In a NY Times article about the estimated 7,000 remaining wild dogs in Africa, Dr. Rosie Woodrofe, a researcher who has studied wild dogs for 20 years, says, “There is nothing so enthusiastic as a wild dog. They live the life domestic dogs wish they could live.” As a dog owner, I’m not at all surprised to read that. Wild dogs, who can act on their natural instincts all day long, have wildly productive lives. Researchers say these “exceptionally social” and “civic-minded” dogs hunt, teach their young survival skills and care for the infirm. While one male and female in each pack breed, the remaining adults “serve as guardians, babysitters, even wet nurses for the alpha pair’s pups.” If our companion animals could talk, would they tell us that we should have never domesticated them? I think so. I have a rescue dog — a chihuahua/pug mix. He’s one of the “lucky” ones. I don’t chain him to a fence in the cold, leave him in a hot car, neglect him or abuse him in any way. I walk him four times a day; provide him with nourishment and medical care; play ball with him at least twice a day; and shower him with affection (I’ve been told to “get a room.”) Still, I think he’s bored and out of place. I wouldn’t want his life. Domesticating animals for our pleasure was a big mistake, in my opinion, especially when you consider the rampant abuse, neglect and abandonment. But companion animals are here to stay, and the burden is on us to make their lives as enriched as possible.

Photo: Scott Creel; Montana State University

In press coverage surrounding the gay rodeo in Ohio this week, the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) says that “No one faces discrimination during the LGBT event.” In other words, everyone is invited to twist the neck of a terrified cow and wrestle him to the ground. Andrew Zollman, a San-Francisco-based activist with LGBT Compassion said during one of his LGBT rodeo protests, “As gay people, it is personal to us that people in our community would, after experiencing oppression and abuse and having to fight for their own rights and protections, turn around and unnecessarily abuse and bully animals.”

Rodeos are animal-bullying events masquerading as sport. How can LGBTs, many of whom, like me, have been bullied, organize a spectacle centered around abusing animals who have no voice? If anyone, gay or straight, did to their dogs what is done to the bulls, steers, calves, horses and other animals at rodeos, they would be charged with animal cruelty. Also disheartening is to see gay people bullying and attacking other gay people who stage peaceful protests outside of these events. Learn more and consider protesting at one of the many upcoming LGBT rodeos.

In an article about tick bites triggering allergies to meat and dairy, the Washington Post reports that a flavoring in some raspberry pastries “comes from the anal scent glands of the North American beaver.” Of course, the important news here for animals is that thousands of people can no longer eat them: “Thanks to the Lone Star tick, a tide of involuntary vegetarianism is rolling up the Eastern seaboard, where it is the likely cause of thousands of cases of severe red meat allergies. The allergy can cause hives, breathing problems, a drop in blood pressure or even anaphylactic shock after eating red meat or dairy.”

Lone Star tick. (AP Photo/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, James Gathany)

If dog is man’s best friend, then ticks are cows’ best friend. Thanks to these Lone Star ticks, the lives of tens of thousands of cows will be spared because thousands of people can no longer eat them. Allergies are no fun for humans, but being branded with fire, castrated, de-horned with no painkillers before being slaughtered is no fun for cows. Why wait to be bitten by a tick to stop eating animals when doing so now is so good for your health, the environment and, of course, the animals?

Activists in Wisconsin protested St. Patrick Parish’s 44th annual pig wrestling match in Wisconsin during which the animals are “punched in the face, kicked, body-slammed, jumped on, yelled at and thrown into a bucket,” according to the Global Conservation Group of Watertown, which collected 60,000 signatures on a petition that describes the event as animal fighting.  The video footage shows pigs squealing as they are being held down after being chased around a muddy ring. Ken Bilgrien, a deacon at St. Patrick said, “It’s strictly fun.”

How can hundreds of people pay money to watch helpless pigs squeal in terror as they are wrestled to the ground — at a church fundraiser, no less?  Shouldn’t these Christians intervene to stop the abuse when they hear the pigs cry out? Let’s help put a stop to this by signing the Change.org petition and contacting the church that produces this abusive event.

Several years ago, I heard an activist talk about the reaction she received when she was distributing free veggie dogs at a ball park. Some people said, “Eww. What’s in that?” to which she responded, “Grains, soy and vegetables, not to be confused with the lips and rectums in the other hot dogs.” In my 24/7 attempt to get people to eliminate or reduce their consumption of animals, I use that line all the time.  I wish, however, that I could use this video instead; pictures really do speak a thousand words. Not all hot dogs are made this way, but, hopefully, this footage will trigger some people to grill veggie dogs instead of mystery meat during their Labor Day BBQs.  Share it!