The story of Charlotte - and my disillusionment
| From: | Laura T. |
| Sent on: | Monday, November 7, 2011, 1:39 PM |
Some time ago, I posted the below pictures of Charlotte and her brand new baby Beatrice, the newest members of Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary. I did it for more than one reason... I wanted to show how dedicated PPS is to saving ALL animals and giving them the life they have never had, but so very much deserve. But honestly, I also wanted to play on your heart strings in the hopes that you would donate money to this all volunteer, non-profit sanctuary that is struggling every day to stay afloat. A place that never turns an animal away, no matter what. To my horror and sadness, someone that this email was sent to went out of their way to contact PETA in Virginia and file a complaint of animal cruelty (since dismissed), basically
calling for the murder of Charlotte, though under the so-called “kinder” verbiage of euthanasia. Let me tell you about Charlotte:
She literally, very literally, saved herself (I’m not sure I can stress that enough) and the life of her unborn child. She escaped the slaughter truck, managed to crash through fencing and was found wandering along the road by PPS. If that is not a will to survive, a will to keep and raise her unborn child, a will for a life she deserves, than I have no idea what that word means anymore. She has blossomed since being with her new family at PPS. She is very much a part of the cow family, (let alone everyone lucky enough to call PPS home) and in fact, her beautiful child Beatrice has many babysitters in her Uncles Justice and Bumper and her Aunts Amber, Autumn and Juliet, all rescues from the horrors of farmed animals. Baby Beatrice’s first experience with
rain was spent hiding underneath her Uncles as Mom is not tall enough to hide under. LOL I would have loved to have seen that! Suffice to say that Mom and baby are doing great and are very happy to have a home and to simply be alive. They are thriving. In fact, Charlotte chose me as the first person to be allowed to hand feed her… quite an honor for me I must say! It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life! She is learning trust and now lets her new family pet her and her baby. What a testament to forgiveness!
So, needless to say, when someone who professes to stand for the same things that I do calls for the murder of an innocent animal who wants nothing more than to be loved, accepted and to raise her child, it is hard to fight the inevitable disillusionment that I now feel. Charlotte wants to live. It’s as simple as that. She would not have risked all that she did if she did not want that life more than anything. And the right to raise her child. So, though this may come across as harsh to some or most of you, to the person who went out of their way to call PETA, you should be ashamed of yourself. How could you desire the murder of an animal mother, leaving her child an orphan? Isn’t that what we fight against? Would you do the same of a human mother who was suffering from cancer?
Should we go around and call for the murder of everyone, human or animal, suffering from some illness, even though they are shouting from the rooftops how much they want to live? I for one am in love with Charlotte and applaud her courage, her continuing fortitude and her ability to forgive people, the very ones that caused her such misery. I know myself very well and I do not have that capacity for forgiveness.
I’m sorry for the tone of this email, please know it is not intended to make people mad, but to open our minds to the fact that we must actually believe ourselves what we so desperately want others to believe, that these animals crave and deserve their lives as much as we do. To act in the way that person did is the exact opposite of that belief. We must practice what we preach. Saving animals and loving them is not something you say, it is not for attention, it is something you do. Just truly that simple, it’s something you do. No
applause or accolades needed or wanted. These beautiful, feeling and intelligent creatures have the mindfulness to let us know when they are done, when they have lived the lives they needed/wanted to live, and until then, it is not our right to take that choice from them. They choose for themselves, just as we do. We have made that promise to them and we must keep our word.
Laura Tennison
"Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." - Albert Schweitzer
Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all – the apathy of human beings. – Helen Keller
People in this
group are also in:
-
Trails and Ales
15,341 members
-
AWESOME things Denver. I'm young, I'm social. I'm in Denver!
22,580 awesome people in Denver
-
The Boulder (and Beyond!) Vegan Meetup Group
1,498 Compassionate Pioneers
-
THE DENVER TRAIL HEADS
8,679 Trail Heads
-
Denver Art Society Cooperative: classes, events, and meetups
10,149 Creative Hands
-
The Denver Beginners Only- Salsa Dance Group!! RSVP please.
5,290 New Salsaeros