What The Hell Is Wrong With People?

I love animals. All animals. Except for members of the Badger family. They’re mean as f*ck. But not as mean as the oxymoron known as the human being.

Before I launch into my tirade, please note this disclaimer: I’m all too aware of the violence we perpetrate on one another, but this story is about animals.

Daily, social media pukes up stories about innocent creatures abused, abandoned and discarded like so much rotten produce.

This is verdant territory. Factory farming. Poaching. The “trophy hunting” of exotic animals by such assholes as Jimmy John Liataud, owner of the Jimmy John’s sandwich chain.

If I were on my last Cup ‘O Noodles, I wouldn’t buy a sub at one of Liautaud’s shops. He is a dick-less coward.

The two Trump spawn, Donald, Jr., and Eric have also been photographed draped in the carcasses of tigers and other big game. Sickening. And soulless. But not surprising, considering Daddy thinks it’s okay to grab a woman’s genitals.

How does someone load a large-caliber weapon, set the sight, take aim — and shoot and kill a member of a species that is nearly extinct? Someone explain this to me.

Then there is the heart-breaking story of Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion. A long-studied icon, Cecil was lured from his protected park by American dentist Walter Palmer. After being injured by an arrow, the lion was stalked for forty hours before being killed. Palmer was reportedly attracted to the lion’s “rare, black mane.”

There should be a special place in hell for scum like Palmer. One where he gets a drill stuck up his ass.

When my late in-laws retired, they moved to the North Woods area of Wisconsin. My husband and I visited them every Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, that was peak deer hunting season. And, I always dreaded the inevitable site of a beautiful doe or buck lashed onto the back of a pickup truck.

I know that many people will disagree with my opposition to that type of legalized hunting. Too many deer. They starve. I get it. But can’t we come up with a better way? Is killing the only resolution? How about crop-dusting “deer birth control?” You know — like that.

Where animals are concerned, I’m a wimp. An incredibly pissed-off wimp. Hurt an animal, and I could hurt you. I promise.

This will give you a laugh: When a bug makes its way into our home, I bring it outside. Except for flies. I think the David Cronenberg film has something to do with the fact that they are quickly dispatched.

As I said, this is a verdant territory, so I will scale back a bit and turn the spotlight on our animal companions. Or, rather, the people who break their hearts.

Just the other day, one story, among many, caught my attention. A thread on the Facebook group I belong to called the “My Cat from Hell Fan Club.” It’s based on the Animal Planet program of the same name.

When I saw the photo and accompanying headline, my first impulse was to keep scrolling. But I didn’t, and what I read sickened me.

The photo was of a cat, curled in a ball with his face turned away from the camera. His owners “traded him in” for a new sofa. Let me repeat. This cat’s owners dumped him at a shelter so he wouldn’t scratch their new sofa.

The cat is now refusing to eat.

There was another story of a dog whose owners had moved and left him behind. Try to imagine this. When found by rescuers, this poor creature was too scared to come out of his hiding place.

Several years ago, I volunteered at a nearby animal shelter. I was a “cat socializer.” I held, brushed and interacted with the shelter’s cat population so that the animals would be more appealing to potential adopters.

It was rewarding, yet upsetting on so many levels. People routinely dumped their cats for reasons that left me in a fury: “We’re having a baby, so we can’t have a cat.” “This cat is too old. We’d rather have a kitten.” I’m certain the dogs didn’t fare much better.

My time at the shelter was short. I knew if I stayed that I would go off on someone. But my husband and I adopted two of our kitties there, and also make regular donations.

Certainly, none of this is news to you, but I feel the need to vent. And what better people to vent to than my Medium family?

According to Peta2.com, here are other common reasons people abandon their pets.

“He’s not cute anymore.”

“Caring for him takes too much time and effort.”

“My new boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t like her.”

“She’s expensive.”

“He got too big.”

“I had to move.”

That last one really gets me. There is no way in hell my husband and I would go anywhere without our feline brood. And just to be clear, abandoning an animal in an empty house or apartment is a criminal offense.

In the U.S., the Humane Society says that approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats.

Again. What the hell is wrong with people?

Please…teach your kids kindness and compassion for all living creatures. This is where it begins. And this is where change happens.

Whatever your beliefs, the following is worth noting:

“God requires that we assist the animals, when they need our help. Each being (human or creature) has the same right of protection.” Francis of Assisi

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Sherry McGuinn is a longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. Her work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and numerous other publications. Sherry’s manager is currently pitching her newest screenplay, a drama with dark, comedic overtones and inspired by a true story.