Our Little Island

Our Little Island:

We sit on our little island – six feet by two – fearing to leave it. It is our haven, our sanctuary, our place of peace. Our island holds us, keeps us upright. If we leave it we may fall, anger or even die. We cannot leave our little island. The world is cold and hard around us, affording no peace, only noise and confusion. And pain. We dread the pain, more than we admit. But the island is not our world, and eventually we must go back – to our lives, anger and pain. But we must always remember our little island.

Wanton Animal Shootings

o here is my email to the U.S. District Court - Louisiana Branch about the wanton shootings of pets of Katrina evacuees. These pets were not allowed to be evacuated w/ the people and they were told to leave the pets at a school where animal rescuers would retrieve them. Instead, a couple Sheriff's Deputies were seen shooting these pets w/ non-fatal wounds and leaving them to die slowly. The court case on these guys was dropped due to "lack of evidence" and there is an online petition to reinstate the case and get a little justice for all the families who lost pets due to a few people's cruelty. Links to the full article and to the petition are at the bottom of the email. I'd highly encourage everyone to sign the petition and help out these lost pets and their families.

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To Whom It May Concern,

I am disappointed to hear of the charges being dropped for the deputies who shot, without reason, numerous pets in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Please reconsider the charges. There is enough eye-witness evidence (some even caught on tape) to prove that this was an atrocious act. If these deputies were just randomly shooting down people who were evacuating, they would probably already be in jail. What seems to not be understood is that a person's pets are loved just as much as the person's relatives. Animals have their own personalities and loyalties and don't deserve to be wantonly killed just as people do not deserve this. Thus it is a very cruel act to treat living things as if they were your car or your stereo. It is not easy to replace a pet, for it would be like replacing a friend. And nobody deserves to suffer from something like this, for it can be prevented by just a little compassion.

Thank you,
Lyndsie Clark
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Links:
Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/408098466
Website and story: http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/KATRINA/DOGSHOOTING/HISTORY.htm (be careful, this story WILL make you bawl! )

Everybody needs a heart

You beat me when you’re excited,

Break me when you’re sad

Tax me when you’re exhausted

And drain me when you’re mad.

You build walls around me for protection,

Though they only keep me jailed.

You fill me up when you’re in love,

And curse me when you’ve failed.

I grow strong and powerful from your sucesses,

And shrivel in your doubt,

I pain you so gravely sometimes,

That you try to rip me out.

Sometimes you throw me off my rhythm

When you are scared or joyful.

You make me try to stabilize

When my weight’s too hard for you to pull.

But here I stay, close to you,

Even with all the torture you put me through,

I continue to give you life and breath,

And will only stop upon your death.

-2005