I chose to call my own self employment business after an animal that has recently gained much media coverage. I have read disturbing stories of vulnerable seal pups rescued from drowning because of the vanishing ice in the North Atlantic. For many types of seal pups the ice is vital for their survival as, in the first few weeks of their lives, they are unable to swim. I am sure everyone has heard of Canada's annual harp seal pup cull where over 250,000 seal pups die only for the sake of their skin.
Should we just shrug our shoulders and say 'who cares about seals?'
Yesterday I met four lovely but troubled dogs who have been given over to a charity called 'Animals in Mind'. What I saw were four spirited dogs that find it difficult to interact with humans due to abuse in their early lives. To have an extremely shy but clever and good natured dog called 'Billy' come over to me and let me stroke and cuddle him was a magical moment in my life. Andrew, who runs the charity, currently has 10 vulnerable dogs in his home as well as 8 cats and is raising funds to provide a bigger sanctuary for them as these animals will be difficult to re-home.
Again, do these animals really matter? Some people would say that they are only animals. However, it was Ghandi who said:
'The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated'
This is something that I have been really, really thinking a lot about lately.
