SAN FRANCISCANS BAN PETS,EAT VEGGIES & SWIM NAKED
My thoughts on the proposal to ban the sale of pets in San Francisco, the rest is just stuff I do anyway.
By Chef Tanya
The City of St. Francis, the patron Saint of the animals, has spoken and the people are rebelling. Hey they rebelled against St. Francis too in the beginning! It's a good time to be a rebel rouser.
1. I've worked with pet animals and their protection since I was in junior high school and the amount of animals that get dumped and then killed in shelters is astounding. In Los Angeles alone 35,000 dogs and 67,000 cats are killed. Divide that by days in the year to see how many per day. Remember this is L.A. alone!! The gas chamber is no longer used in California but it is in many other states still.
Nico is sad....he could be adopted!
2. Most of the dogs sold are puppy mill dogs and that's another horrid story (http://tinyurl.com/36amqfx). I watched a guy next to my restaurant in Palm Desert in a truck from Missouri pulling out pups and cards from different cages and carry them into a place that sells pure bred puppies for big profits to wealthy people that don't know the story behind puppy mills. If you like purebreds know that 25% of shelter dogs are purebreds and there are numerous pure breed rescue groups around the country, try them first
Chanel....a happily adopted pet
Joys of adopting a pet!
3.Will the pet stores go out of business? Hopefully they run a good business model and that won't happen. Most stores sell animals to get folks in the door and make money on the accessories that one needs to care for a pet. Much like grocery stores sell produce but the real economics happen in the prepared items and in health and beauty aids. PetCo chain has started a new concept called "Unleashed" which sells no animals so it's already starting.
4. Cooperation with public and private sector can be the answer. A pet store can house and take a donation for rescue pets. Pet store owners Lewis and Paula Turner started www.amodestproposal.org with phenomenal results and is a good "how to" for current or future pet store owners.
5.The San Francisco law says they can only sell fish that means no birds or guinea pigs or bunnies?.. Too late on bunnies, they are already banned for sale in SF. Birds are a sad story. Most birds in cages have their wings clipped. The very thing they were born to do we cut off to watch them in a cage. Again, I'm not a zoo fan either. Unless someone has room and money to let them spread their wings and let them do their natural dance, don't sell them and don't buy them. If you love birds go to Westwood Veteran's Gardens and check out Serenity Bird Sanctuary, here you can volunteer. It's right near Native Foods Café. This was created from all the unwanted, confiscated and illegally traded exotic birds the stories are sad but now happy! http://tinyurl.com/yrvzxx. Guinea pigs are always looking for homes in shelters check out www.cavyhaven.org in So cal and you will see how wide your choices are. There is a rabbit at the Palm Springs Shelter as I type. Alright I just rescued a horse from a shelter so really what isn't available at a shelter?
6. It's an attempt by PETA to outlaw and ban pets altogether! I love conspiracy theories but I'm not buying this one yet. Let's wait and see if it happens and we will have time to comment if it does.
7. People just drive out of the city limits and buy in another city pet shop. Sure they can. Well you have to start somewhere I say. The dialog and awareness that has been created just by the proposal of this law is worth a million lives! West Hollywood and Hermosa Beach already passed such a law, so it's not exactly new news. Listen you can get anything you want in this world legally or illegally and you probably have witnessed this in your life already. Point is if you are striving to make the world a more compassionate place to be then reassessing our responsibility to our animal friends is important and this may indeed help, it certainly can't hurt.
8. While everyone is debating this, I have a great idea! Join or get involved in a rescue group of an animal of your choice, I'm sure there is one close by!
Eat Peace,
Chef Tanya Petrovna
Native Foods Cafe Founder
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