That’s the heading of one of my incoming emails this morning.
I agree. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to get pigeon rescue going in Portsmouth. It’s a town with a lot of poverty and misery. Just about everyone seems to hate everyone else there and help for the poor often contains an element of rubbing it in, of contempt, of criticism.
It’s easy to get a pigeon rescue effort going as long as you stick to pigeons and send all other species to a different facility.
I figured that through volunteering and working with these animals, people would not only become more compassionate toward animals but also toward eachother. They would get a free meal in the process. It might even give their lives a sense of purpose again.
To overcome the costs and other practicalities involved in having an actual facility, I came up with the idea of a “distributed” rescue. Rehab a pigeon in your home. Materials and support provided. Makes it harder to provide free meals, though.
I’m trying to be as animal-friendly and considerate toward the environment as possible. Particularly the latter often gets you mocked. You’re supposed to be spending as much as possible and buying stuff new as much as possible.
And you’re supposed to be using and exploiting animals, even if it’s only because they’re sweet and soft and cuddly.
Even dogs can worry and toss and turn in their sleep. And pigeons are very intelligent and capable of empathy. Did you know that?
I find it very hard to avoid animal exploitation in my food. But I’m trying and the more I try, the more often I succeed.
This is my breakfast today. The plate and the cutlery were thrifted. The food is tofu – like scrambled eggs – and mushrooms. Salt, pepper, organic olive oil. Too much plastic involved. I take it to the plastic and metal recycling bin but fear that the plastic will turn up on a beach in Africa. The nonstick wok has forever chemicals associated with it. A real wok would be metal and wood only, but then again, steelworks and metal mining often cause a great deal of pollution. I could probably have thrifted a wok. Can’t explain why I didn’t other than “wasn’t thinking”.
But at least I am trying. So can you.
Meanwhile, the Fareham MP who currently happens to head the UK Home Office effectively wants to criminalize any foreigners naive and optimistic enough to take up a teaching position in the UK only for them to discover that they can no longer pay the rent or get kicked out through a Section 21 Notice for example because Airbnb brings landlords more money. That’s not a lifestyle choice, Ms Braverman. That’s the result of bad government.
