Group Session #1

Greetings Angry Angels!

Welcome to our first week ending group session in which I will address some of the comments and emails I have received during our Anger Sessions throughout the week.  I appreciate the comments and emails that have been sent along and hope that this will continue as we explore the roots of our anger and how to fully address the issues we all face as Angry Americans!  I am always interested in hearing from you and hope that you will keep up the commenting and the emails.  If you would like to express an opinion not made public on the comment boards you can reach me directly through email angriestmaninamerica@gmail.com  And of course if you have something that makes you angry that I haven't covered, by all means let me know!  I will be happy to express your anger and outrage for you.

Of the subjects covered this week I got a few comments, and multiple emails from, the Humane Society of the United States was by far the winner.  I had not actually expected such a heavy response on that particular issue as I had for the child abuse posting: http://angryamericanman.blogspot.com/2012/01/out-with-old.html  The defining points between the two, I believe at least, are that while it comes to child abuse it seems to be pretty cut and dried in that everyone agrees it is "bad" and "unfortunate."  Animals on the other hand seem to elicit a much more emotional response.  On one side we have the animal rights fringe who think that animals should have every rights humans do including the right to vote with their own organizations casting the vote by proxy (I think they tried that back in Chicago in the '60's).  On the other side we have the animal welfare group who believe that we have a human responsibility to care for all life with care and compassion.

For the record I fall squarely on the latter side.  When I visit an animal shelter I look at a couple things, firstly is the conditions the animals are kept in.  Are the kennels or rooms they are kept in clean?  Do they have dog runs or yards to take the dogs out for walks and exercise?  Are the animals labelled with as much history and information that can be provided?  Is there enough space for the animals in each enclosure or are they all jammed in tight?  But mostly I look at the facility and the people there.

There have been times where I have been impressed by the facility and unimpressed by the people, and all variations and permutations regarding the two interacting.

But I had to ask myself...why does this facility impress me?  Well the last one I went to was absolutely HUMONGOUS!  I would wager it's at least five thousand square feet of just adoptions plus another separate building for admin and medical services.  All of this on a HUGE expanse of land.  Now you just KNOW my Angels that this was not government funded.  A little research later and the numbers were revealed through tax returns and some basic interviews.  It was a private facility and certainly more luxurious than all the city shelters I have been to.  The amount of donations to the shelter were staggering.  And while I don't have the specific amount in salaries for this particular shelter, there are a very good number of "executives" making six figure incomes while the "99%" who actually interacts with people make minimum wage or volunteer.  Now guess who is doing their job because they believe in what they are doing?

I was forwarded an article by Dr. Carol Stuart, host of Animals, Science and Stories on WFBG.  I'll let you read the article and it's very well researched footnotes here: http://www.spanieljournal.com/33lbaughan.html

Several people have written and complained that I am ANGRY at HSUS because I mistakenly believed that they ran or supported shelters.  Well let me ask you my Angels a simple question: When you see these commercials on tv where the hell do YOU think the money is going?  Do you think the money is actually going to help the little fuzzies that look so sad and lonely on the ads?  Or do you think the money is going to perpetuate an organizations lobbyists and lawyers?  Since it's an election year maybe Romney can seal the deal by taking some kitties with him to the next debate, or Obama can get his jobs bill passed by bringing a three legged dog with a safety collar with him to Congress.

What I am ANGRY at is the slight of hand these groups use to separate my well intentioned Angels from their hard-earned money as proficiently as any street corner three card monte hustler.  Why do I have to go digging through mountains of paper and statistics to follow the trail of my dollar?

The answer is simple: it's all about the money.

There is a huge divide in the personal attitudes of the people who do the work.  There is the minimum wage/volunteer attitude and there is the six figure income attitude.

Now if you haven't already read the link to the spanieljournal.com article above please take a few minutes to do so.  I'll wait.

Now what I take away from this article and research done at http://www.humanewatch.org/ and http://www.animalscam.com/ is that THIS is the definition of "Big Business."

I am going to quote Loretta Baughan directly here because I do not think I could put this into any better words than she already has: "We can no longer blindly accept the pie-in-the-sky guesstimates groups such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS, People for the Ethical treatment of Animals (PETA) and other similar agenda-driven animal extremists put forth.  Follow the money. These are organizations whose very existence are dependant upon the amount of money they can raise from misguided animal lovers who think their donation is actually helping puppies, kittens or their local animal shelter. The reality is that these animal rights fanatics seek to impose their vegan lifestyle and utopian dream for humans have zero contact with animals."

As soon as I get shirts and bumper stickers made Ms. Baughan and Dr. Stuart are getting some.

We are being deceived my Angry Angels!!  Our hearts are in the right place I'll allow us that much, but we need to be more vigilant in discovering for ourselves the truth of these organizations and we need to hold these organizations accountable.  Don't be angry because the animals you love don't have a loving home of their own.  Be ANGRY because these fuckers are top level predators and are the CAUSE for your hard-earned money being wasted and thousands of ANGRY PUPPIES and ANGRY KITTIES are being euthanized by the organizations we believe are protecting them.

Support ONLY your local shelters, rescue groups and reputable breeders.  Support the people who are actually doing the work they say they are.  Support the groups whose actual agenda agrees with yours. Tell all the stars and media personalities who beg for your money in these EXPENSIVE ads that you are tired of the deceit and that you are ANGRY at them for helping perpetuate the fraud!!  Tell your local, state and federal representatives that you want accountability and transparency for all these "Non-Profit" organizations.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this weeks Group Session especially Dr. Stuart and BeachDog for the great links and further information on these scams, and thanks to Will for an email I will address in it's own right in one of next weeks individual sessions regarding animal shelters and human needs.

Next week we can also look forward to Anger Management Sessions on bullying, rape, and a certain political commentator who might not be on the up and up.

Have a great weekend, watch some football and remember if it makes you ANGRY you have a safe place to vent here with me: angriestmaninamerica@gmail.com

GRRRRR!