Copy of Letter mailed to local store that sells antique ivory beads

09-04-15

Dear Owner of Friends Lapidary and Jewelry,

You seem like such a nice man. In fact I'm sure you are a nice man. You are helpful and knowledgeable and kind when I'm in your store.

However there's one thing that really bothers me about Friends, one thing and one thing only.

Your store sells ivory beads.

Please stop, I beg of you to please stop.

Perhaps you're not aware an elephant is poached every 15 minutes in Africa, that's an average of 96 elephants being killed daily for ivory.

Perhaps you don't know poachers shoot elephants with poisoned darts to avoid making noise with guns at times. This poison debilitates the animal but doesn't instantly kill it; elephants have the front half of their faces cut off while they're still alive.

Perhaps you don't know that poachers wait in hiding for the family members and friends of the elephants to return to the 'scene of the crime' to mourn their beloved... only to massacre the makeshift 'elephant funeral.'

Perhaps you don't know that baby elephants are being left motherless every day and die a slow death of hunger and heartache.

Perhaps you don't know that poached ivory funds extremist and terrorist groups in Africa and throughout the Middle East... this is extremely dirty money.

Perhaps you don't know that elephants are pregnant for nearly 2 years at a time so the reproduction cycle is very slow.

Perhaps you don't know that elephants with large tusks (referred to as the 'Tuskers' instinctively hide their tusks in bushes or behind trees when a helicopter flies over their heads)- they know they're targeted and killed for their tusks and, yes, poachers track elephants and rhino by helicopter- these are organized terrorist-funded-groups.

I could go on but I won't. It's not good for my blood pressure.

Sources: African Wildlife Foundation, The Tsavo Trust, International Anti-Poaching-Foundation, 96elephants.org, WWF (Traffic in particular), NRDC... I'm a member of all of these groups even though my meager earnings allow me to donate a very minimal amount annually.

I know your ivory sir is 'from the vault' but that doesn't matter. You carrying it still in some small way 'creates a demand,' and implicates that you're O.K. with the violent slaughter of a majestic, intelligent, sentient creature. And you seem like such a nice man, I just can't imagine that to be the case.

Thank You For Hearing My Concerns, Truly,

One of Your Customers    

So Then Why? 

My last blog, and the feelings that provoked me to write it, beg the question: "So, why are you still doing it Jessica?"
A while back I supported the line of work I'm in by saying (or writing): "Saving lives every day does have a way of giving life meaning."
And it's true. Every single day I go to work there's a chance I get to save a life... an innocent, sweet life.
Take today for example: A buff, tattoo-caressed man in his mid 30's was in the adoption area. I happened to be at the computer on the floor (shelter jargon for adoption floor) when he approached, inquiring about a dog named Hilary.
Hilary... that name rang a bell, I remembered very clearly seeing the name Hilary badly butchered on a kennel card, it shamefully spelled Hiliary rather than Hilary. And, I was sure I knew this dog, though I couldn't call up her face in memory right off.
As soon as I typed in her 7 digit ID number I eagerly pressed F4 to bring up her picture- Hilary! It's you!
"Do you know this dog?" I asked the man.
"No, she just seemed really great, really obedient," he replied.
"Oh yes, she's great! She's so sweet. I know her! Let's get her out," I said.
I took Hilary out of her kennel and walked her to approximately the middle of the hallway then handed the leash over to my potential adopter (this is something I almost always do, to allow the adopter an instant sense of ownership. It also allows the dog to bond with the adopter rather than the shelter worker).
-The adopter needs to know what he or she is getting into, for better and for worse.
If the dog is a puller it's best to know that going into the adoption.
If the dog walks great on lead this is one of my very best selling points.
Fortunately our girl Hilary walked like a champ, right at the handler's side, not pulling at all.
"See how well she walks on lead? She doesn't pull at all," I commented as we walked.
We arrived at our destination, the small concrete and mulched play yard.
And this guy (I already forgot his name) was just an ideal adopter.
He ooh-ed and ahh-ed over Ms. Hilary. He called her over and sternly commanded her to sit, snapping his finger, and Hilary sat, right on command.
Then she was a bit uncertain about the man... they'd just met and he was already asking the shy girl to sit! He quickly won back her affection  though by moving from the bench to concrete ground... to be on Hilary's level, to re-assure her.
I was in "Adoption Counselor bliss!"
We even found a tick or two on her. One was really big and I smashed it on the concrete, blood spewing.
Our potential adopter didn't even flinch... adoption counselor bliss I said!
And, you don't even know the best part yet- Hilary is not what you'd call a 'highly adoptable dog.'
She's big, dark caramel-colored with a little white line down her face. Her tail looks kind of funny and is crooked and she has a thick, hard body... not smooshie and soft like most adopters like.
Hilary's the type of dog that I typically have to fight to get out.
I knew her because I'm the person who had moved her from the west wing to the adoption floor.
Her kennel mate in the West Wing, a heart worm positive American Bulldog mix that had been labeled aggressive (NOT!) had her own lucky break a week prior... I had also assisted her adopters.
When that dog (already forgot her name) was miraculously adopted I took Hilary from the WW, and moved her to the adoption floor... that was the least I could do for the sweet girl.
And now this... she had found her own lovely, perfect adopter!
Elation. Disbelief. Humility.
This is one story. I could tell many- many beautiful, tear-jerking (at least they jerk my tears!) stories about rescue, adoption, fostering... saving lives.
So, as painful as it is to be at Miami Dade Animal Services every day in some ways, it is just as beautiful in others. -Believe me.
Figuring out if the good outweighs the bad is the question now, and one I haven't yet been able to answer. Today though, the good outweighed the bad.

Now... that damn adopter better show up on Wednesday! ...Think I'm joking? ...Wish I were! ...You never know in this business.

This is Hilary!

Posted 15th April by Jessica Pita

Labels: animal services animal welfare ASPCA happy story pet adoption rewarding careers sheltering social justice

-Jessica

"Do Gooder"

From time to time I've been called (to my face) a 'do-gooder.'
 I've heard things like, "Oh, you're one of those," or "So you're a tree-hugger, crazy animal person, etc.'
Dozens of people have said these things to me over the years.
Maybe you've heard similar comments a time or two yourself.
When I hear these words from someone's mouth I'm always a bit taken aback, surprised and caught off guard.
Why am I so shocked to hear these comments? What's the big deal?
Perhaps I find it offensive when someone treats issues I view as important, even fundamental to life as we know it, as if they're silly or meaningless. I guess this shocks me and catches me completely off guard every  time it happens.
Maybe I'm so taken aback when these terms are used because they reveal a complete void, a complete lack of empathy on the other person's side.
And I don't mean empathy for me, I mean empathy relating to the issues, whether it's drilling for oil in some of our country's last sacred places, or the fact that we euthanize millions ofpets every year (as a country), or knowing that most major cosmetic and cleaning companies still test on animals, or the fact that most of our waterways are severely contaminated with mercury (what would Marvin Gaye say nowadays?!).
When discussing these types of issues there are many people who are in fact not capable of empathizing with those suffering (the land, the dog, the cat, the air, the neighboring communities, the rabbit, the water, our very planet, etc.).
There, I figured it out. Now I understand why it shocks me, catches me so off guard, when people use nonchalant, dismissive terms to 'sum me up' when I speak of issues of importance to me.
-It's the painful lack of empathy.
If you're a 'do-gooder' like me, whether your cause be: raising awareness about poverty, children's cancer, women's rights, abortion, the pivotal increase in rhino and elephant poaching over the past year, the manatee, the Tibetan regime, etc., I'm sure you've experienced similar frustration when discussing 'your cause,' 'your passion' with certain individuals.
It's almost as if we ('do-gooders') are predisposition-ed in our DNA to be empathetic whereas others are not.
And you know, oftentimes I envy those who are not cursed with this blessing of extreme empathy and sensitivity.
They have an invisible boundary line where sensitive material stops, a natural censor on disturbing sights, sounds or facts that surround us. They often live in a pleasant, dumb state of denial... must be nice. Many of these people are very successful, bothersome emotions don't get in the way of them climbing the ladder. Many of them are happy. And, they're not necessarily bad people. In complete sincerity I say I envy this disconnect many humans enjoy.
It begs the question- why bother caring?
Why should I care when my neighbors, 3 doors down, surrender their two, cute puppies at the shelter where I work?
They're not losing sleep over these innocent, now-confused, 3 month old girls sitting in a cold, lonely, small cage that are used to being able to pee and poop outside, so why should I?
Or the couple that turned in their adult American Bulldog yesterday because it was too big for their condo association and proceeded to adopt a 5 week old lab mix right after turning in their family pet of 2 years.
 I talked to this couple. I told them what they were doing was unfair.
 "A pet is for life, no one can 'make you' get rid of your dog. You always have a choice... to move... to be homeless for a while if necessary. The fact you're adopting another puppy, that will grow, the same day you turn in your own dog is very worrisome and is not o.k.," I said.
They stared at me, went to the front and proceeded to adopt the 5 week old puppy. Why should I feel sorry for their adult bulldog dumped at the shelter. They certainly weren't shedding tears over him.
I spoke with my neighbors this morning on the walk with my dogs.
 "I saw your puppies at the shelter where I work. That really should have been your absolute last option. The pups could easily get sick in the shelter and be put to sleep. Are you going to get the mother dog spayed now so she doesn't have more puppies you're unable to care for?"
They also stared at me and said, "Um I don't know, maybe."
These are a couple of examples of situations I deal with daily.
Does it take a toll?
Of course.
What do I do about it?
I'm figuring that out.
I know how to be centered, enlightened, content, peaceful, happy. I've achieved it time and time again but it takes work. I have my moments of sheer enlightenment, they typically come through meditation, reading the works of enlightened authors, prayer, being still.
A few days ago I said to my boyfriend, "I live on a spiritual plane now. None of this here matters. It's the spiritual, energetic field that matters. I am aligned with that." And I meant it. I looked and felt better.
I suppose I should write only when I'm in that state and all my blogs will be positive, profound, enlightening. But, that's not how life is lived for most of us. It's a series of ups and downs, sadness and joy, confusion and confidence. We experience periods of knowing, connection, insight just as we experience periods of fear, disconnect and depression. My goal is to learn to live in a peaceful, mostly happy state most of the time. We are here to learn.
As Deepak says (not verbatim), "If we were all already enlightened we wouldn't be here."
Related Affirmation:

I feel God/Universal Light and Energy. There is a limitless source of divine intelligence and love surrounding me at all times, waiting for me to tap into it. It's there for all of us. This powerful energy and force is infinite, eternal therefore there's no need to be stingy with it... everyone can tap it, drink from this fountain of eternal knowledge. It lives in me and you. I now allow divine light and intelligence to work with and through me. Love radiates from me. I only see the good in life and have loving thoughts and words to share.

Psalm 46: Be still, and know that I am God.