What's Your Cause?

A lot of people feel strongly about different causes. Some people work for veteran's affairs, while others stand up for abused children. Some work for the homeless or MADD, breast cancer, food banks, the handicap and the list goes on. All are very worthy causes and the people who work and volunteer for them are very passionate about what they believe. A lot of times people choose the cause they believe in because of something that has happened to them, their family or someone they know, they feel a personal connection to it.

My cause is animals, stopping the abuse and making people aware of what we as human beings are doing to the different species on this earth before they become extinct. For as long as I can remember I have had an affinity for animals, I love being around them, caring for them, and just sitting on the deck and watching the birds and squirrels and the occasional hawk fly over. A couple of months ago as I was looking out my office window to the wooded area across the street I saw two deer munching on the grass, I LOVED it. I'm always watching nature shows and I am appalled how we treat our pets, our food animals and the wildlife whose habitat we are destroying. This is what I am passionate about.

We got our first dog when I was about 5 yrs. old, and I was hooked from there. As I said, lots of times there is a personal reason that people choose the cause they are interested in. My earliest memory of helping an animal in distress was when I was a child and the people that lived next door to us for a while were in a motorcycle "club" (hmmm) and they had a dog they kept in their garage and rarely fed and took him out with them every so often and then bring him back and put him back in the garage. I use to wait until it was dark and they were gone and I would climb the fence, my mom would dump some tuna fish in my hand and I would stick my hand in the garage and feed the dog. Dangerous, maybe, but I wasn't aware of that at the time, I just had to help him.

I have been feeding strays ever since, lost dogs seem to always just show up on my doorstep. And I am not afraid to say that I have called on people who I have seen were mistreating their animals. I post stories, pictures and videos sometimes on facebook showing some of the incredibly cruel things people can do to animals, I don't post these things all the time, just every now and then. I have a friend at work who after seeing a post like that always asks my why. She says she can't stand to watch that kind of stuff, it's too horrible and sad. My answer is always the same.... people need to know about these things, knowledge is power, otherwise no one pays attention.

So while I am in favor of many other causes out there, animals will always be my passion. What is your passion, what cause is at the top of your list?


Kathy