I am continually saddened by the insensitivity of the media. Today, I'm both angered and appalled by comments made by Miles O'Brien on CNN yesterday regarding the loss of Westminster Whippet, Bohem C'est La Vie or Vivy.
Here is a snippet of his comments:
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst part is that she's out here and she's scared and cold. And we hope she's not hurt.
WALTON (?): I just want the dog back. It's just scary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Now maybe Vivy wanted to get straight, go forward, move ahead, try to detect it. It's not too late to whip it. Whip it good.
VERJEE: That woke me up.
O'BRIEN: Are we not men. We are Devo.
If you have any information about the dog, if you're in the swamp land up there and you happen to find a Whippet, call the cops, all right, and 911, I guess, or something.
The entire transcript can be found here
I find this incredibly disturbing. As someone who views my dogs as members of the family, this smacks of making jokes about missing children. I'm appalled.
I think the piece that people are missing is that this may very well be a show dog, but Vivy is also someones loved one... show some consideration for the feelings of these folks.
The airport lost Vivy. According to her Mum, she secured the crate herself and you would have to really work to unhook it. Is it possible that it wasn't latched? Sure. But not likely.
Do you fly your dogs?
The New York Times Reports:
Since the Department of Transportation began collecting statistics in July to comply with the Congressional Safe Air Travel for Animals Act, there have been 22 deaths, 17 injuries and 4 losses reported.These stats aren't horrible, but I'm a bit of a control freak. What do you think? Do you fly your critters? What do you think of Miles O'Briens comments? Tell Miles what you think at this link. If you are as offended as I am, spread the word... tell CNN and tell your friends.
I sent a negative comment. What a jerk. I wonder if he has kids and if he has lost one in public?
It’s funny you can really tell when someone doesn’t have any pets. The comments they make are appauling. I was around someone like this over the weekend and I finally had to tell them to shut it.
I could never fly with my animals. Can you imagine what they must experince, they get loaded under the plane, I am sure it is dark and are their crates secured in the hold or do they move around like your luggage in the overhead compartment? Lets not forget all the unfamilar sounds they are goign to hear. Nope, Never. It is the one thing that will keep me from moving.
Nope, no planes for me….course Mom don’t fly either :). Also no CNN for me…Fox news all the way :). Thanks for coming to see me..I’m around, I just don’t leave comments everyday cause there are SO many blogs to read!
I find what he says insensitive as well. Most fanciers spend more money on their dogs than most people spend on their children. Their dogs ARE their life…every phone call, every weekend, every day is FOCUSED on that dog…this includes conditioning it (marathon-like excercise) daily, never feeding a meal without the consideration of how it will affect the coat, the stools, I mean…honestly showing dogs is an OBSESSION…and thus our dogs are almost Gods to us, to say the least. It would be similiar TO having a corporate big whig job where you have a million dollar + client, and your entire presentation in on your laptop, no backup, and the airline looses it…you would go nuts because that dog is your OBSESSION and LIFE…NOW add that that dog is ALSO your daily companion! This is more common than people know, Ive shipped dogs thousands of times. There are certain airlines which are NOTORIOUS for “freeing” dogs…can you say Delta? The safest I always used was USAir but they no longer ship. Unfortunately many PETA members are not just animal lovers who want to do good but worse off believe that animals should never be shown, or crated, and believe it or not, the integral belief is that they should NOT be IN captivity but LOOSE fending for themselves. Many PETA members have NO idea what these PETA do, but Westminster is notoriously hit, airports (cargo), and dog shows are all at risk…these people spike their water with antifreeze to kill the dogs (thus “freeing them from captivity..’they are better off dead'”) ORRRR lierally “FREE” them from their cages. Unfortunately many of these nuerotic people work in cargo to do this specifically. I know MANY people whom SLEEP on TOP of the crates of their dogs while showing at Westminster…rfusing to leave their dogs so they dont get posisoned. I also know many MANY people who have had their dogs freed on the runway by these nuts, and unfortunately poisoned at dog shows as well. This is why many people buy these million dollar RV’s and drive their dogs all over the US to teh dog shows and dont leave their setup at dog shows. Its AWEFUL! This doesnt ention the competitiveness either…you always have to worry once your dog is nationally ranked…that everyone turns on you, its cut throat and people DO slip things to your dog, steal them and if sabotage is possible…they do try. I know this is very negative, and doesnt sound nice…but sadly…its true, and the show world is cut throat and competitive, and the animal activists are your worst enemies….which is sad because PETA is supposed to be about helping animals and loving them, and many people have no idea they are a member of a group with such undermining and treacherous ongoings.
Pray for the whippet…very very sad!