Hank for Senate and Argus and Fiona

I have shed some tears for Hank. I really feel for his family and their genuine pain. I know how hard it is to go through the grieving period. I really wish them well.

You see, Hank was our patient. We knew him from when he was a little guy. We have known his family as clients for, I estimate, 15 years or more. I remember his dad as a young man, coming into our first location with Sammy, another furry family member. Hey, we were BOTH young then. I have really grown up and grown wise while working at the clinic, and these long term bonds with clients are more than "just business."

(edit, it turns out that Hank was born in 2002. He was only eleven years old. That's a pretty short life for a pampered indoor cat. Most of our patients can expect to see 17 or beyond. Hank's dads did not get enough time with him, they really did not.)

Hank had thousands of fans all over the world; something like 67,000 likes on his facebook page. An astounding 7500 voters wrote Hank's name in during the 2012 election here in Virginia, "throwing their votes away" in order to make a statement about both animal welfare and the fitness to serve of the human candidates. It was the worst campaign season I have ever lived through. The attacks by the candidates on each other were both toxic and disgusting.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/hank-cat-senate-third_n_2101887.html

But not Hank's campaign, it was clean and thoughtful. He stayed focused on animal welfare and his team also spun in issues of acceptance and tolerance. How can anyone say we do not need these things?

His "campaign managers" did a smashing job of taking the issue of animal welfare out into the real world of politics. Frankly, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart and mind, Hank's "advisers" are better qualified humans to serve in office than any of the career politicians serving now. And I mean ALL the politicians, every last snake and corporate puppet.

I understand that his dads have been told by many fans that they *should* run for office. I do understand their reluctance. Hank had star power. He was photogenic and personable. We mere humans, his dads included, just can't add up to the super star powers of Hank.

I want to end this part of my blog with a positive thought. Let nothing toxic touch the memory of Hank, and let his pet parents know peace. They are good fellows and Hank was one-of-a-kind. Have peace, and in time, know joy when you remember Hank and his short but spectacular life.

Puppy break! Please ignore the shirtless beer-drinking Lorax in the background...

This week another animal welfare issue had its first anniversary. On February 12th we mourned the day that Gabriel Pilotti shot Argus and Fiona to death for the mere insult of walking on his lawn.

(warning, graphic details)
He literally called Argus to him and then blew his head off from less than 6 feet away. Fiona attempted to flee but he shot her, reloaded his shot gun, and then chased her into a corner of his back fence and shot her again, killing her. I can not tell you how terrifying, horrifying, this incident was to me and the many pet guardians who pay attention to things like this. From the time the dogs climbed over their family's damaged fence to the time they were killed was a tiny 20 minutes. Alive, and then horribly killed in just the blink of a human's life. I admit I know that one or both could have been hit by a car and died during the same 20 minutes. I have been through that very scenario myself. But accidents are so very different than willful slayings.

This incident still haunts me. I look out my door at my fence every morning, checking for downed trees. I check that the gate is closed multiple times a day now. I was already vigilant, but now it is a bit more compulsive.

I am glad Pilotti was convicted of animal abuse. I am glad he had to surrender his gun. I am not sure how long he will be gun-less or that he even feels remorse. It is hard for a leopard to change its spots. I hope his bad decision haunts him. I hope he feels traumatized by all the bad press, and hate mail. His own neighborhood turned against him, as it should. Who shoots a neighbor's dogs for no reason and brags about it? I can only guess at the mental pathology of this person. I can tell you I wouldn't want to live with him as a neighbor.

I am struggling here to end this part on a positive note. There is a whole lot of pain in life. I would not want add to it. I do not want the negative energy of Pilotti to bleed into my blog. So, here it the positive thought: By convicting Pilotti the legal system has precedence to stand up to property owners who hurt helpless animals who stray on to their property. This was a SCORE for the animal welfare crowd.

We will over come. We will speak for helpless, just as my husband James has stood up and spoken (often) for the trees. (and the natural world and dolphins)

Shame shame shame, change change change

Then, let there be peace.

Yesterday

Yesterday I started this blog post and said:

I have missed posting over the last  month but have found myself very busy. I want more than anything, to record my feelings about different subjects as closely as possible to when I am actually HAVING the feeling. But this thing isn't happening for me. This too busy-business has got to stop.

And then, of course, today is the day. "Patriots Day" supposedly. I must say this, and you can hate me all you want but this is the truth: violence begets violence and so then war begets war. 9/11 is the day our world-wide transgressions came home to roost. I will never forget that day and what happened, but I can not forgive "us" as a country, a culture, the things we have let happen in the name of the all-mighty dollar.

My 9/11 preachy-ness stops here. And I return naturally to animal welfare and justice. This is the center of my being. And so I wrote the next words on 9/12/13.

Yesterday, an incredible thing happened. Gabriel Pilotti, a man whom I do not know, who savagely and stupidly stalked and killed a nearby family's beloved dogs, was found guilty of two counts of animal cruelty. More than one thing was done right here: the police treated the crime scene *like a crime scene* and collected irrefutable evidence that was used to convict this very stupid and dangerous man; the county prosecutor made a solid case against him; the family of the dead dogs pursued justice with tenacity; and let's not forget this dorkus hung himself out to dry when he left a different neighbor a gloating voicemail bragging about killing these two gentle family dogs, bragging about his prowess with a shotgun.

In my mind, it is enough that he was convicted. I suspect he will "do no time." He will probably have to take a gun safety course, maybe some community service, maybe lose the right to a weapon permanently. But I doubt he will get a jail sentence. I am not the person that lost the dogs but for me the symbolism of the conviction is enough. It is dharma, the world equalizes forces.

I hope Pilotti's decisions to "shoot first and ask questions later" come back to him as flash backs day after day for the rest of his life. I hope his bragging both to the neighbor's voicemail and to the dead dogs' owner makes him sick when he recalls it, the same way the rest of us watching felt sick to our stomachs realizing how this could have been us, our dogs, our lives.

Aside from the deaths of Argus and Fiona, this other thing haunts me: I worry for the family's children. I worry they might have lost the feelings of safety and security that are part of a healthy childhood. I know the day the dogs died such brutal bloody deaths, that some part of each child's "innocence" evaporated. I hope the family has already sought counselling for the kids. I really do, and it would be nice if Pilotti is made to pay for that counselling. Just, it would just. Let justice be done.

And now a more light hearted topic on to what I personally am doing to promote wellness and kindness in my community. I mentioned earlier, in another post, that I plan to honor my friend Pat by offering my hand and help to those who seem in need. With this in mind I recall my friend Kat and I talking about how we had watched a fellow swim up to the boat launch earlier this spring. He had lost his boat, his pfd, and his shirt! The water was still wetsuit cold, and he was puffing like a heart attack was next on the agenda for the day. We were both stunned but agreed afterwards that we should have tried to help him. We should have popped into our boats and paddled out to him and gotten him to shore. Fail.

Monday the 9th of September found me out for a solo paddle. Near the 3.25 mile mark I came upon a Hobie Cat (a light weight catamaran) missing its mast and with a gentleman trying to paddle the boat with, what appeared to be, a broom... I'm going to force myself to offer help...against my quiet shy nature, and the fact that I am a woman... I called out a greeting, and was quickly informed that they had lost their trolling motor. I told them that they were 3 miles from the marina, where I had also launched. They were "paddling" the boat with a life vest on a stick, and a two by four.

I offered them my spare paddle, skulled over and pulled up against their boat. I hung around to make sure they were getting under way. They each took 1/2 of my paddle and started rowing canoe style. They actually were moving about 2.5 or 3 miles an hour. I told them I'd hang around the marina to collect my paddle.

After they made it back to the marina I chatted with them for a few moments. Very nice couple of fellows. The loaned paddle was a definite help. I headed home with a warm glow, glad I'd been some small help.

It is nice to help, this is what my friend Pat must have known.

Hobie Cat pulls up to the boat ramp 9/9/13