatures: puppies and kittens. ... As the male volunteer of the rescue organization, Hope for Paws, approached the little pup, in the distance, in the damp river bed, he could see the quivering, blood splattered little 'munchkin' named Jordan, just sitting there, whimpering, in quiet desperation, his back to the oncoming 'traffic'. The puppy could not move as he cried secretly and quietly. He was calm, near death. With a portable bed and soft blanket in hand, the rescuer realized, to his utter horror, the depth of the suffering that had befallen this fragile brutalized pup. His back leg had been cut off, in another grotesque act of torture. A special kind of torment would mark the dog for a lifetime, if he lived. The abuser's signature would be felt forever. 'Design' neglect had taken centre stage!

Jordan had been thrown off a bridge, a span of 30 feet, to the river bed below. He was not expected to survive the drop. Would anyone? His hind leg had been savagely and brutally torn from its 'moorings'. The video continued. I was overwhelmed and sickened! I cried. Tiggy, my wonder cat just watched. She knew. ... With the help of a small professional army of loving doctors, therapists and caregivers, Jordan recovered remarkably as the video showed and eventually began a happy ending as a three-legged beautiful, smart face in a loving family, with two older 'sisters'. He lived because others cared and dared to act.

Then there was Duke, the happy-go-lucky little pup with a joyous demeanor and great determination, trying to 'appease' all as they passed by. His ear flaps, mimicking ear muffs, reflected his passivity, his submissiveness to all. He was not a threat, he wanted everyone to know. (His ears would tell his horrific story.) Duke was not aggressive or violent, just a sweet little puppy boy. But he was left to die, chained to a rusting, rotting trailer. He was diseased, his owner reminded those kind souls who deigned to give him bread and water, those intermittent gifts of life, to keep him alive. Duke, found by the tender touch of the Rudozem Street Dog Rescue, was brought to the overcrowded animal rescue facility that housed so many other brutalized innocents desperate for loving, forever homes. Attending to his immediate needs now became a top priority. He was weak, malnourished and covered with skin lesions, His glaring leg deformities, however, would have to wait. How had his malformed front limbs originated, anyway, the specialists wondered until they wondered no more? They were not the result of birth defects or his enduring malnutrition. Like the pup in the river bed, a new brand of animal cruelty had been applied. This time, purposeful savagery - butchery at its 'best' - had been administered in the guise of the intentional destruction of the skeletal structure of Duke's front legs and paws. 'Design' neglect had reared its ugly head, again. After many costly months of care, leg straightening, with casts, and operations, Duke's health was finally restored. He recovered and was adopted by a loving forever home, in England. Another happy ending.

The web has given hope and homes to thousands of homeless pets left to die, cruelly, by the side of the road, in a river bed, garbage dump or chained to a rusty trailer. In some cases, the abysmal circumstances of these poor creatures were made worse by the application of new forms of cruelty called 'design' neglect, the horrible 'remodeling' of the animal's body to elevate its suffering to an unfathomable level of brutality. Benign neglect is so last year!

When Jordan was found, he was in shock, missing a leg, while sitting in puddles of water, in a river bed, for two very long painful days. ... Had Mother Nature assisted, in some miraculous way, with her healing arm of negatively charged ions, in helping Jordan's critically injured body cope till help arrived? Was there a timeline?  Had grounding or earthing become the bridge between his life and certain death? ... The army of volunteers, in all their professional guises, marveled at Jordan's will to live. He should not have survived.

Let us praise and honor all the men and women who play such vital roles in caring for abused animals, everywhere! Then let us do whatever we can with our time, skills and resources to remediate the horror of animal cruelty. ... It does take a village, after all.