BY MIKE SCHWAGER - PUBLISHED IN FT. LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL, “OUTLOOK SECTION” (Sunday, April 25, 2010)

They are the beloved and comfort of millions. They connect us to what is natural and spontaneous and unconditionally loving in our lives. They take us out of our busyness and complexity, out of our everyday stresses, out of our heads, and bring us into the wonder and joy of each moment.

Dogs are members of more than 43 million households in America, and cats of more than 37.5 million. These feeling, intelligent, loyal creatures give comfort to people of all kinds - to the young, middle-aged and elderly, to families with children, to couples without children, and to those living alone. When they are brought into hospitals caring for children with grave illnesses, or into nursing homes tending to the aged, they become healers who bring smiles to faces. They defend homes as faithful watchers. They save lives, whether on the battlefield, or as brave aides to firefighters.

The fact is, each year we kill 3 million healthy and treatable dogs and cats at our shelters. Here in Broward, the number killed is 10,000 per year. At Miami-Dade Animal Services, it is a horrifying 40,000; and in Palm Beach it averages 18,000.

If we are agree that these animals are precious individuals who have a right to live, then we can also agree that a fundamental paradigm shift must take place at all animal shelters. The new underlying principle must be no-kill.

For those who don’t believe it is possible to transition from kill to no-kill, look at other shelters who’ve done it - in Charlottesville, Va., in Tompkins County, New York and in Reno, Nev. They’ve done it. They show it is possible.

Here are strategies needed for a transition to succeed:

Hire a director who embodies humaneness towards animals in his or her philosophy - someone committed to no-kill. This is the linchpin element in a successful conversion, and in the implementation of the other essential elements that must follow. The director must support a “culture of life.”

Hire staff people who are likewise committed to humaneness, and the no-kill principle. This means a review of the people on staff to determine who would support the new principle, the weeding out of those who don’t, and the recruitment of those who do.

Make comprehensive adoption programs central to the shelter strategy. Some examples:

Ongoing and intensive public relations/marketing programs. The new director should hire a director of PR/Marketing equally committed to the no-kill principle. If budget precludes a hire, enlist the support of a retired PR professional. This individual should enlist a team of other volunteer PR pros. Consultation with chapter leader of the local Public Relations Society of America can help pull a team together, as well as outreach to the heads of local PR agencies.

Outdoor or indoor adoption events. Work with local Petsmarts, Petcos, pet supply stores, community wellness centers, festivals and carnivals to set up booths presenting dogs and cats from shelters, and literature about the shelters. Arrange ongoing creative vehicles, and redesign a shelter’s website to reflect new culture of life, with a new name, e.g., “Friends of Best Friends.” Conduct active search engine optimization campaign for this website. Air public service spots on television and radio, and complement those with animal photos on major websites like Craigslist. Follow-up with speaking appearances by shelter officials at PTAs, churches, synagogues, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, as well as in-studio appearances on radio/TV. Use those venues to announce off-site adoption events, and incorporate effective signage allowing traffic to shelters.

Help to increase pet retention. The shelter must be perceived by the community as a place to turn to for advice and support on how pet owners can keep their animals at home. Advice can include everything from discipline and house-breaking training programs to neutering programs to food budget savings.

Volunteers. An impassioned, dedicated and large group of volunteers needs to be the lifeblood of the shelter, often complementing too few-in-number paid staff. At Broward’s ACARD, limits have been put on the numbers of volunteers recruited, and volunteers have been discouraged to photograph animals and post on sites like Craigslist, which previously had brought in hundreds of adopters. Recruit volunteers at booths showcasing animals at festivals, carnivals and local pet supermarkets. Heading the Volunteer Corps should be a humane, paid (or retired) director of volunteers. Reports from other shelters indicate that more enthusiastic volunteers will be recruited after it’s known that a transition to no-kill has occurred.

Rescue groups currently account for only a relatively small percentage of animals saved. They need to be encouraged to pull as many animals as possible from a shelter - and not get discouraged from doing so. And that includes not only purebreds but the many greater-in-number and wonderful mixed breeds as well. Rescuers free up cage and kennel space, and reduce costs for feeding, cleaning - and killing. They need our support, not our discouragement.

Feral cat TNR programs. Trap, neuter and release programs have been effected by a number of communities across the country to reduce death rates.

Proactive redemptions. Often overlooked are lost animal reclaims. Sadly, besides having pet owners fill out a lost pet report, very little effort is made in this area. Becoming more proactive has proven to have a significant impact on life-saving and allow shelters to return a large percentage of lost animals to their families. Read animal advocate Nathan Wingrad’s book, Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation.

When you visit an animal shelter, walk up close to a dog or cat, and really look at it, appreciating it for its life and being. You can see and feel that you have simply connected with life, not only its life but your life. Then you can love it as you love yourself.

Mike Schwager lives in Plantation. His animal advocacy site: www.CompassionateAnimalFriendsofBroward.org. E-mail him at mikemaven@comcast.net.

Tilikum, the Orca Whale at Seaworld, must be saved.  Orcas are great intelligent beings, and should not be confined to pools that are far too small for their size and spirit.  The ocean is their natural habitat – and in the case of Tilikum – who did not intentionally kill its trainer – it should be released to a larger environment and not killed.  Tilicum and the other Orcas are energetically suppressed at Seaworld.  A terrible thing.  Like the other Orcas at Seaworld in Orlando – and other entertainment parks – the Orcas are confined because they are an entertainment attraction that bring in big bucks.  This must stop. The Orca does not deserve this.

Tilikum is now confined to an even smaller space – a tiny holding space – where it can barely move.  This is atrocious – cruel – horrible.  Because Tilikum has been confined for so long, it should be moved to an Ocean area much, much larger than the pool at Seaworld, yet that has wide and large boundaries so it is under some kind of protection, but not a crippling protection.

Mark Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, who was interviewed for Enrichment.com [see: www.Enrichment.com (Enrichment.com Interviews Mark Bekoff, author, The Emotional Lives of Animals) said in Psychology Today:  “Unfortunately, killer whales and other highly sentient beings are shipped here and there from one zoo or aquarium to another to be used in shows that generate a lot of money. We need to respect these beings for who they are and not put them on display as if they’re some sort of commodity or object who live for our own entertainment, because they’re not. Indeed, many whales possess spindle cells that are important in processing various emotions and anyone who’s been around orcas and other cetaceans know that they are extremely emotional beings. Some people argue that cetaceans may fulfill the criteria for being called ‘persons.’”

Michael Yaki, writing for SF Gate, said:  “Does a species that research shows has its own unique language and dialects, … that has documented teaching behavior passed between generations, whose brain is complex enough to process multiple dimensions of sound and sight, and who is built for the open water, deserve to be subject to the bounds of concrete tanks? Is there something inherent in their conditions that, for lack of a better word, drive some of them crazy? … Let’s not just free Willy. Let’s free them all.”

Please send an urgent protest letter or fax to the two people who can save Tilikum.  Demand that Tilikum be saved, and sent to a larger environment.  Demand that all the Orcas be removed from Seaworld and returned to the ocean or sent to a much larger environment where their spirits can soar – and where the cruelty of confinement can end.  Demand compassion NOW.  Protest the exploitation of these great Beings for monetary gain.  Protest your refusal to visit Seaworld unless and until Tilikum is saved, and the Orcas are rescued from this horrible confinement.

Mr. Keith M. Kasen

Chairman and President

Seaworld Parks & Entertainment

9205 South Park Center Loop

Suite 400

Orlando, FL 32819

FAX:   314-613-6049

Phone: 314-577-2000

and

Mr. Stephen A. Schwarzman

Chairman & CEO

Blackstone Group

345 Park Avenue, 31^st floor

New York, NY 10154

FAX:   212-583-5712

Phone: 212-583-5000

The Blackstone Group is an alternative asset management group which owns Seaworld Parks & Entertainment.  Its sole purpose is to make money.  Mr. Schwarzman must be told in no uncertain terms that the sacred lives of the Orcas must not be hijacked for profits.  It is an abomination!!

About seven months ago, I rescued little Harry (my name for him), an older yorkie, from the terrible Broward County animal shelter (Animal Control).   Harry was blind in one eye, and had a cataract in his other eye.  He had kennel cough, and pneumonia.  I could not bare to see him crunched in a small cage.  My heart just lept out for him.  So I brought him home - home to an apartment with Chickie, my chihuahua/pug mix who I rescued from that same shelter three years ago; and two rescued cats, Crystal and Mitzvah.I immediately took him to the vet where he received a shot and some meds better than the non-meds he was receiving at Animal Control.  When I brought him home, Harry revealed a very great intelligence and inspite of how sick he was, he immediately began to snoop around the house, curious about everything.  But more, he sensed he was in a home, and he showed his perkiness and happiness to be “home”.  A few days later, I gave Harry a warm bath, and upon towel drying him, wrapped him in a large bath towel and placed him upon my soft mattress.  He was in heaven, oohing and ahhing at the great comfort he was enwrapped in and lying upon.  I could sense a great deal of negative energy and tremendous stress leaving Harry, and he fell asleep for the next 12 hours.

Thereupon, for the next four months, Harry was restored to complete health.  He loved being walked outside, and he displayed a kind of dance, which was the dance of celebration of being alive, and being loved.  I frequently held Harry in my arms, and rocked him like a baby.  He loved it.  When I brought him in from a walk outside, he was so happy to be home, and he would approach Chickie and the two cats and caress their faces with his.  Harry was a sweetheart.

Then one day he began coughing, non-stop coughing, where he could barely breath.  I rushed him to the vet and she reported he had a collapsed trachea.  She did not think he would make it, but gave me tranquillizers for him to quiet him in the hopes that the tension upon the trachea would quiet.  It didn’t work and a few days later, Harry had a severe tracheal attack where I had to rush him again to the vet, where he was desperately choking and gulping for air.  I knew Harry needed to be relieved from this suffering, and gave the vet consent to put him to sleep.  Before she did, I spoke to him and told him how much I loved him, and thanked him for coming into my life and giving me such joy, and the opportunity to heal him.  Seeing him  die was very painful for me; and I prayed over Harry’s warm body - I prayed very hard that he would now move into the Light and be comforted by angels and heavenly caretakers.

Harry was abandoned and betrayed by someone - someone who didn’t care enough.   He might have fared better had he not fallen into the hands of this terrible Broward County shelter - a shelter that has no heart for its inhabitants - a shelter that is in effect a disposal unit - and not an adoption facility as it should be.  In Miami/Dade it’s awful too.

So much can be done at Broward and in Miami/Dade to boost traffic and consequently adoptions by redirecting some of the resources into EFFECTIVE advertising, PR and marketing - but it will also take a major shift in consciousness.  The Commissioners at Broward and Miami/Dade are of an anti-life culture, where the fate of these sensitive, unconditionally loving and vulnerable animals are an absolute non-priority.

The ONLY thing that will change things is a massive campaign by voters who are pet lovers, in a well organized and orchestrated way.  It will take leadership.  And it will take funding from private citizens.

Right now, none of this exists in spite of all the talk - talk that has been going on now for years, as tens of thousands of beautiful creatures are destroyed.  There is one person - a man by the name of Nathan Winograd.  He’s written a book called “Redemption” - which lays out a detailed strategy for converting “kill” to “no kill”.  His website:  www.nathanwinograd.com.

There are millions of Harrys who are murdered each year at our county shelters.  “Euthanize” is too bland a word for what occurs.  Dragging innocent, vulnerable dogs to the killing rooms, screaming along the way - knowing their fate - where they are laid on cold metal tables and injected with poison, all the while trembling with fright.  This is an atrocity - and it must end.

It requires leadership - a few bold courageous leaders in each locale - working to change policy…and consciousness.  Nathan Winograd points the way.

And that’s the way it is, as Walter Cronkite used to say - but it isn’t the way it has to be.

If you are in the Broward County area, sign an electronic Petition of Protest to the Broward Commissioners at: www.CompassionateAnimalFriendsofBroward.org

Thank you.

SunSentinel

An Outraged Citizen Speaks: Animal adoptions not a top county priority

Mike Schwager |

For any who has made a dog or cat a member of your family, you know how endearing and valued they become. Yet across our nation, millions of healthy, adoptable dogs and cats are killed each year at our county shelters. This is true as well in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Here in Broward, in 2008, 10,339 animals were euthanized. The numbers were similar in 2007 and 2006.The core of the problem is an unspoken attitude of irreverence for the lives of these precious, feeling creatures. The Animal Care and Regulation Division is in actuality a disposal unit for the elimination of these endearing animals.  Until they are killed, and due to this disposal attitude, many are cramped in small cages, lack exercise, are not touched, and the food is awful. Virtually all develop kennel cough. No serious effort is made to draw traffic to the two Broward facilities, allowing for adoptions to increase. Few know their locations. Despite pleas for large, colorful signage leading to these places, they’ve been ignored, as have past offers to provide free publicity. It is heartbreaking to watch TV public service spots run by the ASPCA depicting the plight of shelter animals - and to recognize that ACARD does nothing of this kind.

Mike Schwager is a resident of Fort Lauderdale.  Websites:  www.mediamavens.com,www.Enrichment.com, www.TVtraining.tv, www.PRStraightTalk.com.

The above OpEd was recently published in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.  It is short due to word length limitation.  There was much more to write.  Healthy, adoptable, sweet and vulnerable dogs dragged in terror to the killing rooms, knowing what awaits them; lying on tables, shaking and terrified, as “normal, reasonable” people inject them with poison.  Their dead but warm bodies thrown into trash bags and disposal bins.  In Broward County, 10,000 killed every year by “normal, reasonable” people.  In Miami/Dade, the official count is 21,000 - but the true number is higher.  This atrocity must end.  More - much more - must be done to end the kill policies in these counties and other counties across America.  Money must be invested in aggressive marketing/PR campaigns that boost traffic, and adoptions to these places.  Political officials feign concern, but in truth do not care, for the numbers are not declining, and in the present economic Recession, the numbers are actually increasing.  These unconditionally loving creatures have no voice.  We ARE their voices.  They are our comfort, our connection to pure Being - and we must NOT treat them without reverence or respect.  If you are in Broward County, Florida, please sign a Petition of Protest to the Broward Commissioners at this site:  www.CompassionateAnimalFriendsofBroward.org.

Read the book, “Redemption” by Nathan Winograd and learn that it IS possible to convert kill disposal units into no-kill adoption facilities.  Thank you.  God Bless you, and let God work through us to bless them!

[This page is dedicated to my beloved late sister Heddy Schwager McKenna, who was a devout lover of animals, and who understood their purity and connection to Divine Source].

On Guardians of Being 

A Celebration of the Gift of Our Companion Animals 

[Note:  The following article appears on my spiritual/humanitarian site, www.Enrichment.com.  I thought I would share it with you here as well.  It’s by-lined by Patrick McDonnell, the creator of the MUTTS comic strip.  Patrick writes about his new book, Guardians of Being, which he co-authors with spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle.  It’s a book about what animals - dogs and cats in this case - give us by allowing us to connect with our own Beingness, through the gift of their own pure Beingness and connection with Divine Source.  I believe that’s true. - Mike Schwager]

By Patrick McDonnell 

 “Everything natural, every flower or tree, and every animal have important lessons to teach us….”  - Eckhart Tolle

Guardians of Being (words by Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now and A New Earth and art by Patrick McDonnell, creator of MUTTS) celebrates the reason we love our companion animals.  It illuminates for us their divine purpose.  While we are lost in our thoughts and busyness of everyday life, they have become our guardians of being.  They can bring us into the present moment and reconnect us to the one source of all life.    

Guardians of Being is a collaboration of Eckhart’s teachings and my cartoon illustrations.  As does all of Eckhart Tolle’s work, Guardians of Being teaches us about finding inner peace by living in the now, the transformation of our consciousness, and the arising of a more enlightened humanity. The primary signposts in this new book are all of nature and, in particular, our beloved dogs and cats.    

Eckhart’s words in Guardians of Being are succinct and to the point, similar to his text in Stillness Speaks.  As Eckhart Tolle said in his introduction to that work, the form the book takes is like “the oldest form of spiritual teachings: the sutras of ancient India. Sutras are powerful pointers to the truth in the form of aphorisms, or short sayings, with little conceptual elaboration…. The advantage of the sutra form lies in its brevity.  It does not engage the thinking mind more than is necessary.  What it doesn’t say - but only points to - is more important than what it says.”   

On a different level, I think the same can be said of the brief three-panel comic strip.  At its best, its humor and truth go beyond the obvious. 

I wanted to be a cartoonist as far back as I can remember.  I’ve always loved the art’s simplicity, immediacy, intimacy and absurdity.  From the start, I was enchanted by how a few simple pen-and-ink lines can come to life on the page, which is, for me, the magic of cartooning.  Many great comic strips (such as Peanuts and Krazy Kat) spoke to me directly and I always wanted to give back some of the joy and comfort I found there.   

MUTTS, my comic strip about a dog, Earl, and his unlikely friend, a cat named Mooch, started in 1994.  MUTTS focuses on experiencing the natural world (gentle rain, quiet flurries, full moons…) and that special bond that forms between companion animals and their guardians.  My own Jack Russell Terrier, Earl, was my inspiration.  Earl was my teacher; he constantly celebrated life.  I tried my best to convey his joie de vivre and good-hearted spirit in my strip.   

Animals are one with life and can be our link back to nature.  In MUTTS I try to keep the animals animal-like.  In trying to see the world through their eyes, I have become more aware of and empathic to their situation.   

MUTTS has led me to work closely with several animal welfare groups, and to join with The Humane Society of the United States where I serve on its board of directors. We face many issues of animal cruelty that humans perpetrate on animals, such as factory farming, dog fighting, and puppy mills.  The HSUS is making large strides on many fronts, but sometimes it feels to me like we are attacking the Hydra; every time a problem is resolved, another rears its ugly head.  But at its core there is just one problem, unconsciousness.  We no longer feel connected to nature, to the life force. In Guardians of Being, Eckhart shows us the reconnect:   “When you are present you can sense the spirit, the one consciousness, in every creature and love it as yourself.”

Making art can be a form of meditation. I start my day in the early morning by reading a passage or two from a spiritual book to keep my head and heart open.  In 1999, while traveling in Los Angeles and visiting one of my favorite book stores (The Bodhi Tree), I saw The Power of Now on their new arrival shelf.  I was compelled to bring that book home; it moved me with its directness, simplicity, and place of deep truth.  As it has done for millions, The Power of Now changed my life.  Eckhart’s teachings inspires MUTTS, and many strips have a direct connection.  

I thought combining my art with Eckhart’s teaching on how animals and nature can bring us into the present moment could be a good entry point for some people.  Seeing a photo of Eckhart with his new dog, Maya gave me the impetus to pursue this project. 

My wife, Karen O’Connell, and I compiled his passages and quotes that focused on animals and nature.  We paired these with MUTTS art that spoke to the teachings in their own way.  We created a proposal for the book and Eckhart graciously agreed to collaborate.  He edited, reworked and wrote new material for what was to become Guardians of Being.  He created a passionate, humorous, enlightening meditation on the power and grace that animals can bring into our lives.    

In Guardians of Being, Eckhart has translated what our companion animals have been telling us for ages.  “Life is good.”  “Live in the Now.”   “Enjoy.” 

Patrick McDonnell is the award-winning creator of the MUTTS comic strip, which appears in over 700 newspapers in 20 countries and has an estimated daily readership of 50 million, as well as the author and illustrator of the picture books The Gift of Nothing, Hug Time, and the upcoming October release, Wag! (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers).  He lives in New Jersey. His website is www.muttscomics.com

Eckhart Tolle is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Now (3 million copies sold) and A New Earth, the fastest-selling Oprah Book Club selection ever (5 million copies sold). He speaks and teaches extensively throughout the world. He lives in Vancouver, Canada and his website is www.eckharttolle.com  

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff wrote an important piece, published on April 8th, entitled, “Humanity Even For NonHumans”.  Cudos to him for bringing the suffering - and rights - of farm animals - to the spotlight.  In his blog on the same topic, I addressed a kindred issue - the suffering of shelter animals.  Here’s that comment, posted by The Times:

Dear Mr. Kristoff:

Thank you so much for this important contribution to raising consciousness about the plight of farm animals.

The late great Dr. Albert Schweitzer said: “Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”

Another related very important issue is the inhumane treatment of dogs and cats at so many animal shelters across the country. Here in Broward County, Florida, at the Animal Care & Regulation Division’s two animal shelters run by the Broward County Commissioners, 10,000 dogs, puppies, cats and kittens are euthanized each year. The vast majority of them are healthy and adoptable. The core of the problem is an unspoken but very real attitude of irreverence for the lives of these precious, feeling creatures. “ACARD” or “Animal Control” as it is known, is in actuality a disposal unit for the elimination - killing - of these animals.

Until they are killed, and due to this disposal attitude, their treatment is abominable - many are crunched in too small cages, making it impossible for them to move about; too many are not given the exercise they vitally need; they cannot be touched, thus lack the tactile experience all living creatures need for emotional and physical well-being; food is awful. Virtually all of the animals develop kennel cough, which can lead to pneumonia. A sweet Yorkie I recently adopted was near death with pneumonia.

Furthermore, no real effort is made to bring traffic to these denizens of death, allowing for adoptions to increase. Few know its location (the main facility is near the Ft. Lauderdale Airport). Despite my past urgings for large and colorful signings leading to the place, please have been ignored. Offers to provide free publicity (I am a media relations specialist), which would include public service spots on radio and television, articles in newspapers, stories on radio and tv - these offers have been ignored.

I am the son of Holocaust survivors; and I tell you that facilities like Animal Care and Regulation in Broward County is much like an Auschwitz. There is no regard for the lives or feelings of these dogs and cats - and they are truly unconditionally loving and feeling beings who only seek to be treated in a humane and kind manner. “Kindness” is not a word within the vocabulary of the uncaring bureaucrats and politicians responsible for this dreadful institution.

To make matters worse, they feign concern - but to see the actions that take place - and the gross inhumanity that exists there - this concern is clearly nothing more than a subterfuge.

In 2006, when I first became aware of conditions at ACARD, I wrote an article for The Best Friends Network. It describes the cruelty at this institution, and I am sad to report that the essence of the story has remain unchanged. That article can be found at:

http://network.bestfriends.org/news/postdetail.aspx?np=7511

A website I created, http://www.CompassionateAnimalFriendsofBroward.org also describes the critical situation, and provides an opportunity to electronically sign a Petition to the Broward Commissioners, demanding change.

Kindness must extend to all living beings who share this planet with us. We are all part of the Great Circle of Life. We are all connected. We all live, breathe and feel. We must advocate for them, for they cannot advocate for themselves. But their purity, and the unconditional love they give to us, stands as a call for us to act, to act now and to act with compassion.

VALUES IN PR

This is a page you may not ordinarily see on a public relations site.  Many p.r. people are “invisible” when it comes to publicly taking a stand about their own values and what they believe in – or don’t believe in.  They hold a position of seeming neutrality in this area.

For some, this may be to maximize the field of potential clients they can attract, and consequently, to maximize the potential for doing business. The potential negative consequence of this decision is that it has created the perception of some p.r. professionals as “flacks” and “ambulence chasers.”  

For others, withholding a statement of values and beliefs is necessary in order to spotlight their clients’ values. They rightly hold that the mission of public relations professionals is to create compelling communications programs on behalf of their clients’ positions – not their own.  They believe that the most effective p.r. representation, therefore, is to represent virtually any kind of client, while remaining personally detached from that client’s point-of-view (even while exhuberantly presenting that view to editors and producers).   Some of the professionals in this latter grouping may even believe that by adhering to this position, they support the constitutional right of freedom of speech (on behalf of their clients).

While I believe there is merit to this latter position, if it is sincerely held, I come down in a slightly different place.  I believe that, for me, the times we live in make it necessary to enunciate a basic personal and professional declaration of “What I believe and what I value.”   For while I see myself as an advocate for my client’s core values and fundamental self-interests, as a citizen of my country and the world – like yourself - I also see myself as an advocate of core values that guide the decisions I make about who I  represent.

The first experience I can remember as a public relations professional that layed track for this position was just prior to the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in Pennsylania.  I was a young rookie, working for a major public relations agency (my first p.r. job).  I was asked to be part of a strategic brainstorming meeting with a new client, a major corporation involved in energy and electronics.  The client informed us that its nuclear power plants were one hundred percent safe from any mishaps, and asked us to craft a communications program that boldly enunciated that position.

When I raised my hand and asked the question, “Can you back up that position with sound scientific proof and evidence?” - I noticed that some of the more senior staffers in that meeting seemed to cringe, annoyed I had asked this question. I also suggested that a “crisis media plan” be developed in advance in case the client was confronted with some sudden catastrophe which required damage control.  I explained to the client that it was necessary to take a “devil’s advocate” stance, in order to build a stronger campaign which anticipated the tough questions that would inevitably be posed by adversaries of nuclear power plants, or in case of human error “in spite of  the client’s insistence that nothing could go wrong.”

The client “laughed me down,” saying that the proof was so “self-evident,” it wasn’t necessary to further research the issue or to prepare for a problem.

Two months later, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant accident occurred. That plant was owned by this particular client.  When the media tried to approach the client for a statement, it took days before the client was ready to make an intelligent statement to the press, let alone answer tough questions.

It was at this moment that I realized four very important things:

(1)    It is the public relations professional’s responsibility to help the client anticipate problems in advance – and counsel the client on how to deal with      problems when they occur.

(2)    Clients can make mistakes, and should admit mistakes when they occur.

(3)  A good public relations professional must have the courage to follow his or her gut instincts and intuition, as long as they are honest and sincere – even in the face of raising questions the client may find unappealing.

(4)    Public relations agencies and professionals should think twice before representing clients they consciously know have services, products or ideas that may undermine the quality-of-life or higher public good, irrespective of the fees that client may be willing to pay the agency or professional.

In subsequent years, I developed a list of such “value statements” that ultimately turned into a kind of credo.  Here’s the rest:

*    Be open to representing clients which have services and products that minimally pose no hazards to public safety.  Just as a potential client will investigate whether  you as a public relations professional are right for them, you have every right to investigate whether they are right for you.

*    The world is in a critical stage in its development.  It needs advocates who embrace the values of both the American Declaration of Independence, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights…advocates who are  willing to take a stand for the enrichment of life – and public relations advocates who represent   clients that enhance the quality of life with a view of life’s sacredness…clients that enrich the environment, human health and well-being, human rights (and animal rights)…clients that promote the advancement of human economic, creative and social potential, especially children’s potential…clients that advance human understanding, tolerance and respect      for the richness of, and differences  in, cultures, religions, genders, races, ethnicities and ideas…clients who if they       advance technology, also advance the progress of the human heart.

*    Take a stand for the Earth and the “wholeness” and intelligence of Nature.  Take a stand for the advancement of world culture while equally respecting the  uniqueness and sacredness of every individual human being, and the healthy, enriching uniqueness of  regional and national cultures.

*    Be suspicious of any group, organization or individual who believe they, he or she have “all the answers” or who wish to impose or project these  “answers” onto others.  Veer instead towards those who present creative solutions to specific problems; and judge these solutions on the basis as to whether they expand human human happiness and fulfillment

*    Consider groups, organizations or individuals who have creative or innovative ideas, services or products that enrich human life; or that have winning ideas, services or products that can help empower the poor or heal the sick.

*    Represent businesses that conduct themselves ethically, that deliver products or services that help, and don’t harm; that are businesses that invest in their people and contribute to the health and well-being of the communities in which they do business, both domestically and internationally; and that are sensitive to  the promotion of the human and civil rights of women and minorities, especially among their own employees and the customers they serve.

Undercover video released by the Humane Society, and just shown on national tv, of sick cows in a meat processing plant, just prior to slaughter, made national headlines – but not out of compassion for these poor suffering animals.  The focus of concern by the news media was about the meat of sick animals entering the food supply.

When I saw the footage this morning, of animals too sick to stand, stumbling helplessly on the slaughterhouse floor, and lifted mercilessly and callously on a fork about to be taken for slaughter, I realized that my long interest in becoming a vegetarian had been realized. Where is our compassion?  I speak not only for the sickly cows, but the healthy ones too.  These are feeling, thinking beings.  The cow is a benign animal.  But the fate of tens of millions each year, who suffer by never seeing the light of day, in closed warehouses and cramped conditions, only to be cruelly slaughtered in the end – is a mark of a society and a culture without feeling, without compassion, without understanding or caring of the suffering of these docile creatures.

Mahatma Gandhi always felt that animals should be protected from torture and cruelty.  “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it treats its animals,” he said.

“Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives,” wrote humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

Where is the national campaign and the voices of outrage that decry the suffering and cruelty of such animals – that decry their suffering in the manner in which they are housed and treated, and in the fact that they are slaughtered in inhumane and merciless ways?  Ultimately, where is the campaign that calls for an end to the slaughter of cows, period?  Where is the campaign that is rooted in a true embrace of reverence for life – all life?  Where is the campaign that decries the suffering and slaughter of pigs in a similar manner?  The campaign that decries the inhumane caging of chickens who live out their lives in cages without room to move in? 

The list goes on and on.  Has anyone ever considered that the pain and suffering we inflict on all these creatures, when ingested into our own systems, transforms into our own pain and suffering?  Think about it. 

This irreverence of the lives of animals extends to the treatment of dogs and cats in so many of this country’s County shelters –  killing institutions dedicated to the “euthanasia” of beautiful, healthy and adoptable dogs, cats, puppies and kittens, instead of a dedication to increasing community awareness, traffic and adoptions as our highest priority? 

What kind of a society is this that ends the lives of creatures who come into the world to give us the unconditional love we so sorely need?   What kind of a commentary is it about us that we so devalue these precious lives?  Is it any wonder that so much cruelty abounds in man’s treatment of his fellows?

If you are reading this and are moved in any way, reach out to animal advocacy groups dedicated to reversing all of this cruelty and suffering.  If you can’t find a group, start one yourself.  Get help from local public relations professionals who resonate with these sensitivities.  You can start by seeking them out on Craigslist.org – or by contacting the local PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) chapter in your city (www.prsa.org).

If the challenge seems uphill and insurmountable, remember the answer to the question posed in the Talmud:  “Where is the center of the world?” To which the response came, “Where each human being stands – there is the center of the world.”