Pet Solidarity for the Rich

[seafey]

I heard a conversation today about a mansion owner who refused to leave her New Orleans mansion without her DOGGIE. This person stayed *in their mansion* for a week to protect the life of her dog while humans all around were dying, starving, etc.

I got nothin against dogs, but there was nothing said about leaving stranded poor folks. Where are the landowners refusing to leave without at least taking someone who has no means of leaving with them? Why is a dog more important than a black person? Or a poor white person?

And I have two pets of my own, but I will always help a person who can't help themselves over a pet.

SO sick of the racism and of people who JUST DON'T GET IT!

[hlthe2b]

1. I AM SO SICK of this pitting of animal lovers against "humanists"

This is ridiculous. It is not an either/or. If we believe that societies are judged by their actions/reactions to the "weakest" among them, then that doesn't end with humans.

Do I believe that what happened in NOLA is nothing short of genocide on behalf of those making decisions on the FEDERAL level? Absolutely. Do I believe that racist attitudes influenced policy and response? Yes, I do. Do I believe that those with the means who vacated without thought for the people left behind were overtly racist? No. Some probably were. Many more were NOT thinking beyond their own family's survival. That may be narcissistic to some, but it is very human.

I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed that there would not be a plan/mechanism in place to evacuate those without the means to do so themselves. Sadly, I was naive. I suspect many that we sanctimoniously disparage and accuse of being racists, were equally naive.

Call a spade a spade. What has happened to so many African Americans, poor across the races, and the elderly, disabled is monstrous. It surely must rally all of consience to take action. We don't do so, by ignoring our responsibilities to God's other creatures, if you are a believer...those who we have made so dependent on us and offer so much loyalty in return.

[DELUSIONAL]

2. You're the on who doesn't GET IT.

Never mind -- I won't write anything else because you and people like you will NEVER EVER GET IT.

[aquart]

3. A truly nauseating post on so many levels.

[TankLV]

13. Truely disgusting original post.

[tritsofme]

4. I agree with you

Though you may want to put your asbestos suit on.

You can't compare the life of a dog or a cat with a human being.

[roguevalley]

5. If I was Rockefeller, I would die in my house than leave my five

dogs behind. I don't have to explain it to anyone. That is my belief, my choice.

[leftylady]

11. I'm the same way. Wouldn't leave the animals behind.

But if I was really wealthy I would try to help others and their animals.

[ladylibertee]

6. SO sick of the racism and of people who JUST DON'T GET IT!

They don't get it because they are RETARDED :kick: :shrug:

[Der Blaue Engel]

7. And how do you explain the poor people who refused to leave their pets?

[Hidden Stillness]

8. Your Kindness Overwhelms Me

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way in which its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi

"I heard a conversation today"--sure you did. Of course it was a "mansion" rather than a house--attack!--but it is not clear whether you were standing near the mansion, (since the "person" refused to leave), or someone else was near it, to "hear" all this, and why, or if you/they were elsewhere when you/they "heard this," but then how removed from the "person"--who really existed, really--would this story have been?

At any rate, the only thing you can think of from this story of fear, is to attack, because humans have died from this tragedy. Huh? Do you mean killing the animals would save the humans, or that she should save all of them, yet you, who "were nearby" to "hear about" this, did not think to save this person, yourself? Work these stories out better first. Then the claim that this victim of the worst hurricane to have hit the Continental U.S., who did not evacuate, was a "racist"--where did that come from? You presume this horrible "person" is one of the people who "JUST DON'T GET IT" based on what? What are you talking about?

"And I have two pets of my own..." God help them.

[seafey]

12. I agree with you on some things...

But I wasn't lying about the fact that I'd heard the conversation. I haven't lived in New Orleans (or the South for that matter) for 10 years now. I come here occasionally to vent about conversations I hear- I work in a very conservative office and I can't always say what I think there. I got lost in your string of quoted words which were (I'm guessing) designed to make me think you don't believe my words and that's ok.

I do agree about treating your pets with respect and I can imagine that leaving your pet behind would be difficult, but in the conversation, it was like there was some kind of *honor* in the fact that this person had stayed behind to hang out with their dog in this mansion (and yes, the word mansion was used in the conversation) and there was no mention of this person leaving their property to help others get out or of opening their home to rescue workers or of ANYTHING related to any concern for humans.

Also, I don't know where you're getting that I think this person was a horrible person who did this, I was only saying that the people in the conversation that I overheard seemed so impressed and touched at the "Pet Solidarity" (my term) that it made me a little sick that humans don't have a little more "Human Solidarity".

At the same time, my reaction to this conversation does warrant examination given that I really don't know what I would have done in the same situation. I am a hypocrite in some ways, but I do try to help others. I am *not*, however, impressed by rich people hanging back in their mansions with a dog while people all around are starving and dying. I will never feel comfortable with conversations like this going on around me, and I hope to be able to continue using this space for venting about this kind of drivel that I am subjected to.

So thanks for listening.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. Lying.

:party:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. I agree with you.

And I figure you need at least one DUer on your side. :)

[spooky3]

10. Do your pets a favor and give them to someone who will love and

protect them. They are as helpless and dependent on their caregivers as any person.

As the first reply to your post eloquently pointed out, it is a false choice to pit those concerned with people and children versus those concerned with animals. Those truly concerned with the helpless in one category are equally concerned with the helpless in the other.

And please stop blaming the victims of this horrid tragedy.

[renie408]

15. Do they have to be mutually exclusive?

Gee, are we obligated to pick pets OR people?

Did she turn down any people? How do you know the dog owner was racist? I dunno, it seems to me that you are assuming a lot. These people were ALL stranded with no power, no TV, no phone, no nuthin. And whether the rumors of looters were exxagerated or not, there was gunfire, etc. in the city. Is it really odd that a woman didn't go out of her home and take in strangers during a really horrific time? How was she supposed to know how bad the rest of the city was? I think that we all need to be careful about what we assume about people who are in situations whose horrors we can only imagine and the decisions they make on how to get by.

[Lorien]

16. Amen renie408

if the woman was staying for the sake of her dog, then she couldn't TAKE her dog anywhere-i.e.; it's rather obvious from the sound of this story that she had no means of transportation (having been through a hurricane myself and seen dozens of cars destroyed by falling trees in my neighborhood, it's hardly a stretch). So what was she supposed to do, exactly? Ask strangers to sit with her in her dark muggy mansion to wait for a rescue? Food spoils pretty fast in the south without power, so I doubt if she could have fed the starving masses on her own.

The animal haters on DU are, in my opinion, so damned insecure about their own worth that hearing that another human being loves a *lowly animal* more than they've ever felt loved themselves infuriates them. Love is not a finite commodity; give it, and many times it is returned tenfold (especially by beloved pets).

[bluedawg12]

17. Poor people sat in their homes with their pets and refused

to leave.

I will always save both. Period.

For many of the poorer folk their dogs meant more than anything- they had little. BTW- their dogs were mostly big dogs for home security as well as companionship.

If we can spend 1 billion dollars/day in the crap hole Iraq-we can save people and animals. Once again- priorities. Life over things.

[Douglas Carpenter]

18. Thank you. I wanted to respond to the original post --but you said it all

[xchrom]

19. nice hammer you have there -- you smacked that nail good.

yeah -- i'm an animal lover and wouldn't go anywhere without my critters.

but from the sound of your post -- you're obviously better than me.:eyes:

i had better not donate anymore or do any more volunteer work for people.