Shocking Act of Animal Cruelty

Last night I was up much later than usual. I was standing in my kitchen with the light off, looking out the window. I saw a man walking and a small animal walking near him. He moved closer to it and was watching it. I thought it was someone taking his little dog out for a late night walk. Then, the man ran over to the animal, jumped up into the air and came down on it. As I stood there, frozen in horror, the man stomped the animal to death. I ran outside and stood on my porch under the porch light staring at the man. I can’t express how horrified and shocked I was. Considering that a link between animal cruelty and violence toward humans has been well established, running outside was perhaps not the safest thing to do, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.

I’ve never seen such an alarming display of brutality in my life. I stood there staring at the man as he turned to walk away. He saw me staring and turned back to say, “Dead opossum.” Still completely shocked, I said, “Oh.” I quickly recovered myself and then said, “So it’s okay to do that to a opossum?” He just kept walking.

I stood there frozen, trying to process what I’d just seen. It happened in an open alley next to my house. It was dark and I couldn’t see the man’s face, what he was wearing or any identifiable aspects. By the time it occurred to me to call the police, he’d already left the alley and I hadn’t seen which direction he’d gone. I wasn’t even sure the animal he’d killed was actually a opossum and not a cat or dog. Would that have made a difference? Maybe a little, because of the trust factor. Dogs and pet cats trust people, for the most part. Stomping any animal to death is an act of extreme violence, maybe more so when it’s totally unprovoked. Doing it to a companion animal who has no reason to distrust or fear humans adds an additional layer of betrayal.

Opossums, on the other hand, have a different handicap when it comes to avoiding dangerous humans. Everyone knows that opossums “play dead” when frightened, which may be a workable strategy to avoid animal predators but is less effective against humans – to say the least. What many people aren’t aware of is that the opossum has no control over it. When they're attacked, they fall over and appear to be dead or to have fainted. They can’t help it. Unfortunately, they remain awake and their cognitive function is not hindered.

Of course, I was trying to make myself less appalled and more able to go to sleep by rationalizing that at least it wasn’t a kitten or a puppy, but it really doesn’t matter. The fact is, that man viciously killed a defenseless animal. I can only hope that knowing someone saw him do it will prevent him from doing it again.

Easy Things to Do to Help the Planet

I thought I'd share the simple, easy, no- or low-cost things I do to help the planet. I'm hoping to inspire others to do the same things!

What I do to help the planet:

Work from home four days a week, which saves the 35 mile (one way) commute.
Bring my own cloth bags to the store (mine live in my car so I don’t forget them).
Recycle.
Turn the water off while I brush my teeth.
Turn off unused lights.
Unplug unused appliances, including the tv and microwave.
Buy organic.
I don’t eat mammals – no cows, pigs, sheep, etc.
I drive a little car that gets really good mileage (but I sure do miss my Wrangler!)
Click a day to feed animals in shelters, protect the rainforest, etc.
I use Blackle as my home page.
Donate time, money and goods to organizations that protect the environment and/or animals, such as Defenders of Wildlife and The Nature Conservancy.

I get e-mail alerts and then sign petitions and send e-mails to policy makers from such organizations as Greenpeace, The Wilderness Society, and the World Wildlife Fund.

My long distance carrier is Credo, formerly Working Assets. They donate a portion of your phone bill, at no cost to you, to progressive causes. You get to vote to decide who they donate to and how much they send! How cool is that?

What can you do to help the planet?

Bigger, Better, Goth!

I just put a couple of new Goth magnets up in my shop!



Elizabeth Bathory, known as The Blood Countess, may have more to do with Bram Stoker’s Dracula than Vlad the Impaler. Notes about her were found in Stoker’s papers, so he’d certainly heard of her!

In 1610 Hungary, local authorities began investigating the disappearance of local girls. Transylvanian Countess Elizabeth Bathory was subsequently imprisoned, walled into a tiny room with only a small slot to pass through food. In 1614 she was found dead in her cell. She’d been charged with murdering hundreds of young women, believing their blood would keep her young and beautiful.

This magnet features a pendant of the creepy Countess Bathory, made by handmadehorrors.etsy.com. The Countess is flanked by three genuine onyx replicas of her own black heart, accompanied by a cool little skull.

Put this spookycool magnet on your refrigerator, in your bedroom, in your office or even in your car.

The lining of this magnet is a deep red abstract watercolor, inside a round tin with a glass top.

The magnet is 2 ½” (6.4 cm) across and 1” (2.5) deep.







Check out this cool goth magnet. It’s got genuine black onyx hearts, a pewter bat and a skull inside. It also has three clear acrylic gems to give it a little sparkle. Put this spookycool magnet on your refrigerator, in your bedroom, in your office or even in your car.

The lining of this magnet is a deep red abstract watercolor, inside a round tin with a glass top.

The magnet is 2 ½” (6.4 cm) across and 1” (2.5) deep.

I'm # 866



It's an experiment to see how long it will take to get 
1,000,000 blogs to list themselves on their site.

Taurus

We're coming up on Taurus in another week. Time to showcase the bright, shiny, brand new 3D Taurus magnets. So without further ado, heeeerrrrrreeeeeee's....Taurus!

Taurus is an earth sign and this magnet celebrates the 2nd sign of the zodiac! It would look great on your refrigerator, in your bedroom, in your office or even in your car. It makes a great gift for the Taurus in your life.

The lining is watercolor painting in rose pink, inside a round tin with a glass top. The glyph for Taurus is on the inside of the glass, so handling won’t smudge it. Also on the inside are a sterling silver Taurus word bead and four genuine peridot stones. Peridot is associated with Taurus as are the colors pink and green. The outside is wrapped with a barely there light green ribbon. A strong magnet is attached to the back.

The magnet is 2” (5.8 cm) across and 1” (2.5) deep.
Available for purchase at Luminosities.

The lining is watercolor painting in rose pink, inside a round tin with a glass top. The glyph for Taurus is on the inside of the glass, so handling won’t smudge it. Also on the inside are a genuine malachite stone, four genuine peridot stones and the word “May.” Malachite and peridot are both associated with Taurus and of course May is a Taurus birth month. The outside is wrapped with dark green ribbon. A strong magnet is attached to the back.
Available for purchase at Luminosities.


The lining is watercolor painting in rose pink, inside a round tin with a glass top. The word “Taurus” is on the inside of the glass, so handling won’t smudge it. Also on the inside are the glyph for Taurus in copper wire, copper being the metal associated with Taurus. A genuine rose quartz stone rests beneath the glyph. The outside is wrapped with barely there pale green ribbon. A strong magnet is attached to the back. Available for purchase at Luminosities.

Puppy Mills - Today on Oprah

Today on the Oprah show, an expose on puppy mills. Puppy mills are a horrific problem. Puppies from puppy mills are frequently unhealthy, with serious physical issues "...including severe malnutrition, rotting teeth and severe periodontal disease, extreme matting of fur sometimes leading to skin lesions, mange, flea, tick, and parasite infestations, and serious foot and leg injuries from living an entire life on wire mesh flooring. Female dogs in puppy mills are typically bred at every opportunity until they are physically spent and can no longer reproduce. Puppy mill dogs live out their entire lives in tiny enclosures, never having a chance to get out of their cages for exercise or socialization." (ASPCA)

Please join me in thanking Oprah for using her considerable influence to expose this cruel and horrifying issue.