This may seem off topic but in a way it isn’t. I am sure that most of you have seen or heard about the depraved and cruel animal abuse story. In case you didn’t a video was taken of a soldier throwing a puppy off of a cliff. Personally, I couldn’t watch it because the story itself made me want to vomit! I am an animal lover who has lived a life of rescuing and caring for and loving animals of all kinds.
This is the part of the story that applies to this web site and blog. I have said this to many of you in private emails but this story made me feel the need to reiterate. Those of you, who are married to or involved with someone who can and does abuse animals, need to fear for your own safety. It is a well known fact that animal abusers are abusers, period. Please don’t think that the abusers attack on an animal or animals is any different from an attack on people. There is just no difference. Sometimes animal abuse is the foundation for depraved abuse of humans. Please, take heed to this story and take whatever precautions you need to remain safe.
As an aside, from what I understand about this story, it seems rather obvious that this soldier is a sick man. The person video taping might be just as imbalanced, unless he or she had some altruistic reason for taping this vile scene. Many places in the media are using this story to depict the fact that this man’s actions were because of his being involved in a war and that it is the war that was the foundation for his abuse of this puppy.
As is usual in an election year, almost any story can be redirected to malign a political party, the current president, a past president and or any of the people who are running for office. I abhor these reports because far too many people get sucked into believing such reasoning. Because many people are incapable or unwilling to see the entire picture, they are deluded into believing convoluted political stories. I was raised in a family that took pride in our country, our strength, our military and our courage to fight for the red white and blue. One of the most difficult things that I have had to face in my coaching of abused women, is that their abusers are sometimes in the military.
While there is an attempt to screen the enlistees for mental or emotional problems, like every place else, some emotionally unstable people slip through the cracks. Just like teachers, psychologists, blue collar workers, white collar workers, men and women, the military has some members who have emotional issues. What I have had to come to understand is that not all of our troops are good and noble people.
I have dealt with women who have been abused by their spouses and can’t get very much understanding or support because they are looked down upon for maligning the soldiers who are defending our country and the less fortunate. Here is the rub. Soldiers are human with faults and issues like any other human being. Just because some people wear a uniform, doesn’t mean that they should automatically have our respect. They need to earn it. In my opinion, the person who held a higher rank than this man, is remiss because he or she didn’t know about or report the obvious cruelty of which this man is capable.
