PETA bashing unfair
AUSTRALIA is a nation of pet lovers and Townsville is no exception.
There are around 35,000 registered dogs in Townsville alone and our love for man’s best friend does not appear to be slowing down.
A dog can be a great addition to the family but being a responsible pet owner is a job for a lifetime.
A nip from a pup may seem cute at first but when that same pup becomes an adult dog, a nip can be serious, even deadly.
There were more than 580 dog attacks in Townsville last year and more than 70 reported attacks in the first two months of 2015.
A lot of those attacks involved roaming dogs, or dogs that were not secured.
Pet owners have a responsibility to ensure their pooches are secure and seek professional help if they notice any aggressive behaviours.
Often those bad behaviours can be rectified, but it takes time.
We invest decades into educating our human offspring and putting them on the right path. We do it because we love them. Why should our pets be any different? THE wish lists are long but they are in. And now Mayor Jenny Hill will consider which ones will be given budget approval.
It will be the last budget presided over by the council before the next election.
Let us hope this budget is more harmonious than previous ones.
Unfortunately the early indications suggest this year will see more embarrassing stoushes in the chamber.
The community doesn’t want, or need, a repeat of the previous budget clashes. IN FRIDAY’S Townsville Bulletin ( April 17) journalist Victoria Nugent, in her “Nuggets of Wisdom” piece, claims that “it’s time for PETA to stop telling lies”, and made her feelings toward People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals clear by stating, “I’ve long hated PETA, even before their latest asinine campaign”.
To say I was disappointed is well and truly an understatement.
Victoria Nugent is entitled to her opinion but as a journalist I surmised she wrote by the journalistic principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability, so to call PETA liars should not go publicly unchallenged.
Would you have preferred, Victoria, that instead of the “fake” lamb, the picture had depicted the real thing?
Would that have somehow made a difference to the message?
A lamb, having just been castrated, tail cut off and skin sliced with shears from either side of the rump, all with no painkillers used.
I have seen and voiced my objection to mulesing.
It is a bloody and sickening sight when there are two painless alternatives – crutching and jet- ting – and PETA has tried hard to have mulesing stopped.
Animal welfare people try with donations and philanthropy to take on the might and power of industries and individuals who have no will to treat animals with any compassion or ethics.
Yes, Victoria is right, there are people out there doing the right thing but, as someone who grew up around shearing sheds and a rural environment, I can say there are many who are not after my first- hand observation.
So before you dump on the animal welfare people, it would probably be a good idea to do more investigating and not base your argument that it is all OK for animals, unseen and unable to be heard, because “you know graziers who will get angry at workers who stressed their cattle unnecessarily by yelling and pushing them too hard”. I know people like that too. I also know cruel and ruthless individuals and, without the persistence of Animals Australia, PETA, the RSPCA etc, nothing will change for the better for those animals that suffer out of sight and, for many, out of mind.
It is not the likes of PETA who are “not interested in the truth” but people with either biased, uninformed or material interest who do not wish to look at or know the facts and turn a blind eye.
Decisions should be based on the facts and to make a blanket statement that implies everything is good and fine out there for thousands of these animals is just plain incorrect and misleading.
In fact there is a great deal of preventable suffering happening.
It should be called out for what it is, otherwise nothing has a chance of being changed.
TERESA PATEL, Charters Towers.