I applaud Tammy Grimes' actions to go in and tenderly remove Doogie from
his suffering. I am appalled at the attitudes of the law officials she
had to contend with. I know Tammy as being one who has tried time and
time again to go about tirelessly rescuing animals by going the legal
route with her letter writing to the owners of neglected, tethered, and
penned yard dogs, the Valentines Campaign and the Chain-off campaign. In
this case, she attempted to contact the relevant officials and, fearing
for the dogs life, decided to take the matter into her own hands after
waiting too long for them to respond. For her to be penalized for taking
an ailing animal into a vet's office for treatment and nurturing is
reflective of a larger problem in our contemporary culture.

If we are to consider Tammy's actions from a virtues based
perspective we find that she acted in accordance with no less than, at
least, twenty-one virtues!
1. Truthfulness: She stood up for her actions and stayed true to her
belief that the right thing to do when she saw this animal suffering was
to help it out.
2. Tammy acted with steadfastness. She stayed the course and acted upon
her convictions despite the obstacles.
3.She acted with courage.
4.She was respectful by honouring herself and Doogies needs.
5.and 6. She showed caring by giving her love and attention to Doogie,
thereby showing her deep love for animals.
7.She was honest....she walked her talk.
8.She displayed service by giving herself over to the wellbeing of this
suffering animal.
9. Tammy is a trustworthy friend to these animals. She is willing to put
her own security on the line...........and so on: loyalty, reverence,
gentleness, assertiveness, faithfulness, and responsibility to her moral
standards.

I applaud the virtue and courage of the many brave people in BC and
throughout our cities in N. America, that go out and rescue these poor,
neglected animals from their hellish lives.

While it may seem rather elementary to go through this list of
virtues, I find it helpful to consider them when I think of what kind of
message this act of charging a woman who would tenderly remove a dog
from suffering and obvious torment and neglect sends out to the people
of our nations. It seems so damn clear to all of us rescuing types that
the arrest should be placed on Doogie's owners. Where do basic morals
fit into all of this?

So much of this problem lies in the fact that we have strayed so far,
in our daily lives, from the pulse of the natural order of things. We
have misplaced our sense of reverence for life. In our schools, the
importance is laid on the basics. While lip service may be given to the
consideration of virtues, the focus is to get what you need to survive
in the "real' world of commerce and technology. Children are directed
away from the natural world so early on in their lives and are directed
insidiously, to a desire to consume.

Pets are too often the victim of this consumerist brain washing.
The family wants this cute puppy. But, when it becomes apparent that the
puppy is a living creature with feelings and needs that need to be
attended to, the children don't want it anymore because it interferes
with their time spent in virtual reality. The adults don't want it
because they are too busy in the real world of daily survival and TV
viewing. A day that doesn't allow for the time to spend getting in touch
with the natural world by spending quality time with their dog. So the
dog gets relegated to the back forty while the family carries on
watching soaps, or playing computer games....ya know, the fun stuff,
oblivious to the neglected animal.

The simple pleasures of watching their dog play elatedly in the water or
scrambling through the autumn leaves are lost and long forgotten by so
many of these people.

I applaud the approach put forth at the International Institute for
Humane Education. I found their Sowing Seeds workshop to be extremely
helpful. They are about encouraging students to be critical thinkers. To
ask why these things are happening? Why did Tammy get charged and not
the dog's owners?

To me, it is absolutely imperative that we start educating our
children humanely so that the animals have half a chance of being
released from their marginalized status as production units and property
with which we can do whatever the hell we want to do with! This is why I
am very intent on getting some humane education programs going here in
the Chilliwack area.

As I see it, the only way for a hope of making a difference in the
eyes of the ten (or so) year old boy that was so naively active in the
corrupt business of selling the puppies of our rescued dog, Deedee, at the age
of 4 wks old, is to get into the classrooms where we could, ideally,
prompt an alternative way of thinking about the animals in this child's
life.

I know, it's baby steps and so very, very slow but this is what I
see that I CAN do to help make a difference. That, and fostering of course!

Jan Dawson
Chilliwack