Next week, I am taking a day off from work to go to the State House here in Boston, to lobby on behalf of animals. I’m not sure exactly what all of it entails, but I will be there as part of a group of volunteers from the Animal Rescue League of Boston. We are set to have some training tomorrow evening at the ARL location in the South End. I’m glad to be able to go and give a voice to those who can’t speak (in our version of English anyway) for themselves. Maybe someday, just maybe, animals won’t be considered to be mere property in the eyes of the law.
If you are interested in learning more about these lobby days, you should check out this link from the Humane Society of the United States. For more information on the specific Massachusetts Lobby Day, check out this link from the MSPCA. You can also join a facebook group led by the MSPCA Action Team. I am glad to be able to use my legal background if needed, on their behalf.
By the way, I attended a talk last week where I work which was given by a Jared Goodman, Director of Animal Law for PETA, who has been involved in the SeaWorld cases. It was sponsored by my school’s local chapter of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. It was really well attended, which I was so glad to see. It was in a large lecture room and pretty much every seat was taken as far as I could tell. Maybe they came for the free falafel. Whatever got them there, as long as they listened and learned something, maybe in the future, they will think twice before they eat a piece of meat or fish, or go to the local aquarium or zoo, or place of entertainment like Sea World. Maybe when they go on a whale watch in the future, they’ll notice how straight the dorsal fins are of the whales that are free, compared to the “falling over” of the dorsal fins of the whales in captivity. And maybe, just maybe they’ll watch Blackfish and be moved to tears when the baby whales are separated from the moms, as I know I was and so were some of my friends.
I, for one, never want to go to a zoo again. I will no longer look with interest on the lion or tiger pacing back and forth and think “oh that’s so cute, he’s bored!” No, he’s not bored. He’s going insane being held captive, that’s what is happening. I’ll never look at the sea lions or seals in the tank as they swim up close to the glass wall and think of how cute they look. Instead, I’ll think of how much smaller that tank is than where they would be living if they were free. I’ll think of how it would make me feel to be confined to the equivalent of a bathtub for my entire life, or one small room with bars on every avenue of escape.
And, now that you have read these words, I hope you will be doing the same.
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Chasing Simple Dreams 