10/18/2013

Those Queens who intend to rule us


In the world of animal welfare there is a lot of “sacredcow-ism”, I mean, “sacred cows” persons who think they are beyond good and evil, and who believe that when they talk they are giving a lecture. In most cases they are the least bad. But in others, and this seems to be more serious, there are people who come to animal welfare to release their frustrations and to find people who follow them, which otherwise would be impossible to achieve. And finally there are people who come to animal welfare initially with high doses of altruism, but after some time, they feel this as a way to earn a living. I initially do not criticize the fact that it is a job like any other, and I really  don´t understand why it has to rely only on altruism and free time of people, knowing that volunteer work is essential.

Even though it is well extended professionalism in human NGOs, it seems that animal rights NGOs are only supported for very big organizations and I still think it should not be like that. Just as it is professionalized the work to clean and feed the animals, -everybody understand that these core activities cannot depend on the presence or absence of voluntary-, other jobs in the association can also be professional. But we must be honest and tell people who support us that a lot of the donated money will not go to Spain for food for the Galgos, because I must pay my salary and my vice president’s, who is always travelling with me and there she is, silently at my side, thinking she is helping me when all I have done is to buy her silence.

Obviously this is not the case at Scooby, -since my salary is being paid by the Ministry of Education-, but this is the case of an association who has grown immensely  in a very short time.

But the title is “Those Queens who intend to rule us” because I have met many of them throughout my entire life. Each country has their own; they enjoy the luxury of thinking for all of us and decide for us which policies we can support and which not. In their associations there is not a dialogue, they think and the other members obey and cannot even complain, mainly because the Queens consider they are mental seniors and feel they have the right and obligation to guide the other’s thoughts almost by divine order. Do not worry; soon you will realize they are nothing but a bad nightmare. I believe that each person is free to do what they want; you just have to give them all available information and let them use their brains. It's the difference between considering  your peers as citizens and not as subjects.

Kisses, hugs, bites and loving licks.

Fermin.