I don’t know about you, but mixed images come to my mind. Some are
exceedingly attractive. I think of those ‘living saints’: humble folk
who share their home with stray and abandoned moggies and mongrels. But
others are quite off-putting: those who mollycoddle pampered pedigrees
for which they’ve paid a fortune. Yes, showing them off for some
mistaken kind of, assumed, ‘upmanship’. Yes, docking their tails; or
encouraging further breeding so that the poor creatures can only breathe
with difficulty or only walk while their stomachs often trail the
ground. Yes, and other types poisoned by chocolates and junk food!
Others are allowed to live with loads of their own kind while
confined within human quarters that stink and become obnoxious for both
animal as well as human alike. Well, having recently appeared on
national TV I wish to emphasize that whereas the title they once
‘christened’ me with in the 1980s has stuck: ie: the animals’ padre! –
this year’s reference to me as: ‘the pets’ padre’ is hardly accurate.
For I’m sure you’ll agree that those requiring our number one priority
for protection, love and care are the ones that most would forbid access
in to their homes. I think of those sentient creatures intensively bred
and horrendously abused for the carnivorous palates of Adam’s fallen
race. And we vegetarians are far from guiltless if we buy those cheap
dairy products that turn cows in to milk machines or birds in to
batteries!
Go on to
Another Oxford Demo. But Sadly I’ll Not
Be There!!
Return to Spring 2006 Issue
Animal Padre's
