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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Attention Must Be Paid

Dear Source:

I am following this animal abuse case very closely because I am so passionate about the need for us in the VI's to understand the correlation between the violence we have in our communities and the amount of animal abuse that occurs. Laws are made to instill a "big stick" understanding into people to draw a clear line in the sand about what is right or wrong; acceptable or unacceptable. We need laws so we can agree collectively on how we, as responsible citizens, will agree to behave.
Those who disrespect laws will quite simply and sadly, have to learn the hard way.
How we treat animals is a very strong statement on what kind of human beings we are. Most of the abuse we see occurring is about people acting out their "power-control" psychological issues on beings smaller than them. Start with animals…feel like a big man when you beat a puppy and the ingrained, inappropriate and dangerous, anti-social behavioral patterns are set in motion. You can almost count on more aggressive behavior building up and eventually leading to domestic violence in personal relationships and in our Communities.
My wish it that we be socially aware enough to recognize that being able to intervene in animal abuse and give some real help to those who are on the wrong path in trying to find their power can truly help our Communities, at least attempt, through compassion and understanding, to nip the issue in the bud, before it has escalated and developed into such "screaming" violence!
Let's also remember the kind of appalling and abominable treatment that slave masters demonstrated to dark-skinned human beings. This too was a sick "power-control" disease that has left our world in much pain and suffering today.
Remember that we often learn what we live as human beings and regrettably tend to either behave exactly as our oppressors (and sadly unconsciously) or see the horrors being instilled in us and champion a change.
If we truly are our brother's Keeper…if we care to break this cancerous violence in our Communities, we have to take our heads out of the sand around the kinds of animal abuse occurring daily in our Islands. I sometimes think and feel that the dogs I see who have been so badly abused look at me with these very sad and soulful eyes and deep knowing. They have a strong message for human beings and it is this: "Do you not see yourself in how you have treated me?" Will we pay attention and do something about it? That is what we need to answer now.
Bonny Corbeil
St. John

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