My Soapbox

Please excuse a little indulgent ranting. As I'm sure you've guessed by previous entries, I am an animal lover. When the Michael Vick dog fighting came to light, the Humane Society sent out a note to tell your legislators that you oppose animal fighting in all forms. Needless to say, I did. They also talked about Amazon.com refusing to pull books and magazines that promote and encourage animal fighting. The hubby wrote Amazon a note about it, as he is a very good Amazon customer. The response he received was appalling. It basically stated that even though he was against it, others view it as “entertainment” so they will continue to sell them. As of that moment, I vowed to never buy from Amazon again.

I recently received an update email from the Human Society that detailed some animal rights laws that Congress passed, overriding W’s veto. I'm sure there were good reasons to not want the bill passed, there are always things that shouldn't be in them. But, it also contains good things to help stop puppy mills and ups the jail time and fines for animal fighting. The update also included this:

Animal Fighting Magazine to be Pulled from Amazon.com
On Tuesday, in another blow to animal fighters, we reached a settlement with one of the defendants in our federal lawsuit challenging the sale of two criminal animal fighting magazines on Amazon.com in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act. The publishers of “The Gamecock” magazine agreed to permanently change the magazine’s format to exclude all ads for fighting animals, knives, and other illegal paraphernalia, and to stop selling the magazine on Amazon.com until it has demonstrated full compliance with federal law for one year.
Sadly, Amazon.com has vowed to fight on in the case, arguing that the First Amendment gives it the right to sell illegal animal fighting contraband. It wants to remain the only online retailer selling “The Feathered Warrior,” soon to be the sole remaining cockfighting trade publication sold on Amazon.com in violation of federal law.

Tell Amazon.com what you think of its decision to continue profiting from illegal animal fighting.

I was completely outraged. I would encourage anyone who cares for the well being of all animals to send their outrage to Amazon and to not buy from them. Unfortunately, as with most corporations, dollars, not morals, will be the only thing that matter to them, so please, speak with your wallet.

I will leave you with this fabulous quote I saw as a tagline on a colleague’s email:
The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by obvious realities. We need men and women who can dream of things that never were..." -- John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963