How did you feel after watching this video?

Here’s a 6 slide PowerPoint about the use of fireworks.

Please do share your thoughts.

What do you imagine when you think of fireworks? The warmth of the bonfire! Beautiful colours. Lots of sounds expressing how amazed the onlookers are. Generally happy thoughts.

I don’t think the same way anymore!

A couple of years ago I was speaking to the head at the school I work in. She once told me that she thought all fireworks should be banned unless it was an event organised by some sort of professional. The continued to explain that it would reduce the amount of fireworks going off left right and centre for Eid, Diwali, Bonfire Night, New Year and more.
Are you wondering why she would want a restriction placed on firework displays?
Her primary reason was so that her pets wouldn’t be frightened as often.

My take on it is that there would also be less pollution and other animals in the trees & around the bonfires would not be scared, harmed or killed. It would be better for the environment in o many ways!

The affect of fireworks is created by mixing chemicals, metals and plastics BUT the show isn’t over once it’s over!

The ‘stuff’ lingers and causes smog and acid rain which would damage the animals, birds, our property e.g. our homes, plants, the water we use, food that is grown and so on!

A firework lasts a few minutes but causes destruction for many days, weeks and months to come!

Do you know what’s in a firework?
75% potassium nitrate.
15% carbon.
10% sulphur.
Plastic casing.

A great concoction to leave behind right?

A side point – we follow America’s example in so many ways. Why not in this case? In many American States the use and sale of fireworks is restricted due to the Clean Air Act.

Yesterday Suraj and I tried calling June in the hope of seeing how she and Biggie are. We’ve not seen her since she’s been re-homed.

At first we backed off to give Bigs a chance to settle. Then we got busy with work etc. After that we went abroad for a wedding followed by some time to ourselves. We returned on August 18th, settled back at home, unpacked, washed clothes and all the rest and all of a sudden it was Friday. We were due to go to another wedding on Saturday so we had to prepare for being away for another night.

We stayed in a hotel after the wedding and I really hoped Suraj and I would be able to go and see Biggie together on the way home. We rang June and left a message but no reply. We rang again later in the afternoon but no luck.

Today, I did some chores, went to work, met my mum, came home, cooked, ate and then remembered that June still hadn’t called. I began to wonder whether she was OK. Of course, the thought then followed that, if she wasn’t OK, who was with Biggie?

I mentioned my thoughts to Suraj and his face changed. He’d been wanting me to sit with him earlier but I wanted to read. Now we’d finished reading. I had sat down, we had our cups of tea but Suraj hadn’t even settled before I mentioned that I realised June hadn’t rung. This is when his face changed.

I knew something was wrong.

Suraj told me that June called while I was out. On Saturday, June took Biggie to the vet and the vet said that her mouth was in a bad way. She would have to be put to sleep. June said they tried to call us without any luck. However, she said it was the kindest thing to do.

I was semi calm.

This was followed by tears.

Then I felt so guilty! I hadn’t seen her. I should have tried harder.

I then started thinking about her soul and the fact that she’d be reborn by now.

I thought about June being alone again and wondered if she was OK.

I said I hoped Biggie didn’t get punished for eating meat because she was a cat and didn’t know that it’d bind negative karma.

I thought about whether I knew, in the back of my mind, that Bigs didn’t have much time left, so I re-homed her as I couldn’t cope with putting another loved one to sleep.

Soon after I felt grateful. I was so glad that she was with June. If she had been alone at home whilst we were away, with only the cat sitter popping in to see if she was OK & then being put to sleep soon after we returned; I would have been so upset! I am so glad she had lots of love and attention, rather than, being on her own. Thus Biggie being re-homed with June was a blessing in disguise

Here are some photos of Biggie that make me smile.

Bigs always found a way to sleep and cuddle up one way or another

Bigs loving sleeping on the tiles coz the underfloor heating was on!

Biggie enjoying sleeping behind my knees

A few days a go I wrote a post called Re-homing my gorgeous cat. The post ends with… Suraj called her and we’ll be introducing Biggie with her knew companion very soon. This has been a very difficult decision and I’m quite sure it’s not ‘hit home’ yet. Nevertheless, it is the best thing for Bigs and that is what I need to focus on.

This post is about the second part of Biggie’s journey and my own.

So we arranged to take Biggie to her new home yesterday. We wanted the best for her and we wanted her to have some familiarity so we took her 3 levelled seating area which has 3 scratch posts (Biggieville), her food bowls, any food we had for her, the throws which we sits on etc. We spent some time packing it all up and then we put her in her carrier.

She associates being in the carrier with going to the vet as we had visited the vet thrice in the last 6 months. Once because she had problems with her teeth and then twice more when she needed some vaccinations. The thing is, when we sat in the car she wasn’t meowing at all. She was quiet all the way and the journey took about 20 minutes. She knew!

On the way I talked to her and sang spiritual songs to her. She seemed to like that. I was feeling quite sad and tearful so this helped me too.

When we got inside we put her carrier on the sofa and opened it up. I expected her to jump out of it straight away but she didn’t. She had a good look around and then settled in it. She had a look again and then settled again. She actually looked really comfortable in her carrier which I never thought I’d see! We let her be, talked amongst ourselves, stroked her, talked to her & I scratched the sofa to encourage her to come out but nothing. After a good half an hour or more Suraj took her carrier to Biggieville in the hope that she’d feel more comfy on it and come out.

She started to get up and look around again so Suraj moved the carrier so that she could jump out of it and onto Biggieville. That was it! There was no stopping her. She jumped off Biggieville, went to the bottom layer of it, had something to eat and then went exploring all around her new home. It was so good to see.

If the original plan had gone ahead I don’t think I would feel so positive. This plan involved Sue coming to collect her after which she’d take her to her new home. We could request updates about how she is but that would take time and I don’t think I’d feel calm until then. We wouldn’t know where she’d gone, who was looking after her, what they were like. Nothing.

Anyway that plan didn’t go ahead. You see a lot of the society’s work is done by the volunteers and unfortunately they’re inundated at the moment so they wouldn’t be able to come and deliver Bigs to June at a time which suits us as well as them. Also June was itching to meet Bigs. She’d been ringing the Society on a daily basis, asking when Bigs would arrive. Thus Sue and June discussed whether it’d be OK for us to bring her over ourselves and June was more than happy for that to happen.

June is compassionate and understanding. She knew we’d miss her heaps and that we would be more settled if we helped Biggie with the transition and saw where she was going for ourselves.

So that’s that really. I was sad when I came home because we thought about opening the door slowly in case she’s waiting behind it, kind of through habit; of course forgetting that she wasn’t there. This morning I remembered she didn’t need feeding as she wasn’t here but I’m not feeling the sadness which I expected to feel because I know that June will make such a fuss of her and she’ll be spoilt with love and affection.

I spoke to June just now. Biggie’s fine. She was in and out of June’s bedroom during the night, she’s still exploring her new home, she’s eaten, used her litter tray & is now sleeping on Biggieville.

Here are some photos of Bigs in her new home

I rescued Biggie from the The Mayhew Animal Home & Humane Education Centre a few years ago. She is gorgeous and it sounds weird but she’s been a stable friend in difficult times, as well as, being around in better times. I have heard some people say “…but she’s only an animal.” Regardless of her species, she is clever, compassionate intuitive, perceptive, observant, selfless and loving. When she knew things weren’t right she’d come and sit with me. She wouldn’t move. She wouldn’t want anything. She’d just be there. She’s gorgeous.

So you must be wondering about the title…

Recently I’ve been struggling with feeding her meat. More so than I was before. I think this is because I’ve been vegan for just over 2 years now. I have been following this diet because of my compassion towards animals. I dislike them being hurt whether it be through mistreatment or being killed for food or materials, such as, leather or pet food! I have rescued her but I struggle to feed her other animals which have been killed for food. I tried feeding her vegetarian cat food but she didn’t like it. Thus I resorted to feeding her meat again. This has niggled in my mind but there is another factor. A bigger factor. Strangely enough she loves the vegan dry food so I have bought that for her. A double positive – I feel better feeding it to her &she really enjoys the taste.

Lately we have been out and about more than before. On a general basis she’s happier because Suraj works from home and that’s often enough for her to feel content. However, life seems to have got busier and we are around less so she doesn’t get enough company. She deserves someone who can pamper her more, show her affection & love and care for her more than we can.

I contacted the The Mayhew Animal Home & Humane Education Centre but they would need to keep her there and then wait for someone to come along to give her a home. I couldn’t stand the idea of her being in a cage waiting.

I thought about our friend Sheila. In the past, when we have been away, rather than, putting Bigs in a cattery, we’ve employed Sheila to come and cat sit. She’s amazing! She’ll come and feed her, change her water, clear her litter out, spend some time with Biggie, brush her and do extra things like move the mail. So I thought of her and asked Sheila if she knew anyone. She said she’d ask around and she was so helpful. She really did think of many different ways to help us give Biggie a better quality of life.

I also asked a cat lover at school (work) but she has a cat already and one’s enough for her : )

Sheila and I were in touch a lot. Soon after beginning her search to help us, she got in touch with someone at the Cats Protection Society. I got in touch with a member of the society who said Biggie could be fostered with a family that they know very well and then re-homed when matched with a family who would love and want an older cat. There was one condition. Her vaccinations needed to be up to date.

We got her vaccinations done but I delayed contacting her. Funny! I actually lost her number. Anyway, I focussed on being selfless and got in touch with Sheila to get Sue’s number. It’s funny how things work out! The day Sheila emailed Sue’s number to me, Sue called to say they’ve been approached by a lady who’s had cats for much of her life. She’s older now and doesn’t go out much so she’s phoned to request an older cat that’s fond of being indoors! The perfect match. Sue’s been inundated with abandoned kittens and more, so she’s not managed to call me quickly and this lady has been ringing every day for 2 weeks asking when Bigs will be brought to her! : )

Suraj called her and we’ll be introducing Biggie with her knew companion very soon.

This has been a very difficult decision and I’m quite sure it’s not ‘hit home’ yet. Nevertheless, it is the best thing for Bigs and that is what I need to focus on.

Small was Biggie’s mum. I rescued both of them together. Sadly, Small was unwell and had to be put to sleep. Nevertheless, the photos of them are gorgeous!

This article is not my own. However, it is so worth reading, I asked the author if I could post it on my blog. Thus with his permission…here it is.

This article was first published on Internet (Jain-list) in August 1997.  Later on more information was added to this article.

Dairy Visit in USA:

I visited a dairy farm located on Route 2 north of Burlington, Vermont (USA) in May of 1995.  The dairy owns approximately 150 cows.  All of its milk production is used to make ice cream.

Here is the summary of what I saw and learnt:

It was milking time (5:00 PM) and the cows were being milked in 3.5 minutes each by a machine. This is done without regard to how hard it is on the cow.  It was extremely difficult to watch the cows’ sufferings during the milking.  The machine has no feeling.  To extract the last drop of milk sometimes traces of blood get mixed with the milk.

Since cows produce the most milk after pregnancy, they are kept pregnant for their entire fertile life through artificial insemination. Every morning hormones or drugs are injected into the cows. They are also fed a diet geared toward high production of milk.  The dairy cow produces about 8 times the amount of milk a cow on the traditional family farm produces.

The gestation period of cow is 9 months same as human does.  If a male calf, of no use to the dairy industry, is born, he is shipped to the veal industry within two or three days of birth.

The evening I was there, the farm was shipping three baby calves in a truck to a veal factory.  The mother cows were crying when their babies were separated from them.  I cannot forget the scene and can still hear the cries of the mother cows.

The veal industry is the most cruel meat industry in the world.  It produces very tender meat that is considered a delicacy.  The baby calves are raised in darkness in a very confining crate, which allows practically no movements.  They are fed an iron-deficient diet.  This way the meat gets very tender and properly textured.  They slaughter the baby calves after six months.  There is much literature available about cruelty in the veal industry.

Within two months of delivery, the cows are impregnated again.  I did not have the stamina to watch the process of artificial insemination that the farm was showing off.

About four to five times a year, this farm would take the cows outside for a walk.  Otherwise, the cows are tied in one place and they have no choice but to defecate where they are confined.  It badly stunk when I was there; the farm would wash the confinement areas once or twice a day, and the remaining times the cows would live in their own waste.

The life expectancy of cows is about 15 to 20 years.  However, after about 4 to 5 years, their milk production capacity drops significantly so these cows are sent to the slaughterhouse for cheap meat which is used in fast food restaurants, hot dog filler, dog & cat food and a variety of other “foodstuffs”.  The rest of the body material (by products) turns up in the products like floor wax, pet food, medicines, insulin, gelatin, footwear, upholstery, taco filling, cosmetics, candles, and soaps.

During her fertile life, cow delivers about four babies.  Statistically only one female baby is needed to replace the existing cow.  Hence all other babies (males or females) are sent to veal industry where they are tortured for six months and then slaughtered for the meat (delicacy meal).

As I learned and observed the cruelty in the dairy industry, I at first found it hard to believe.  On a personal level, I feared that it would be impossible for me to give up the dairy products and become vegan (absolutely no animal product).  How could I eliminate milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and cheese from my diet?  To become vegan means that I cannot drink tea with milk, eat any Indian sweets, pizza, milk chocolate, ice cream, eggless but dairy-containing cake, and many other items.

At this time I remembered my daughter Shilpa’s (who became vegan few months prior to my visit) word, “Dad, cows’ milk is for baby cows and not for humans or their babies. No other animal consumes the milk of another species.  We do not have the right to consume the milk of other animals for our benefit by exploiting and torturing them.  Furthermore milk and its products are not essential for our survival or for healthy life”.

However, needless to say, the dairy farm tour made me an instant vegan.

Pravin K. Shah

Jaina Education Committee Chairperson

Director, Jain Study Center of North Carolina (Raleigh)

education@jaina.org

www.jaineLibrary.or

October 26, 2009