演讲稿 亚洲动物基金创办人谢罗便臣 欢迎辞(转载自 CatsZone)
演讲稿
亚洲动物基金创办人谢罗便臣
欢迎辞
We are extremely honoured to be here today sharing the platform with so many prestigious and passionate groups of China.
As we welcome the Chinese Lunar Year 4703, the Year of the Dog, this is a very proud moment for Animals Asia because the very presence of us all here today, together, reinforces a strong commitment towards the importance of engaging the community here in China to recognise dogs - and cats - as important members of society who can contribute significant help and companionship in our day to day lives.
Recent examples of abuse to dogs and cats serve to show that we still have a long way to go here in public education programmes and in assisting the authorities in how best to address these problems.
You will all have read the horrific torture of kittens and puppies involved in those disgusting “crush” videos which were filmed here in China. I forced myself to watch that video and was sick to my stomach seeing a young woman in stiletto heels slowly torture and crush the lifeblood from the animals, simply for the entertainment and sexual pleasure of sick and unbalanced people.
You may have also seen the news on dog fighting here in China – an equally sickening example of man’s depravity towards our best friends…dogs.
Both of these practices I am ashamed to say originated in the West - where mindless people torture animals for fun. And now it seems this torture has been exported to Asia.
If anything “good” can come out of the crush videos it is the outrage which it sparked in people’s hearts across the country – I felt then that there was hope to see such an outpouring of shame and disgust from animal lovers and caring responsible citizens here in China - just look at the things we CAN do together with one powerful voice.
Clearly in Chinese culture people have always regarded dogs as guards, companions, and loyal friends of human beings – and many ethnic groups here in the country consider dogs as holy animals.
It is even said that all dogs, from toy poodles to mastiffs, are descended from 3 female wolves tamed here, in China, 15,000 years ago! So maybe it is time to turn things full circle and decide what we can give back to this species who live – and lose – their lives to help us.
The objective of this press conference, therefore, is to see how we can work together to be a true force of help for dogs and cats in our community. To appeal to the general public in China to hear our voices - and to recognise that loving and respecting animals ultimately means loving and respecting ourselves - and makes us better people.
Sometimes I know it can seem we have an insurmountable, impossible job on our hands. I can only imagine the heartaches and problems that many of you face every hour of every day if you have animal shelters to manage.
We so much want the community to love and respect and cherish companion animals, but then we see the other side of the coin and how much exploitation there is out there in the mushrooming industry of pedigree dogs and cats.
In fact the pet boom of Hong Kong in the late 1980’s early 1990’s was one of the main reasons why I began our Dr. Dog animal therapy programme.
Suddenly people’s interest in pedigree dogs and cats often saw terrible consequences for the animals themselves. I couldn’t believe the growing number of abandoned pedigree dogs and cats in the community. These animals walking the streets, hungry, sick, lonely and confused, after being thrown away by people who were their family, but became sick of their “designer” dogs. I realized too that animal shelters in Hong Kong were full of equally beautiful loving dogs who would be killed in their thousands each year. How many of you are seeing exactly the same here……as the pedigree boom has finally reached China.
The second reason I began Dr. Dog was when I went to the live animal markets of Asia – seeing dogs and cats crammed together into cages without food, water or shade, transported over long distances on the back of trucks, and then beaten to death or stabbed in the neck or boiled alive as food for the table. Again, look at what’s happening in these animal markets today – apart from the pitful cross breed dogs and cats still tortured in this way, we’re now seeing more and more pedigree animals caught up in this industry of suffering.
So… by starting Dr. Dog I hoped that the dogs themselves would prove why they deserve better. It wasn’t easy….. I’m sure like many many of you here struggling to be accepted and respected in your community, I was laughed at, ridiculed and humiliated by people who were absolutely against dirty smelly unhygienic mutts coming into hospital environments – but, as we all know, dogs do have a special magic, and just one dog, my old retriever Max was enough to persuade a gathering of rather nervous hospital staff, some cynical reporters and some very excited disabled children, that this concept could work.
And, today, 15 years later, I’m so proud of Max who has since passed away, and all the other dogs who have followed in his paw prints. Our Dr. Dog animal therapy programme sees over 250 dedicated volunteers and their dogs visiting hospitals, disabled centres, elderly homes, orphanages and schools spreading warmth and love to people in need across 6 countries of Asia- including China! The reaction from the patients, from the doctors and staff is overwhelming as more and more people recognise that dogs and cats really are good for our physical and mental health!
And the beauty is that any suitable dog can be a therapy dog, it does not need to be a pure breed. Indeed it can be a street dog like beautiful Dali here we rescued from Yunnan, or a dog from those horrible horrible markets such as our Eddie – a small dog with a very big attitude that we rescued right here in China – and Christie will be telling you more about this very special dog and his very special partners a little later on.
So here was a programme that was not only being accepted by the community but now welcomed by it – and which later spawned another community programme to help dogs and cats.
Our wonderful new programme, called Professor Paws was founded by our own Education Director, Anneleise Smillie – which saw our Dr. Dogs taking on a brand new role as teachers. Again, it was a hard and controversial idea to begin with but, again, just a handful of dogs showed astonished education authorities and teachers in Hong Kong that dogs have remarkable skills, and a valuable role in society.
Today these dogs are visiting local primary schools for special 'hands on' animal education lessons to improve the language and literacy skills of local children, whilst also teaching children about the importance of companion animals in our lives; compassion for all living creatures; safety around dogs and responsible pet care.
Nearly 1500 children from 14 local primary schools have now graduated as fully fledged Pet Cadets and the response from students, teachers and parents alike has been overwhelmingly positive.
Another point to consider is that by teaching children to be kind to animals in programmes such as Professor Paws and Dr. Dog they can actually benefit society far more than people may realize…
For example, it is found that violent offenders towards people frequently have childhood and adolescent histories of abuse to animals – the FBI in the US have recognised this connection since the early 1970’s when its analysis of the lives of serial killers suggested that most had killed or tortured animals as children! Imagine! So by teaching children to be kind to animals we are, in fact, nurturing a new generation of people who care for life.
So, at the end of the day, our core message is that by working together in the community we can make a convincing case that sharing our lives with dogs – whether they are working dogs or companion dogs – is clearly benefiting our species as a whole. We are better protected…..and we are better people.
In closing this presentation, I’d like to share some words from Margaret Mead, the world’s most famous anthropologist who died in 1978 – who said: “Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world – Indeed it is the only thing that ever has….”
Together, we are that change – together we are the change for dogs and cats in China, and together we can change their world. Thank you.
动物总是有机会去检验人类那脆弱的友谊和忠贞--我爱我的老大 我是一个自私的人http://home.ani8.com/blog/my/1504/index.htmlMSN:zll851112@hotmail.com 视频博客http://blog.sina.com.cn/85bajie