captawesomesauce: I dunno… I still think little kids are evil and dangerous no matter how you raise them. Frankly, they scare me and I’m not opposed to banning children across the world outright. Maybe we should just stick to cats and dogs after all, they’re much safer, more loyal, less expensive and just all around better.
Pop-upView Separately

captawesomesauce:

I dunno… I still think little kids are evil and dangerous no matter how you raise them. Frankly, they scare me and I’m not opposed to banning children across the world outright. Maybe we should just stick to cats and dogs after all, they’re much safer, more loyal, less expensive and just all around better.

(via pinkgirlwiththeblues)

Source: captawesomesauce

Some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don’t even recognize that growth is happening. We may feel hostile or angry or weepy and hysterical, or we may feel depressed. It would never occur to us, unless we stumbled on a book or a person who explained to us, that we in fact in the process of change, of actually becoming larger, spiritually, than we were before. Whenever we grow, we tend to feel it, as a young seed must feel the weight and inertia of the earth as it seeks to break out of its shell on its way to becoming a plant. Often the feeling is anything but pleasant. But what is most unpleasant is the not knowing what is happening[…]Those long periods when something inside ourselves seems to be waiting, holding its breath, unsure about what the next step should be, eventually become the periods we wait for, for it is in those periods that we realize that we are being prepared for the next phase of our life and that, in all probability, a new level of the personality is about to be revealed.
Alice Walker (via caitsmeissner, colporteur, foulmouthedliberty)

(via azspot)

Source: caitsmeissner

In Memory of Sophia Belle

 Intro text by Kate Peterson.

How many more dogs will have to die in the name of “training” before science-based, positive reinforcement training will become the normal, not the exception? 

Also, as a training client, you have a right and a *responsibility* to intervene if you do not approve of how your dog is being handled. I have never taken a client’s leash without permission, and I would be outraged if someone tried to take my leash as a client. Stand up for your dog; you’re the only person who can speak for him or her.

  

In Memory of Sophia Belle

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness that my fiancé Michael DiMaggio and I announce the death of our beloved English Bulldog Puppy, Sophia Belle. 

We have been beside ourselves with sadness, and have waited for the appropriate time to make her death public, as with the announcement of her death, we take on the responsibility of informing the public about those responsible for this tragedy. We are now ready to fight for our beloved Sophia Belle and to ensure her untimely death was not in vain. 

On the night of February 28th, I took Sophia to her Thursday night puppy class at Petco. We were working on loose leash walking, and as always, Sophia picked up her lessons immediately. My goal was for her to be a certified therapy dog, providing Animal Assisted Therapy to those in need. 

As Michael walked into the room that evening, Sophia barked to greet him. At this point her trainer decided this was an undesirable behavior, and pulled her by her leash until her front paws were dangling off of the ground. I still see Sophia’s wrinkles enveloping her face from the pressure of the collar on her neck. 

When she was let down, she immediately vomited several times, and then collapsed. She was gasping for air, and her breathing became increasingly labored. My fiancé and I tried to free her airway to see if she was choking, but her condition worsened. Blood began coming out of her mouth. 

The Petco staff was clearly not trained in any protocol in the event of an emergency. They stood there and watched as she was dying. Her trainer then attempted to get into her mouth and clear her airway.

An associate from the sales floor attempted to revive her unsuccessfully. We then rushed her down the road to the closest veterinarian that the trainer had retrieved from her cell phone. Again, Petco did not have this information available. 

Sophia had already begun to go into shock. Her lungs filled up with blood from her constricted airway, and her little heart gave out. 

We want to warn our fellow dog lovers, not to use Petco puppy class, as they have deemed that their trainer acted within their standard practice of care by restraining Sophia. I know that none of you would want your beloved family member to be treated in this manner, to be hurt or the ultimately die tragically.

Best regards,

Michele Moccia and Michael DiMaggio

Every Thirty Minutes: Farmer Suicides, Human Rights, and the Agrarian Crisis in India

A majority of cotton farmers in India invested in this new, genetically modified cotton, as evidenced by the rapid increase in Bt cotton cultivation. In just one year, from 2005 to 2006, the number of hectares under Bt cotton cultivation jumped 260 percent from 1.26 million to 3.28 million hectares.64 By 2009, 85 percent of cotton produced in India was Bt cotton; in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, the figure is as high as 95 percent. These farmers believed that genetically modified pesticide in the seed would allow the cotton crop to survive bollworm infestations, resulting in higher yields, decreased instances of crop failure and, ultimately, in greater economic security for their families. 

For farmers such as Vithal Bhindarwa, however, investing in Bt cottonseeds did not lead to economic security. Hoping to provide a better life for his wife and children, Bhindarwa purchased these higher-priced seeds through loans in excess of Rs. 28,000 [US$566 in 2008] both from the State bank and from private moneylenders. When his crop failed in 2008 as a result of unpredictable weather conditions, Bhindarwa was unable to pay back his loans and took his own life by swallowing rat poison, leaving his 22-year-old son, Gajanan, as the head of the family. Bhindarwa’s story is not uncommon: for too many farmers, investing in Bt cottonseeds has not led to greater financial security, but has instead contributed to their financial distress. The reason, as explained below, is Every Thirty Minutes: Farmer Suicides, Human Rights, and the Agrarian Crisis in India that Bt cottonseeds demand even more of two resources that are already scarce for many farmers: 

money and water.