OK, here it is, in a nutshell --
I grow so weary sometimes of all the animal-rights activism.
I've been a reporter for nearly 15 years. And I feel pretty confident in making this claim --
For every animal story I've ever written, the response is at least twice what I get for stories about abused kids, the mentally ill or those living in horrific poverty.
I write about a giraffe who needs a friend and oh-my-freaking-god -- the phone calls and emails are astounding in their numbers.
But the toddler who was stomped to death by his mom's angry boyfriend?
Nada.
Yeah, yeah, I know. The animals can't speak for themselves.
Guess what? Neither can a battered 1-year-old. Neither can the paranoid schizophrenic who's been jailed for eight months because there's no room in the state hospital.
I spent a couple of months in 2004 shadowing caseworkers for Child Protective Services.
I met a girl who was beaten with a meat tenderizer. I saw the patterned wounds on her head and shoulder. I watched a caseworker agonize over a missing toddler. I listened to mothers explain why they kept dating men who burned their kids with cigarettes or punched them in the stomach.
The caseworkers had a saying:
"Kids under 5 are the ones who die."
Kids under 5, you see, are unable to articulate what is happening to them.
But in my experience, the riled masses would rather speak for elephants than find a voice for the children.
I love my dog. I cringe when I hear reports of animal abuse.
But if I had to choose -- and bear in mind, I've owned and loved this dog for almost 14 years -- I would always, ALWAYS put my children first. I think, I hope, most parents feel the same way.
So why -- WHY? -- do animals get all of the attention and reaction? Why will people storm City Hall after hearing about a high number of animals put to sleep at the pound and yet ignore the increasing number of children abused and killed by those who were meant to love and protect them?
There are days I really lose all faith in people. This is one of them.
21 comments:
I totally understand what you are saying. We had a police officer who forgot his dog was in the truck. All Day Long. In the Arizona HEAT. The dog died. People were outraged and wanted the officer drawn and quartered and yet, the same weekend, a baby had died after being left in a hot car while mom worked all day. Most people had an "oh, another dead kid" attitude. It pisses me off and I don't know how to stop it or what to do about it.
As an ethicist (vs. a smart-alecky Mommy Blogger), let me theorize an explanation. It might be because the plight of these kids and disabled persons is just too horrible to wrap one's brain around, whereas the plight of animals is horrible but not so horrible as to make one feel utterly, wretchedly helpless.
This is not an excuse, only a theoretical explanation. It's totally head-in-the-sand...because it's just too unbearable to look.
P.S. The "smart-alecky Mommy Blogger" refers to me in my ordinary Blogosphere persona, not to you. Didn't realize how that sounded until I saw it on the comment page!
I'm an admitted animal lover. I love my animals with all my heart - but that's because I don't have children, so my animals fill that void for me. Trust me, I love children and would never put animals before them.
OK I really thought it was just me.
I agree with you in thr truest way. i think people should come first esp. when it comes to feeding, housing, vaccinating etc.
I could not agree with you more.
Maybe people think that the government/ police will help children and other people in need but animals are helpless. That doesn't make it right, but I'm trying to find an explanation.
I don't know why animals elicit more sympathy that vulnerable humans, it's something that I find very depressing.
I can't explain it, but I certainly understand your bitterness over it.
I think one of the other commenters had a good point. Child abuse is something people turn away from because it's too awful. They don't want to know human beings can be that awful to other human beings. And it's harder to fight as well. So they direct their energies somewhere that they feel it can do some good.
Sad.
I quite agree with Blog Antagonist - I think the horror is just too huge and we are too terrified to go there perhaps?
Something definitely worth thinking hard about.
Great post. Wish I had the answers. We were foster parents at one time and they wanted to send the kids back to the drug addicted, prison living parents. Makes sense to me. Would hate for them to have a stable home.
I know! I just read somewhere (Where?!) about people's tendency to help when there is ONE thing versus a group of things. So it's easier to help ONE giraffe who is sick than all the children who are abused. Maybe. I'm not saying it makes it right just that I wonder if it's easier for people to focus on a single "easily solved" problem than a huge one they feel they can't even begin to tackle. But I totally agree.
Don't let THOSE people take your faith in people. It's just the wack-o's that like to be all loud and all up "in your face," when it comes to these things. . . the ones who truly care do so silently because child abuse is such a tricky thing to navigate (thanks to all the government red tape). When I worked at the YMCA in high school with kids, I saw a footprint on the back of a child in my care - I couldn't legally do anything except report it to my supervisor. I never felt so helpless and angry.
Tomorrow will be better.
I feel exactly the same way! This drives me totally mad. I think some of the commenters are onto the possible explanation for this (not that it makes it right!)
Another thing that bugs the crap out of me (not sure if it's the same sort of thing, but...) is when people get all upset because a celebrity has died. I just want to scream about all the thousands of people (children included) being tortured and killed in armed conflicts around the world, but we weep for some cute guy who starred in a few movies. I just don't get people.
Oh, I know, I know. I feel absolutely the same way. And yes, I think it's that people just cannot deal with problems impacting "people" so they stick with animals. But imagine if the amount of publicity that went into a PETA stunt was put into reforming CPS....
Amen, girl.
I'm in the thick of this right now. And not by choice.
Fantastic post.
As an advocate for children with disabilities you have no idea how much I appreciate this post.
And you know I love my dog.
But I love kids and disabled people more.
Rock on sista!!
I think it's multi-fold.
Why do my silly posts get more than double the comments?
Why do risque and funny bloggers get 10 time the traffic?
The commenter above hit it with "can't wrap our minds around the horror" but also there is a complexity about it. We don't have as many conflicts or as much guilt wrt animals, usually.
Have you ever lost your temper with your kid, yelled?
We're so afraid in this culture of fear and witch hunts, so afraid to speak out in case it might be us next.
Animals are so much safer than people, and usually carry less baggage, as in worry, fear, guilt, concern, and horror.
After a doctor threatened to have CPS remove my kids because I wanted to *wait* on a vaccine...I am extremely suspicious when I hear stories about kids being removed, unless there is something really clear.
KWIM?
Wow. You are actually writing what I've thought so many time.
I also love my dog but in the end...she's just a dog. I do sometimes pause and thing of how there are many children who do not know the love and security our dog does. It breaks my heart!
Maybe it's just as you said -- people don't want to look un-PC. There don't seem to be any negative social outcomes if you speak out about animals, but if you blast another human being, there will always be another person saying, "Oh, but the abuser was abused too, or s/he had a hard life, or s/he is from a disadvantaged background...." Maybe?
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