In spring, Delaware will get a formal chance to honor the animals. Best Friends Network, which celebrates all animals and supports the bonds between humans and creatures, is planning Delaware Week for the Animals.
Patricia Haddock, the Mid-Atlantic Regional team leader for Best Friends, is working with Mary Ann D'Amato of Delaware Animal Care & Control and other animal advocates to schedule events from April 19-27 (more than a week, but who's counting?). Patricia wants to involve not only big pet and animal groups, but also teachers, scouts, businesses - anyone who cares about and loves animals.
There is so such to celebrate about animals - much like Sean Williams (above) is doing with his dog Sophie - but especially how they make us better human beings. For many of us, our daily defenses and emotional barricades are lowered just by being around animals. Have a pet or two (or more) at home and the unconditional love they provide can't help put lift your spirits, too.
To get involved with Delaware Week for the Animals, go to Best Friends Network or e-mail phhaddock@comcast.net. Join the celebration - and do what you can to build a better relationship between humans and the animals we love.
Watch this blog, too, for more details.
4 comments:
This event is a nice idea but why in the world does it have to be organized by Best Friends? Patricia Haddock, the "Mid-Atlantic" Regional team leader for Best Friends does not even live in Delaware. These "regional networks" are just one of many Best Friends marketing ploys. All that Patricia and the other “team leaders” do is to search the web for local animal- related news and post it on the state’s "network." Come on people - we don't need Best Friends to organize this. If they do, do you think for a moment that they will make sure that any money raised/ donated will remain here in Delaware with our shelters and rescues?
Best Friends needs to state the amount of money (if any) they plan to spend on this event, how it will be spent and where money raised will go.
And finally, if business/corporate sponsors are being recruited by Best Friends (pet food companies; pet supply stores, kennels, etc) I think it should be essential to know the amount of their financial support and how it is being spent.
If people want their money to help animals in Utah, they can send a check to Best Friends. If people want their money to help homeless animals around here, they can support their own local 501c3 shelters and rescues.
If anyone believes that Best Friends is organizing this event out of their great compassion for animals, or because they care so much for the animals of Delaware, think again. This will be about Best Friends and another way for them to attempt to position themselves as THE animal organization of the world. But their real agenda is not one that is pro-pet ownership.
The only difference between Best Friends and PETA is that Best Friends has used top-notch media and PR experts to advance their agenda in ways that appeal to pet owners/lovers. But if you look at the legislation they've supported and taken a good, hard look at their history as a religious cult, they make PETA's twisted actions look like a playful puppy.
Did you donate money to Best Friends for the Great Boondoggle of 2006, otherwise known as the Great Bunny Rescue? Well, congratulations for helping to purchase a prime piece of real estate in Reno for the retirement of Michael Mountain (aka Hugh Mountain, aka Father Aaron, aka….), Francis Battista and the other leaders.
Michael Mountain still fits the classic description of a cult leader – charismatic, defensive of any criticism, controlling the content and distribution of information. Those who work for Best Friends at the bottom level don't know what’s going on and are not part of the true agenda because the information they receive is filtered and modified and made to come out as nothing more than warm-fuzzy rhetoric. And those even lower, the endless stream of “volunteers” who travel to Utah and PAY to volunteer at the sanctuary, see only nothing more than the animals in their care. How clever of them to convince thousands of people a year to travel out there at their own expense and then pay money to volunteer.
Best Friends tried so hard to be allowed to “rescue” M. Vick’s dogs because they saw great potential fund-raising and PR, yet they have a clear agenda about how they feel about bully dogs (and their position and agenda is about the dogs, not about bad owners) and their conference last year on BSL makes their agenda very clear.
Before posting back about how great Best Friends is, do some research of your own. It's all right there on the web.
Patricia Haddock lives in Georgetown. Might want to check your facts.
I thought this was a nice idea until I read Maryann D'Amatos name involved in the planning. She comes to SPCA from Delaware Humane Association which is also a kill shelter, though they deny it for financial (donations) reasons. People in Delaware OPEN YOUR EYES before you open your pocket book.
ATTENTION: before you accuse Best Friends of using funds to finance peoples' retirements, check your facts! www.charitynavigator.org
is a great resource and clearly states how much of an organization's income is used for salaries, fundraising,etc. I do not think $50,000/year is an obscenely high salary, yet that is exactly what the president earns. Stop bashing groups' attempts to help animals, no matter what species they are.
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