Fighting the Good Fight: SHARK is Shining the Spotlight on Animal Abuse

There are so many wonderful groups fighting the good fight against animal abuse and cruelty. One of those groups, which has been putting videotaping to its very best and most effective use, is Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (or SHARK for short). SHARK is a group that deserves our support.

SHARK maintains a highly effective Facebook and YouTube presence. SHARK's head, Steve Hindi, is an incredibly effective spokesman for the cause. A former hunter, Steve goes from place to place, camcorder in hand, documenting human brutality against animals. As Steve points out in the introductory video on YouTube, SHARK relies on volunteer efforts and operates with a skeletal budget, so they need all the support they can get.

SHARK has been particularly effective in exposing the abuse at rodeos. Far too many animals have died extremely violent deaths in rodeos, which has tripped off warning bells among animal advocates. In one of SHARK's most recent videos, documenting the death of a Wyoming rodeo horse on July 30, 2011, thugs attempted to prevent Steve from filming the horse's painful death. This sort of scene has repeated itself over and over. No wonder the rodeo bosses - and all people who profit from the abuse of animals - fear SHARK's videocameras. Thee are modern-day video guerrillas, taking the best weapons imaginable - camcorders - into the belly of the beast.

SHARK is doing so much that is worthwhile. I urge you to support them. I'm going to be logging on to PayPal shortly to give a donation.

We're fighting an uphill struggle, but it's worth it.

Fighting the Good Fight: MP Mark Holland and Bill C229

In this Blog, I like to emphasize the wonderful people from all walks of life and every corner of the world who are fighting the good fight to help animals. There are a lot of them. Member of Parliament Mark Holland (right, with a constituent), a Liberal who represents Pickering and Ajax in the Canadian Parliament, is one such person. He has been fighting a long time for the passage of Bill C-229, which would toughen Canada's animal anti-cruelty laws.

They need toughening, too. In Calgary alone in recent days, there have been three court cases of men savagely treating dogs, including one who clubbed a dog repeatedly with a flashlight and another who beat a four-month-old puppy to death. Outside of the Calgary courtroom, members of Daisy Foundation - a group dedicated to fighting for tougher penalties against animal abusers - were making their presence known with demonstrations against animal cruelty.

Daisy Foundation is a terrific organization named after Daisy Duke, a dog who was tortured when two thugs put a bag over her head and beat her with a shovel. Then they dragged her behind a truck. She was so badly damaged by this incident that she had to be euthanized. The main perpetrator, Daniel Haskett, received 30 days in jail, which he was able to serve on the weekends. He was also slapped with a year's probation. Oh yeah, and he's not prohibited from being around animals. Real tough punishment for a sadist who loves inflicting cruelty on a defenseless creature. Sadly, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him.

This is one of the reasons why what Mark Holland is doing in Parliament is so important. He is pushing through a bill so that the Daniel Hasketts of the world won't get off so easily. Mark is fighting a noble battle in Parliament and he can use all the support he can get. I'm going to do my part by writing letters to key members of parliament to show my support for Mark (the addresses of the members can be found on his Website). Check out his Website (http://markholland.ca/issues/animals.htm) to see what you can do to help. Harsh punishments against those who abuse and murder animals is long overdue. Mark is just one of many brave folks around the world fighting for stiffer penalties against animal abusers.