Today I was FWDed an email from my local animal shelter regarding a towel drive they are having. This was literally what the email said:

"Ask yourself this: Do you like cute, furry, non-edible animals? Would you like to support local animal shelters in keeping impressionable young cats and dogs off the streets where our teenagers roam freely? The towel drive can help and so can you."

This killed me. As if cats and dogs aren't every bit as edible as chickens or pigs. I'm glad we can all agree that in deciding which creatures can live and which must die, the determining factor is whether they are "cute and furry." Because cows aren't cute? Sometimes people are so blatantly ignorant, I wonder if they listen to themselves at all. :no:

Anyway, thought you all might find it interesting too.

OH good lord. Why is it that people have to pick apart every little thing? At LEAST they are getting off their rear-ends and doing something about homeless animals!

Give me a break.

They could have phrased that better :-/

I agree. Some people eat dogs and cats. Some people have pigs, chickens, and cows as companions.

mingo, maybe you could write to them or call and ask to speak with someone about why the ad bothered you and offer suggestions for how they might change it next time?

our local humane society had it in their mission that they wanted to protect the well-being of and promote respect for all animals. yet every year they serve dead animals at their big fundraiser. a lot of people have been trying to get them to change that policy, but it takes patience and dilligence to get through sometimes. i think it is actually extremely common in animal shelters for the lives of non-cat-or-dog animals to be devalued and/or ridiculed, but that can change. It will just take some time and enough of us who care about other species too speaking up and offering criticisms, suggestions, and help where applicable to get them there.

www.animalplace.org offers a wonderful resource to help those concerned about their local humane society's seemingly indifferent attitude toward factory farm animals.
"Food for Thought" is an upbeat, colorful, non-graphic guide that is written by shelter personell, for shelter personell. It allays common fears shelter directors may have about serving vegetarian dinners and is not preachy nor does it direct shelter staff to change their personal diets.
I strongly recommend veg*ns approach their local humane societies with this guide. You can download and print it from the site or get a free booklet by emailing Animal Place.

P.S. It seems that from the wry tone of the email that the shelter is reaching out to a broader audience than traditional animal shelter benefactors (AKA "little old ladies").
By using email to spread messages and speaking in a hipper, more irreverant tone, the shelter is reminding a younger audience of the services shelters offer and the help they need. This is important, seeing as many upwardly mobile twenty- and thirty- somethings head for the pet store or the breeder without even considering a shelter dog.
So, I wouldn't be too hard on these guys. It is a constant struggle trying to keep public services visible and relevant in popular culture--and animal shelters have it doubly tough. A brief, friendly email suggestion to be more sensitive and compassionate in future notices just might do the trick.

Well, in my view I see their phrasing as meaning that animals in general should be considered 'non-edible' and the cute furry thing was added just for good publicity reasons. As Peace said, they probably want to appeal to a wider audience that the animal lovers who don't consider them food.

It just depends how you read it, really. I didn't get a negative impression and liked how it was phrased. I'm sure it'll serve its purpose. Maybe you shouldn't sweat the small stuff - especially if it's coming from an animal shelter, of all places. They're just trying to find good homes for these dogs and cats.

if you give us a link to your shelter
i'll try to generate some feedback to them

yesh, simmer down. She meant well.


ETA - that wasn't directed towards the OP. just a certain poster or two...or one.. :notvegan:

I thought the whole letter was stupid. "Where teenagers roam freely"? I didn't think teenagers were the worse of their problems. I thought cars, starvation, temperature extremes, and disease were more harmful then kids. But okie dokie. The edible thing seemed like it would be stupid to any omnivore as well. It doesn't take being veg to realize that cats and dogs are as edible as cows and chickens.

The letter seemed slightly distasteful in an attempt to sound "hip".

Call me stupid, but what's a towel drive anyway??

Call me stupid, but what's a towel drive anyway??

I'm guessing they're asking for donations of bath towels for use as bedding for the animals?

I'm guessing they're asking for donations of bath towels for use as bedding for the animals?
Yes, and sometimes, animals that come to the society do smell and need baths or are matted, have to be groomed then bathed, etc. Towels are indispensible. I just caught an approx 5 week old kitten who stunk to high heaven - she literally stunk up my whole vehicle, poor little sweet!

mingo, maybe you could write to them or call and ask to speak with someone about why the ad bothered you and offer suggestions for how they might change it next time?

our local humane society had it in their mission that they wanted to protect the well-being of and promote respect for all animals. yet every year they serve dead animals at their big fundraiser. a lot of people have been trying to get them to change that policy, but it takes patience and dilligence to get through sometimes. i think it is actually extremely common in animal shelters for the lives of non-cat-or-dog animals to be devalued and/or ridiculed, but that can change. It will just take some time and enough of us who care about other species too speaking up and offering criticisms, suggestions, and help where applicable to get them there.

I agree. Alot of churches serve meat at their fundraisers, I've thought of calling them and mentioning how I feel about this and the fact that as a religious org they should try understanding how we feel about animals being killed for food, when there are so many alternatives available now. I never did it though since they don't seem interested much in animal protection.:think:

I've heard that at at least one humane society meeting, they served ham sandwitches. WHAT? I appriciate the fact that the humane society is trying to improve conditions for food animals (any reduction in animal suffering is a good thing) but it MUST NOT stop there. It's like saying "treat your slaves nicely" not "let them go."