Pets or People???

I am hearing that thousands of people are refusing to leave New Orleans because they refuse to leave their pets behind. I'm also hearing that animal rescue people are tagging along behind people-rescuers with the intent of rescuing pets. I performed a Google search on pets rescue in the aftermath of Katrina. Lo & behold, I found a specialty company that is willing to contribute a whopping 20% of their earnings on rhinestone pet collars toward rescuing pets. Sure did... Here's the ad: (I'm not about to post the link because I think it's beyond ridiculous.)

Help Katrina Pets Purchase Rhinestone Collars 20%
We create custom crystal (australian crystals) dog collars for your pets. We will donate 20% of all sales this week to Katrina pets that were abandoned/lost/found/injured. Email for more information!

I'm a pet lover. There are three cats that live in our house, two of which are more than 10 years old. My daughter raises and shows high-dollar Australian Shepherds. There are probably few people who love pets more than I do. But one thing I know, pets are not in any way, shape, or form, members of the family. Not my family any way. They are pets, not human beings.

Which brings me to the point. Somewhere along the way, there are a lot of people who have some seriously misplaced priorities. The people who are willing to die for their pets aren't thinking straight. People who tag along behind people-rescuers just to save dying peoples' pets are seriously misguided. And people who take advantage of major catastrophes (like Hurricane Katrina) to sell rhinestone pet collars but are willing to give only 20% of the earnings to rescue animals are, in my opinion, idiots. In the scheme of things, when it comes to saving life, do pets qualify as being important as human beings? Is pet life equal to human life? These people who are so dedicated to saving pets ought to give their energies to save people, not pets. They ought to use their resources for saving human live, rather than pet life.

Call me hard-hearted, but I don't know of a single pet that ever lived that has a soul. None of the cats (Bennie, Kiki, & Girlfriend) that live in my house have souls. Not one of the fine dogs in my daughter's kennel has a soul. If I were caught in a catastrophe like Katrina, I would hope like crazy that people would rescue me first. When it comes to giving energy to save life, I want all that energy directed toward saving human life. Forget the pets. Concentrate on saving the people. When the people are all saved, then and only then, spend energy to save the pets.