BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids Love for Animals, Indifference to Children?

I think "innocent" really means "ignorant" but in a nice way.

I'm like a lot of you - I'm a huge animal lover and I can't handle hearing about or watching anything to do with animal cruelty. I always cry. If my husband and I are watching t.v. and a news story or commercial about animal cruelty comes on, he rushes to change the channel because it just sends me into a tail spin. I loathe, despise, detest, hate animal cruelty. I think people who are cruel to animals should have to experience the same cruelty they perpetuated. And then they should be locked away and never be allowed back into society. I DO NOT understand people who get pets and then just toss them away when they have kids....or who are completely unconcerned when their animals turns up missing. It's weird (and frankly unnatural and abnormal) to care so little for a living being you agreed to take care of.

Having said that, I feel the same way about cruelty toward children. I sincerely and completely believe that parents who lose children to a psychopath or parents whose children are harmed by some nut job should be allowed to kill the psychopath nut job. If you can look into the eyes of a child or helpless animal and harm them, you are not redeemable.....you have no soul. I have several nieces and nephews. I love all of them. Most of them are on my husband's side of the family, though....my only sister has a little girl who lives nearby and I see her frequently. Maybe because of biology or maybe because I see her far more than the rest of the nieces and nephews, I adore my sister's little girl - she is the prettiest, smartest, funniest little girl in the world. God help the person who ever tries to harm her - my sister won't have the chance to do anything because I'll do it first. (and let me just say that even though I love my nieces and nephews, I still never want to raise any children). But the point made that the innocence of children and animals is what makes us protective of them is a true one. Children and animals can't really defend themselves which is why it's despicable when someone does harm to one of them.

I would save both the child and the dog....somehow. I couldn't live with myself otherwise.

I too can't stand the thoughts of an innocent animal being harmed or treated badly. They are creatures that love us and want to please us. They greet us when we come home and are always "there for us." Then, some people turn and treat them horribly. I am very much an animal lover. On one other thread, I mentioned the animal rescue commercial on tv that makes me cry every time it comes on. I have to change the channel so I don't go into a fit of tears.

Then, there are also animals other than our pets....my ex husband hunted deer and I couldn't stand the thoughts. I love the squirrels scampering in the lawn and the birds in the trees and look at the deer running thru the back lawn in awe. I even enjoy the lizards as they eat spiders (which I am TERRIFIED of) so they are my friends. So, I have a very soft spot in my heart for animals.

However, I also can't stand the thoughts of someone harming a child. They also look to their parents to take care of them. Parents who abuse their children aren't worth the air they breathe. It also tears me to pieces to know a child has been harmed. I cringe at the thought. I choose not to have children, but if I did have one, I would raise it the way it should be raised. I would be the parent I should be. I would never ever hurt it. And the children who fall into the hands of a molestor or kidnapper or other abuser...I shudder to think of it. So so horrible.

Oh, and regarding the question of saving the dog versus the child....I have to say I agree with snooks. I'd have to save both, somehow.

Mmmmyeah. I don't use bad chemicals in my house or yard. I feed the outdoor critters & my 2 dog kids. I'm a rescuer & activist & won't even be around anyone who doesn't hold animals to the highest respect. So basically I think he's an [censored] & he wouldn't be in my life. And I don't have kids because I don't like them. Most parents nowadays are horrible parents & let their kids run wild & do whatever they want. They aren't expected to behave, respect anyone or be held to any standards.

One thing I hate is the snail bait product that poisons lots of animals...if it's scattered it kills birds, if it's heaped it kills everything else...
We lost a gorgeous cat to snail bait poisoning - he had a horrible death - it still makes me cry to think about him...
There is now a product on the market that is kinder to animals - it will make them nauseous so they're unlikely to eat it again but certainly, won't kill them...
We employ someone to care for our garden - he used the nasty product once "without thinking"...
He won't be doing that again...it must have taken him an hour to scoop up every last grain - our garden is for us to enjoy and the "us" includes our cats - I DON'T want poison that looks like dry food scattered about...
So, let everyone know there is an alternative - there are some natural methods you can use too...if slugs and snails are a problem in your garden.

My friend's dog almost died last August after eating something like four granules of DeCon mouse poison. She had to rush her to emergency care and I can't remember what they did, but they saved her. They said if my friend had waited, the dog would have died. We're talking about a chocolate lab, not some little lap dog.

I have sugar gliders, so I said NO to mouse poison, and my mom threw whatever we had out (just in case they ever came in contact with any of it, as mice tend to drag that stuff around.)

My husband bought some when we had a mouse problem a few years ago. I freaked out. I said NO. He put it out anyway. I flipped out. I said do you want the dog to get it? He said he'd put it where the dog couldn't get it. I literally had a screaming match with him because he kept insisting that dogs/sugar gliders couldn't get it. I didn't care! I didn't want it in the house! What if my nephew came over and found it?

He put it in the garage, and I threw it out just in case one of the dogs got in there. After my friend's dog got sick, I said SEE? Husband FINALLY understood that dogs CAN get at it, even if it's put away. I will not tolerate poison in my house.

Coincidence that this topic came up. My husband teases me about this. If we're watching TV and there's a news report about a dog that was inhumanely treated, I get really REALLY upset. Not that hearing about a child being mistreated doesn't get me upset, it does, but for some reason I can totally understand where you're coming from because I'm the same way.

I don't like hearing about cruelty to anyone, but tend to be more sensitive about animals because they tend to get the worst of it, the abusers are rarely punished and animals don't have the resources that human victims do. For instance, the recent stories I've been hearing about people tossing their animals into shelters to die because they aren't willing to adjust their spending habits just p!ss me off to no end.

As for the mosquitoes, we feed the birds and keep a full (and clean!) birdbath. In return, they devour every insect they come across and provide lots of entertainment.

I heard that the cleaning solution in Swifter Wet Jets has propylene glycol (I think that is right) in it like antifreeze and someone's cat died of liver failure from just walking on the floor and licking it's paws! And I KNOW Pine Sol and Lysol is not good for cats either. I wash my floors with hot water and vinegar! works just fine and the smell is gone by the time it dries. also cats will not walk on it while wet cause they don't like to smell vinegar.