We Need To Know

We need the truth...will we get it?  Please pray for the people of Japan and all of us...

I Can't Stop Hating You

The recent posts about Guzoo, the roadside zoo cesspool have got me scouring the internet for more news, updates and info on these fucking losers.  What we do know is that the Guzoo used to operate as a fur farm, and now calls itself a "sanctuary" for animals.  Not sure how someone who once skinned animals for their pelts knows about providing a safe haven for animals.  I wondered if Gustafson himself had anything to say to shed some light on this, and then I found an article where he actually says that if he is forced to get rid of the animals, he'll just kill them for taxidermy.  AH!  The truth comes out.  He's after the money, NOT what is best for the animals.

I know a lot of animal welfare folk, and NONE of us would think that killing the animals for taxidermy was the best thing for the animals or that it was the actions or words of a caretaker running a proper sanctuary.  By definition, "sanctuary" means to keep safe from harm.

If this is the case, due to the nature of the word VS Gustafson's actions, we should demand that he not be allowed to operate under the "sanctuary" moniker.  It should be removed from his website, from their title and we'll let a spade be called a spade.  

In the meantime, maybe we should order Gustafson some books?  I vote for this one.  Just sayin'.  Maybe there is a chapter about bleeding head wounds?

 

I CALL BULLSHIT!

Fuck, I am so sick and tired of people using the "rescue" moniker to gain trust so that they can collect donations from do-gooding people and then just exploit the animals that they claim to rescue.  Don't get me wrong, there are MANY good rescues out there, doing great work and worthy of your donations.  In fact, they NEED your donations to keep fighting the good fight.  But, sadly, there are many shit ones too.  One that I'm enjoying picking on right now is Guzoo, the fucked up, animal neglecting "sanctuary" in Alberta, Canada.

You can see more of these fuck wads here.  They sure do exploit the term "rescue".  I mean, first off, you have to actually SAVE something to rescue it...and putting tigers in small cages with no stimulation and giving them frozen water with shit in it doesn't exactly = rescue.

Second, after a little glance around their website, it would seem that a lot of the animals there aren't even fucking rescued in the first place.  They were bred or bought TO BE AT THE GUZOO.  Fucking morons.  Why you'd breed an animal just so you could plop it in a cage and feed it shitty water and plastic is beyond me, but there you go, there's one in every bunch.

I mean, fuck, this is taken from their own website.  Look at the animals they bring on their "touring zoo"!

Animals often seen at GuZoo's petting zoos are:

Mini horses/w baby
mini donkeys/with baby
Alpacas/with baby
llamas
sheep/lambs
goats/kids
bunnies
guinea pigs
pot bellied piglets
ducks
geese
chickens/chicks
baby emus
kittens
puppies

Seriously! They are breeding mini horses, donkeys, alpacas, sheep, goats, bunnies, guinea pigs, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens, emus, kittens and puppies! Just a news flash, RESCUES DON'T BREED. They also had a litter of the Basset hounds they claim to love, and look in this video to see where they thought was an appropriate place to put her whelping box!

But really, it is hard to look at the photos of the tigers with their frozen water, the cats with their frost bitten ears. But, silly people, don't feel bad! Look at what they wrote on their website (I couldn't make this shit up if I tried)!

"Don’t feel bad for the animals in the winter, they are much better suited to tolerate the cold temperatures then you might think. Instead, give our poor zoo keepers some sympathy. Regardless of the weather conditions, they must trample through snow, struggle with frozen locks, numb fingers and fight with the feed tractor which often chooses not to start on the REALLY cold days. Having to dress in layer upon layer of clothing makes movement all that more laborious. Shoveling snow out of gates and walkways, making necessary repairs to damage caused by board breaking winter winds, and trekking out into the various pastures to check that the automatic waterers have not froze up, are just some of the hardships of winter Believe me; the winter is harder on the humans at the zoo than the animals."

Yeah! Don't feel bad for the cats drinking POOED IN WATER! Don't feel bad for those pesky monkeys with nothing to do, or the tigers pacing in their cage. Don't feel bad for the wolves being taunted by the dogs. Feel bad for the poor zoo keepers! They have to fumble with cold locks!!! On top of that, but they have to do it all in an extra layer of clothes.

Here, I have something for the zoo keepers, the only ones who CHOOSE to be there. The ones who, unlike the animals, could JUST QUIT THEIR FUCKING JOBS IF THEY WANTED TO, instead of bitch about how hard life is...here it is, just for them:

Yeah, see, I don't give two shits about you, your second layer of clothes or your poor, cold fingers. What I do give a shit about is the way you've been treating the animals and the fact that you claim to care for them and rescue them. You're a bunch of dead beat liars who are in way over their heads and can't admit it. It makes me sick that you are the "caretakers" of these animals and you betray that privilege.

You WILL be closed down. And fuck you to the Alberta Fish and Wildlife, who gave these fuckers animals and also to the Calgary Zoo and anyone else who put animals in their care over the years. SHAME ON YOU!

What. The. Fuck.

To the people who took these photos and brought them to everyone to see, THANK YOU.  You are truly heroes and I hope Karma pays you well...

There are a lot of bad people out there.  A lot.  But, there are good people too.  Some of those good people posted some photos on Facebook of a zoo, a really fucked up, sick, animal neglecting zoo.  These people documented exactly what they saw at this fucked up zoo, and I want to post them here to help spread the word about what is happening at Guzoo Animal Farm.

The Guzoo Animal Farm's website claims that they are a licensed "animal sanctuary".  Sanctuary, by definition, means: "A reserved area in which birds and other animals, especially wild animals, are protected from hunting or molestation."  Hmmmm, you look at these photos, tell me if this is what you consider a "sanctuary"...

The Guzoo itself...

Tortoise enclosure...can the animal even turn around in here? 

The floor of feces and urine...and a view of the enclosure and dirty water...

A bird with horrible tail feathers.  Sometimes they will pull them from stress...what happened here?

A small cage for a mom and baby...apparently they were stressed from the dogs allowed to roam.  

Feeding the animals oranges in the plastic net?  Hopefully they don't ingest that...

Tigers...no water, she apparently eats snow to stay hydrated.

No enrichment.  What a meek existence.

The male tiger's water...bird feces and frozen solid!

This breaks my heart.  Dogs allowed to taunt the wolves.  

A pig attempting to eat an old coat?

WHY IS THIS ANIMAL NOT AT A VET???  Instead it is left to attempt to eat plastic?

I have an idea...lets feed the rabbits CRUTONS IN A PLASTIC BAG.

Random dead animals...

The dove cage...Oh my God...

People on the "Save the Guzoo" facebook page have a lot to say about the GOOD things this zoo does, and why we should save it.  Kim Mcrae says "These new mandates are absolute crap! It goes against everything our small town zoo is about. I wonder if any of these yuppies who set up this mandate have ever even been to the zoo and experianced the love and compassion towards the animals and seen the smiles on the faces of the people. The Three Hills Guzoo is a wonderful place and I wont let anyone say any different! Believe me many letters will be written and many angry people will be fighting for this place!!! Keep up the good work everyone at the zoo : )"

WOW.  I must be a yuppie then, 'cause I don't consider leaving a cat outside to get frostbite on its ears "love and compassion"...

But, silly Yuppies, the mandates imposed on the Guzoo go "against everything the town is about".  I've made a tourism poster for the town so that everyone can see how Three Hills is such a "wonderful place".  

Amanda Tevendale says "The guzoo is an awesome zoo- where else are you able to see baby animals?"  Oh, fuck, how could I be so stupid.  You can see baby animals????  This place must be an AWESOME ZOO! What was I thinking?  So awesome that you can see baby animals and young animals WITH BLEEDING HEADS!

SHEER AWESOME-NESS FOR YUPPIES

Regan Sept says "This zoo is great and everyone who hates it don't go there or just shut your ugly face."  Oh, Regan, you backwoods red neck hic.  We're not done with your precious little zoo.  You've only just seen the start of what we're going to do, and I promise you that we won't stop until the zoo is closed, people are charged and those animals are safe and well cared for.  I'm not going to shut my ugly face until the wolves are in a proper sanctuary, the tigers have fucking water and the goats don't walk around with blood pouring from their fucking heads.  

I will continue to post but, please join the facebook page set up to save these animals.  I will find out contact info for the SPCA's, mayor, council members and everyone else who needs to get their asses in gear to help these animals.  

*UPDATE- PLEASE CALL THE ALBERTA SPCA WITH YOUR CONCERNS.  This is from the Alberta SPCA: We are taking a list of names and phone numbers from people who are concerned about Guzoo at 780-732-3746. Please use this number for your concerns rather than our Animal Protection Services line. You can also write your MLAs or the Ministers of Agriculture and Sustainable Resources Development.

Anger Management

After yesterday's post, we saw some very heated comments about your feelings toward Kisha Curtis, the woman who has been charged with starving her dog and presumably throwing it down the garbage chute.  She has admitted to not caring for him, stating that she "couldn't take care of him anymore".  Ah, fuck.  I was sort of hoping that the person responsible for this crime would be a seriously mentally ill, immensely poverty stricken person who simply could not grasp that the dog needed care.  Although what happened to Patrick would still be terrible, and no less tragic, at least there were be a reason this happened, and although we could still collectively hate them, perhaps we could draw some understanding.

But no.  The person allegedly responsible for this

appears in her facebook photos as someone who has taken time to care for herself, and the fake nails she had surely cost more than a cheap bag of dog food.  Leaving him alone with no food, while she watched him waste away...I mean, the dog ate a SOCK for fuck sakes, to try to quell the hunger he was feeling.  This is so beyond messed up, and judging by the comments you've left on Patrick's last post, it is seriously causing a lot of people to be very, very angry.

I've heard from a few people who say that we shouldn't post these things, that her lawyer will simply use it in her favor and get her out of a trial, or a reduced sentence.  That voicing our anger will give them cause to think that she isn't able to receive a fair trial.  Ah, fuck it!  I mean, "fair" trial?  The fucking max this woman can get is 6 months in jail, but more likely she'll get a $1000 fine and some community service.  So, in the mean time, I say go ahead, voice your anger!  Perhaps this is what is needed, for the entire country to wake up and realize what is happening and truly get pissed off and vocal about it!  The squeaky wheel gets the grease, as they say, and its about time that North America's animal welfare laws got some grease.  

I must say, in response to some of the comments, that I do NOT condone anyone causing bodily harm to another.  I do feel that Kisha will be well taken care of by our bitchy friend Karma, but I am not advocating that anyone take these matters into their own hands.  Presently she is being dealt with by the police, by the law, and at this time perhaps shift your anger towards making sure that your voice is heard.  Find out who the judge is, write to him.  Protest (peacefully) outside of the courtroom.  Write letters, DO SOMETHING.  Let's do something so soon, dogs like Patrick aren't left to suffer while their owners pay off $1000 fines.  

Because, honestly?  That's total fucking BULLSHIT.  

Remember, this is NOT an isolated case.  The reason that we heard about Patrick is because he lived, truly defying the odds.  But there are people right in your own community doing shitty things to animals RIGHT NOW, and we need an army to go out there and fight the good fight.  Decide what you can do to help and just fucking do it! 

Outrage

The max for doing what she did is 6 months.  More likely we'll see her get something more toned down.  People really need to start understanding what we allow in this world.  This is not ok...

BREAKING NEWS

Here is the scum sucking low life bitch who allegedly did this:

Her name is Kisha Curtis.  She's been charged, but much more mildly than she should be.  Fuck our cruelty laws!  FUCK!  

Instead of taking skanky photos of yourself, you should have FED YOUR DOG, you low life bitch!  Anything would have been better than that old sock he ate to try to suppress his hunger.  Thank God you've been caught.  Now the world will know what the Devil looks like.  

Blogger Bullshit

There is this growing trend where young hipsters with Etsy stores to set up blogs and talk about what makes them unique, even though they are all carbon copies of each other and they have nothing real to talk about.  They are often tattooed and have some form of snub nosed dog, like a pug.  It helps if their boyfriends are into vintage cameras and grow mustaches for Movember.  I love to hate these blogs, mostly out of insane jealousy because they make money blogging, selling their dumb "brand" (aka loving themselves) but also because they are so fucking stupid and irritating that I can't understand why people follow them in the first place.

They probably hate blogs like mine, because here we don't sit around and drink $40 cups of tea while we talk about just how insanely cute our newly thrifted vintage owl is.  To be accepted by them, we have to be "different" which, as far as I can tell, means making up fucked up outfits and taking photos of ourselves wearing them while looking thoughtful in the woods.  Although, I should point out, that trend sometimes backfires and you just end up looking like you are taking a shit behind the woodshed:

So the other day, a friend says "Have you seen the ugly headband that Elsie wears"?  And I say "no", so we head over to A Beautiful Mess to behold this:

OUCH.   Turns out, she actually wears that, it isn't a joke!  I guess when she picked out her blog name she got one part right, and it isn't "beautiful".  Martha Stewart wouldn't even accept that as a table center piece, let alone think it was a good idea to put it on your head.  This normally wouldn't bother me, except this girl actually has a huge blog following and people LOVE to see what she's wearing!  OMG.  

But then, as we're laughing our way through the blog, we find a post about what Elsie has in her purse.  Check this out: 

So, we have a magazine, bangles, nail polish, iphone, owl (of course) shaped change purse and a passport AND fake glasses!  Do you honestly expect me to believe this shit?  That this is what is in your purse?  Bullshit!  No one carries around their turquoise bangle stash.  And passport????  She says that she lost her I.D. and she's carrying this in the meantime.  I think that she actually means that she was trying to stage this so that she looks worldly and deep.  As deep as fake glasses can make you look.

I found this one on another blog, The Dainty Squid.  She's posted what is in her camera bag.  

YES!  Now THAT I believe.  Regular ol' Chap Stick (not Burt's Bees), normal gum and ziplock bags!  At least I buy that this is what is REALLY in her camera bag.  And she's taken it on regular carpet, not passport enhancing rustic floor boards.  Thank you, The Dainty Squid, for being a real person in a sea of fake bloggers.  Thanks for just posting, rather than constantly trying to shove a fake brand down our throats.  

This honestly makes me want to buy Extra gum and Chap Stick for everyone I know...

And by the way, Burt's Bees was bought out by Clorox years ago, so carrying it doesn't make you any more indie...just sayin'.  

Stupidly Ironic

Maybe those warnings on cigarette packages should be changed to read "Jackhammer noise may or may not hurt your baby"?

Beyond Pissed Off

When I first came across these photos, I honestly thought I was looking at a dead dog.  Yeah, the photos are hard to look at, but please do it, because everyone needs to know what happens out there.  We are very good at looking away and turning a blind eye.  When we see these images, we pretend it is a rare and isolated thing.  But what happened to this dog, Patrick, is not rare and isolated.

Sadly, this happens all of the time.

Its just that 99.999% of the time, you won't see it.  

The only thing unique about this case is that Patrick, unlike most of the others that make it to this state, survived... 

HOW????  Looking at these photos, I have no idea how this dog survived.  Truth be told, he shouldn't have survived being so starved, death should have won this round.  Even more remarkable, he also survived being literally tossed away like garbage, presumably when the person responsible assumed he was dead.  They packed Patrick up in a garbage bag, threw him into the garbage chute where he fell up to 22 stories into a bin.  Thankfully, when a maintenance worker noticed the bag move before being loaded for the compacter, Patrick was found and rescued.  

He's not out of the woods yet.  You can get all of the updates, more on the story and donate through his facebook page, aptly named The Patrick Miracle.  Miracle indeed.  

What pisses me off about this story is that Patrick didn't do this to himself.  Someone did this to him.  I'll use the term "human" lightly, but some scum sucking, low life fucker did this to him.  God, I'm at a loss about what I'd like to see happen to the person(s) responsible.  Part of me hopes that they are found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but I have such little faith in animal cruelty laws that I doubt it would be an appropriate punishment for what they have done.  Part of me hopes that someone out there who is as angry about what happened finds them and lets their anger fly.  But I'm not going to wish violence on someone, so let me just say that I hope that karma takes good fucking care of you and that this time she truly is a bitch as they say.  A snarky, angry bitch with something to prove.  

Patrick, little buddy, get better.  Its going to be a long road but we are all pulling for you.  To the others out there suffering the same fate and worse, I'm so sorry.  To the people helping Patrick, thank you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

To see more on Patrick, join his facebook page.  Please remember that he is NOT an isolated case, that he is not the only dog out there suffering like this right now.  He is a poster boy, and we need to support him and those who help him.  He is here to teach us that there is something really wrong out there and that globally we have an epidemic on our hands.  This treatment towards our animal friends must stop.  

  

PEOPLE WHO PISS ME OFF

People who can't make their own sandwich piss me off!

"Discover the goodness".  REALLY?  

If you can't figure out how to toast a sub on your own, there is no help for you.

If you can't make a sandwich without a box and a microwave?  FAIL.  

From Puppy Mills to Factory Farms

Ok, this day and age, if you are buying regular ol' meat from the grocery store, and you DON'T know that it came from a factory farm, you're either stupid or in denial. That meat is pure, 100% factory farmed goodness.  And I use the term "goodness" loosely, unless this is your idea of goodness:

YUM.  Just look at that.  It sure does package up nicely though, doesn't it???

I don't give a shit if you don't care about the chickens and cattle.  I care, but I don't expect all of you to want happy lives for your food animals.  What I don't get is how you can look at this:

And want to eat that?  I mean, those animals are living in filth, they are sick and the meat doesn't even taste good.  It is sick!

Letting companies like McDonalds decide how your food is raised, allowing chemicals into your food supply, eating diseased meat...that's fucked up.  What's even more fucked is feeding it to your kids.  

So what do we do?  We decide to make a change and not support the factory farms.  Head out to Safeway, look at the eggs...ah, here we go!  CAGE FREE!  Perfect, right?  Happy chickens, without cages!  I mean, they cost an additional $3 a carton, but they are CAGE FREE!  

Check it out, cage free!  Its like a chicken party!!!  Look how HAPPY they are!  Life without the confines of a cage...BLISS!  

Fuck.  Ok, free range.  That will be better, right?  Free ranging chickens!  Sounds like the wild west, acres of fields to roam in, the sun, the grass!  FREEEEE RANGE!

YAY!  Aren't you so glad you bought with your conscience and paid double the amount so that the chickens could live a happy life?

Fuck the farmers, the companies, the grocery stores and regulators for allowing us to be duped this way.  Fuck 'em for allowing animals to be treated like this at all, let alone rip us off by letting us think that they have our best interests at heart.  Fuck them for taking your hard eared cash, the extra $3 a carton for the happy image, fuckers!  Fuck!

If you want healthy food, it IS possible.  Buy straight from the producer so you can see the farm.  Or, if you are in the city, there are ethical butchers out there who won't sell this shit bag.  There are farmers who care what they produce, how it makes the animals feel and how it effects our health.

This guy is the real deal, and I applaud him and all of the other producers who find the balance and grow great grub.

You can learn more about good food/bad food and how you can tell the difference by watching Food, Inc.  Should be available pretty much anywhere.  That awesome farmer is in it too, so you can learn more about him.  

Better yet, look into your local bylaws.  Chances are, you can own a few chickens right in your backyard.  If you can't, I guarantee someone in your own town is already working to change it, so try posting an ad on craigslist and meet people with similar interests.  Our food is our business, and we don't have to sit back and let others

tell us what "food" should be.

Let's talk about those puppy mills again, shall we?

I had this comment left on my Whoopi post:

"i agree that pet stores are a bad business, but they're still animals, many of them are, just as you pointed out, poorly-bred and sickly, and they need love too."


I get it, I really do.  Obviously the animal rights activists out there aren't suggesting that puppy mill dogs don't deserve love.  No one is saying that the dogs should be left to suffer.  The point is, we're trying to stop dogs from ending up in that position in the first place.  


When a puppy is purchased from a pet store, you are voting with your dollar about what you feel is acceptable.  Even if it is out of pity, feeling that you have to give love to an animal that truly needs it, you are still lining the pockets of the people who profit from tugging on heart strings just like yours.  


There are thousands of dogs, purebred dogs, in shelters right now just waiting to be put to sleep.  The people who bred them don't give two fucks about them, and the general public doesn't even realize that they are there.  We have to stand up and say that enough is enough and let it be known that we simply do not support the exploitation, abuse and neglect of these dogs.  Every animal in the shelter system is there because a human let it down.  


We have to stop being wishy washy.  These dogs don't owe us, they don't deserve this and it is wrong, sick and fucking FUCKED.  Here is my opinion;  if you buy from a pet store, you are as responsible for the puppy mills and back yard breeders as the operators themselves.  It is YOUR money running the joint and keeping them going, and all of the love you provide to your poorly bred, sickly puppy won't change that. 

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
-Shakespeare

Exodus International

These douche bags apparently (I haven't seen it) made an iphone app that "cures" people from being gay.  I'm not even going to read up on this, because I don't need to know the facts to know that this is totally worthy of a post.

I'm so sick of homophobic people.  As a straight woman, I ask you, WHY DO YOU CARE?  What difference does it make to you if the person walking down the street prefers men or women?  Like, really???  I shouldn't even have to write this post, seeing as it is the year 2011 and you'd think by now people would have better things to do than worry about who is in love with who.  We are living on a planet where 18,000 just died in a 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami disaster and these fuckers have nothing better to do with their time than create a homophobic iphone app?

Also, time for a big news flash, but when you put that much time and energy into making people think that being gay is wrong, it just ends up making you look like you are trying to convince yourself and everyone around you that you are totally not gay, which makes us all think that you are in fact, gay.  Delete your iphone app, get out of the closet and go to the nearest gay bar. If you can't admit that you are gay, do us all a favour and fuck off.  We have better things to do than listen to you spew your hate speech.

Exodus International, go fuck yourselves!