My respond to PETA: When I First Fell in Love With Animals

I didn't like animals until I pass through a very difficult moment in my house back in my hometown Venezuela. I needed to go out of my house before I expected, so I went to live with an aunt, who I wasn't close to. Anyway, this aunt had a poodle named Coco and even though he wasn't that friendly because they didn't teach him to be that way, and I wasn't an animal lover at all, we started to get along great. He was with me in my hardest times, he was the only one that cried and laughed with. Every time I came back from the University he got sooo... excited. I used to take him out every day al least three times a day. Anyway, unexpectedly I started to love this magnificent creature and with that I started to care so much for all the stray dogs. I couldn't resist seen them having such a hard time without me doing anything. So I started to pick here and there a few stray dogs and found homes for them. Most of the cases resulted well but some didn't. After that, my thesis in order to obtain my bachelor's degree in Philosophy was about Ecology Ethics, where I tried to extend part of John Rawls theory of justice to nature (animals & environment). I thought that it was necessary to treat nature with justice as well as we intend to relate to humans. Although I couldn't conclude that, because Rawls theory of Justice only refers to justice when he talks about humans, I did determine that the principle of RESPECT should always be consider when we humans relate to non - humans. We can't just do what we want to do without considering the consequences of our acts especially when they interfere with nature.
Today my strongest passion is the animal welfare. I’m concerned about all the animals. I’m vegetarian and intend one day to have an animal sanctuary where I can have animals that can be rescued from zoos, circus, from people that abuse them. It’s a constant fight against people that destroy nature.

PETA protest against HORSE CARRIAGES

This protest was my first one. It was located at City Hall. People from different organizations went to support the horses that are used in Times Square and in South Central park area for turists. On July 4th one of these horses was hit pretty hard by a taxi driver.
I think there is no need to put these horses in such a stressed environment. Totally different from nature, the one that they belong to. I pass many flyers informing people about the situation and gave an interview saying what I thought about this issue, making sure that people understand my possition as well as so many different people that were fighting for this good cause.

¿Los animales ho humanos merecen consideraciones morales?

Si parto de la consideración que todos los seres vivos no humanos también son capaces de experimentar placer y dolor, concluyo que también estos seres merecen consideraciones éticas o morales por parte del hombre. Es precisamente esta capacidad de sentir la que nos hace animales y la que compartimos los seres humanos con los no humanos.
Ahora bien, lo interesante y desafiante para mi es saber cuáles son los tipos de consideraciones de las que estamos hablando.
Así como compartimos la semejanza de sentir, también tenemos nuestras diferencias. Y una de ellas, es la de que tenemos una capacidad de racionalización distinta a la de los seres vivos no humanos. ¿Sin embargo, esa capacidad de razonar distinta nos hace superiores y nos da el poder de hacer y deshacer a estos seres de manera arbitraria? ¿Acaso al establecer la distinción entre ambos animales viene incluído la aceptación a menospreciar a los animales no humanos por parte nuestra?

Continúa...

Ike & Chiquito

The black and white dog is our precious Ike Foreman. He is such a wonderful and strong doggy. He loves to play with Estela and to destroy toys that get his attention. "Everybody loves Ike..." is our typical saying. When ever we go out with him he gets all the attention and I feel bad for Estela. He always wants to be pet. He can be very furious but as soon as you pet him he totally changes. We got Ike from a shelter located at JFK. His story is a tragic one. The lady told us that a breeder from Upstate NY decided to kick out around 14 dogs. We don't now exacty why she didn't want him, but probably had to do with one of his paws, he had a cast on it. As soon as we saw him he started to wag his tail from the cage and Simon fell in love with him immediatly.
And the white furry one is my dog Chiquito who stays in Venezuela with my parents. I miss him so much and I would like to bring him with us. When Simon refers to him talking with Ike & Estela he says: "Your long last brother Chiquito Márquez...".
Anyway, I have him since 2001 on my 27th birthday. Maggy (my younger sister) bought him from a guy who sells dogs inside of his car.
I wanted a dog after being with my aunt's dog Coco for a month, when I stayed in her house that same year. It was really tough what I was passing through in my life when I met Coco. I fell in love with him, but Coco already had an owner. My aunt, on the other hand, didn't want another dog in her house. So, Maggy got me a poodle very similar to Coco.
When I came in 2004 it wasn't a good idea to bring him with me because I didn't know in what conditions I was going to live in NY. After going back and forth to Venezuela I wanted to bring him with me, but my dad loves and cares for him so much that it seems that for now he will stay there.

ESTELA & MACHO - BUSTER

Estela is my princess and Macho - Buster is a dog that also has his own story. Macho was given to a homeless guy that plays the saxophone in the subway. He was trying to sell the dog for $20 with no success. Then, he gave it to another homeless guy who offer the dog to my husband Simon. When I came back from work Simon told me about the incident and of course I couldn't resist getting into the struggle and pleasure of finding him a good home. I put an ad on craigslist and with God's blessing it seems that everything turn out great for him. I called the women 1 week later and she was almost talking more to him than to me. By this and by taking him to the vet, buying him a lot of toys and neutering him, I assume that he has a pretty good life now. Again, thank God.

MOllY

The story of this dog goes back to May 23rd. I met a women close to where we live that had her for over 6 months, but she didn't have too much time or patience to take care of her properly. Anyway to make the long story short, my friend Heidi took her and now both of them are sooo... happy thank God.

SIGN FOR THEM

Please review and sign this to help these animals who are constantly suffering.
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/tonka_luna

Why a lot of people don't care?

Yesterday, my husband & I saw a program on T.V. where they started to peel an Eel mean while it was still alive, as if this animal didn’t suffer. The chef in the program took the animal from a container with water and started to peel out the skin.
It's unbelievable how people put limits to animal suffering randomly. Where is the limit of animal suffering? Why do people consider one animal more than another one when it comes to suffering, to feel pain, to cause it or to avoid it? It seems that a lot of this has to do with the culture that you are immerse in. Depending on the culture some people seem to care more about certain animals than others.
In South American countries for example they eat all type of animals, and they don't usually care about the conditions that they are raised in nor the way the animal is cooked.
Here in North America it seems to be clear that people mark a line, a limit to animal suffering when it refers to dogs & cats, which both are under the category of domesticated animals. Although, when we think about domesticated animals why don't we feel the same compassion for animals such as chickens, pigs, cows and turkeys? What and who determines which feels more pain? Where should we draw the line and not care about the animal suffering?
These types of subjects and concerns are well treated by authors like Peter Singer & Jesús Mosterín. Both of them are well-respected philosophers who are dedicated to examining the conditions that animals are put in by humans.
One of my main concerns in life is how animals are treated, how they are raised, in what conditions they live from the day they are born until they die. That's why I'm concern about INDUSTRIAL FARMS. Concern about how people raised and kill the animals for food and/or for comfort and luxury. Concern if the animal suffers for a considerable period of time before it actually dies.
Even though I don't share the eating of animals I still believe that those people who do, should be aware of how the animals are raised and the way that they are killed. The less suffering during their life period and the less suffering during their death should be something to keep in mind because ultimately ALL ANIMALS (including US) have the capacity to feel pain and the wish to avoid it.

How we treat the animals...

Here are a few titles of movies and books that might interest you, about how animals are treated by humans.

- The Animals Film.
- The Witness.
- Peaceable Kingdom.
- Bad Medicine. This movie is available in: youtube.com and you can read about it in: www.bava.org.uk/ .
- Earthlings (narrated by Joaquin Phoenix).

Books:

- Slaughter of the Innocent by Hans Ruesch.
- Animal Liberation by Peter Singer.