For our activist project, we wanted to raise
awareness for prostate cancer by promoting Movember. Our original plan
was to print off a picture of Rob Ford and play “pin the moustache on Rob
Ford”. This all changed last Thursday, November 18th when
Andrew found a video online of a girl throwing small puppies into a
river. At that point, the group decided to change the project to animal
cruelty. We chose to do this topic because we all believed that what some
people do to animals is terrible and we wanted to let people know this
behavior, whether at home, in the circus or at a pet store are completely
unacceptable.
As a group, we collaborated on what was the
appropriate plan of action to raise awareness for animal abuse and
cruelty. We came up with having people sign a petition and if they could,
donate a bit of money so that we could send it off to the Humane Society of
Canada. By doing this, it shows that
the University of Guelph-Humber and Humber College are
against animal abuse and want to help. Specifically, we cited the online
petition sponsored by Haley & the Southern Ontario Budgerigar Club called
'Get YouTube to Remove Animal Cruelty Videos'.
Through the process of looking up information
on the internet to help support our fight against animal cruelty, a multitude
of interesting facts appeared that both shocked and disgusted us. For
example, elephants that perform in circuses are often kept in chains for as
long as 23 hours a day for the duration of their lives.
Information and statistics like these are not
acceptable and as a group, we wanted to try and find a way to stop animal
cruelty through broadcasting our concerns and cause. To do this, we set up a
booth in the Humber North Residences cafeteria to help spread the word. It
really surprised us how aware and willing to help the residents of Humber
were. We painted posters and provided facts for people to read. In
little over an hour, we had more than forty signatures from students willing to
join the fight for animal rights. We had students sign a petition
(pictured below), and sent them off to the Humane Society of Canada. By
sending our petition off to the Humane Society of Canada, we hope they will
realize that Guelph-Humber and Humber College students are
against animal cruelty and wish to get involved in stopping such
injustice.
We felt that this issue was very important because animals, like humans,
are living beings. They feel pain no matter how big or small they are,
and regardless of their ability to verbalize it. We do not think it is
right for a person to abuse a helpless animal whether it is a dog, cat,
elephant or mouse. It is unacceptable and as a group, we find it
disgusting. If anything, we want everyone to know that animal abuse is
completely unacceptable and is illegal.
To sign the online petition and learn more about the 'Get YouTube to Remove Animal Cruelty Videos', click here.
Our Petition:
