That is what observing lethal injection and the gas chamber last week left me with.

I was not eager to see animals killed and I did not know how it would make me feel but I expected to be devastated during and afterwards.

I prepared myself for a struggle to maintain composure, fighting imaginings of Nazi gas chambers and death row inmates strapped to tables.

But none of my imaginings manifested.

I was conflicted afterwards, experiencing an internal battle with my head telling me I was supposed to be sad and my heart unable to respond.

I questioned what was wrong with me that I didn’t feel what I was supposed to feel and had to analyze those questions.

It was sad when I imposed human values to the situation because I saw three lives snuffed out, something we as humans believe is wrong.

But by the same token, I wasn’t sad because both scenarios were conducted so professionally, so surgically, it was clinical.

I can never truly know what those animals were thinking, but I have seen my share of animals in pain and I know what that looks and sounds like.

I saw nothing, absolutely nothing in either method that indicated pain or suffering.

I saw confusion that led to fear in both methods and I saw discomfort drawn from foreign sensations as the dogs in both situations experienced the affects of the euthanasia, but I saw no pain.

I have analyzed it and analyzed it in the days since and have concluded that though the dogs in the gas floundered and experienced panic, at least in the case of the aggressive pit bull it was still a far cry less than the anxiety he would have felt being held by a human during those final seconds.

The second dog killed in the chamber had a family out there somewhere and he was probably a better candidate for lethal injection and might have found comfort from human contact, but in the end it didn’t really matter because he went so fast.

None of the three had the ability to work through the logical sequences of what happened as the poisons entered their bodies and I was left with the conclusion that the element of human contact at the end was for the humans, not the animals.

Drawn from some need to assuage the guilt and process the sorrow of death, but not for the animals themselves. 

Websters - Humane: marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals 2: characterized by or tending to broad humanistic culture

The bottom line is fast and without pain. The only negative component that could have been eliminated from all three deaths was those seconds where each dog had to wonder what was happening. 

For an animal that fears humans, the greatest compassion a human can show is to limit contact, criteria met by the gas chamber.

I have heard arguments’ implying the gas chamber is torturous, that the animals suffer. I have to disagree.

It has also been argued that I only saw what they wanted me to see.

I will concede, they were in control of the situation and I was their guest, so yes, I saw what they designed.

And I will admit I expected they would show me a pit bull. Not for any nefarious reason, but because it is more palatable on some level to put down an animal that has the appearance of a dangerous villain.

So I asked to witness a second dog being put down.

And the dog Capt. Ron Hutchison had them go get was a beautiful white Great Pyrenees mix that I had pet as we walked through the kennels.

He was sweet and responsive. His only crime was that he had shown aggression to his family’s young children. 

But he was no monster.

Once they put the dogs in the chamber, the humans were not in control of how they responded to the gas. If the dogs shook, convulsed, bled or cried out in pain, they couldn’t prevent me from seeing it.

But they were confident in the process and confident they were not causing undue pain.

And that confidence proved correct.

What I was left with was the understanding that they have a system that is fast, efficient and painless.

For many the concept of fast and efficient killing is troublesome – wrong in fact.

Well morally, perhaps it is.

But those are the cards they have been dealt.

This community has handed its animal control department a coffee straw and asked them to fit a golf ball through it.

And they are expected to do it with no force or strain.

From what I saw, they have met that challenge.

Those dogs walk into that chamber often bathed, with a belly full of food and many times after a few days of the most loving human contact they have ever experienced. It could be argued that they die better than they ever lived.

I was told that people come and drop off dogs, citing lack of time, money or loss of control over the animal. And within days, those same people return, shopping for a replacement animal.

It seems easy to conclude which group of humans takes the most humane approach to these animals.

If an animal meets criteria that makes it a poor candidate for gas, then an alternate solution should be available.

I’m not going to digress into moral perspective or right and wrong on this issue but I will reiterate, I saw no pain, I saw no torture, I saw no cruelty.

And if neither method creates undue pain for the animals, then logic dictates an evaluation of the affect to the humans tasked with the chore, because humane applies to them as well.

Riddle:

Alamogordo animal control reported they take in about 3,000 animals a year and euthanize 1,200 using lethal injection. They have an aggressive adoption program, they said.

So their intake is on a par with Clovis at 3,802, yet they euthanized a little more than 1,200 while Clovis euthanized 2457.

But if the intake numbers are still high, does that mean the problem is just re-cycling from year to year? Does this mean the animals are just embroiled in a perpetual cycle of shelter-adoption-breeding-shelter-adoption?

The only difference in this scenario seems to be the number of animals killed.

It seems the problem remains unsolved, because the problem, in the interest of humane treatment of animals, is not how they die, but how they live.

U.S. officials announced last week that they might have to start euthanizing wild mustangs in the American west because there are too many of them. There are approximately 33,000 wild mustangs living in 10 western states and the government wants that number reduced to 27,000. The proposed solution is to kill the 6,000 unwanted animals.

There is already a system in place to capture, or roundup these wild horses and the captured animals are made available for adoption.

But officials have reported the ranches where the captured animals are held can’t afford to sustain them and they aren’t being adopted at the rates needed to successfully thin herd numbers.

My childhood was greatly influenced by stories of these magnificent animals, the descendants of Spanish warhorses roaming the heart of our country.

To me they possessed something distantly intangible but deeply beautiful and unique.

Freedom – pure, unadulterated freedom. A remnant of a time long passed.

The train, the automobile and the airplane. Cities and suburbs and pavement as far as the eye can see. Lights blocking the stars, covering the sky…

For every thing we create to cushion our lives and make them easier, more convenient and efficient, the wild mustangs are a reminder that we distance ourselves from the very freedom we seek.

As we drive our patterned course to work each day with our windows up, cruising around in little bubbles of advanced isolation, I have to admit I find comfort in knowing that somewhere, not far away, a horse stands unbridled on a mountain with the wind stirring it’s mane. I imagine that it looks out over the expansive heartland and ponders which way to guide the herd today, which way to run.

I find comfort in knowing that as we humans become slaves to our pursuit of freedom, somewhere one of these wild creatures exists as a reminder that freedom is real.

The pragmatist in me battles the idealist as I weigh this issue.

Of course there are limits, even to freedom.

To quote Janis Joplin, “freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”

As long as land has boundaries and limits, the mustang’s freedom too has limits.

Therefore an unfortunate consequence is that some must lose their freedom so that others may remain free.

Hence the adoption option.

To become the beast of burden for a human certainly is a far cry from freedom but perhaps better than death.

So here is my question.

Why aren’t they being adopted?

I hope the horse people out there will educated me on this point because I really want to understand.

For those of you who read regularly, you know that with the exception of my short time with Midnight the jackass, I have not had the pleasure of owning a horse and aside from the handful of years I spent at formal English riding schools, I have but loved from afar and so I recognize my knowledge on this topic is limited.

I read the adoption requirements for mustangs and on the surface it seems doable enough if you have the resources. Here are some of the basics:

• be at least 18 years of age (Parents or guardians may adopt a wild horse or burro and allow younger family members to care for the animal.);
• have no prior conviction for inhumane treatment of animals or for violations of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act;
• demonstrate that you have adequate feed, water, and facilities to provide humane care for the number of animals requested; and,
• show that you can provide a home for the adopted animal in the United States.
• You must provide a minimum of 400 square feet (20 feet x 20 feet) for each animal adopted. Until fence broken, adult horses need to be maintained in an enclosure at least 6 feet high; burros in an enclosure at least 4.5 feet high; and horses less than 18 moths old in an enclosure at least 5 feet high. 
• You may adopt up to four wild horses or burros within a 12-month period. However, you may seek permission from the BLM to adopt more than four, in which case the agency requires additional verification of facilities and compliance checks. Though you may adopt more than four in a 12-month period, you can receive title to only four adopted animals within that period.
• The minimum or base adoption fee for each wild horse or burro is $125. Mares and jennies (female burros) adopted with their unweaned foal are $250. 

OK, this doesn’t seem impossible. Perhaps not entirely easy, but to a person who really wants to do it, it is feasible.

So here are my questions:

·         Why aren’t more people adopting these horses?

·         Is there some roadblock within the system that isn’t immediately obvious?

·         Are these horses not trainable or unreliable in captivity?

·         Is it easier to pay hundreds or even thousands for a trained animal than it is to take on the task of breaking a wild horse?

Check it out for yourself and please give me some feedback because I really want to understand why more of these horses aren’t adopted.

How to adopt: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/adoption_of_wild_horses/how_to_adopt.html

 Adoption schedule:

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/events.html

Internet adoptions:

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/adoption_of_wild_horses/internet_adoption.html

Years later dressing animals is all the rage and as I pass the rows at the store full of doggy cheerleader outfits and other costumes, I still feel these animals probably need to be rescued from the tortures perpetrated against them.

Now I will concede there is an array of gear on the market for working dogs to protect them from the elements or dangers on the job; vests, rain slickers, boots even back packs.

This makes sense to me, very practical…

Now I might be able to stretch my understanding to cover sweaters for cold, older or ill animals, horses wear blankets after all, but I don’t get the bows or the jewelry or the skirts or little suits.

So I asked a friend and coworker who owns a miniature pinscher, why she dresses him up. (Please note, he is the love of her life and she dotes on him).

I’m not sure if my curiosity is satisfied or if I am just more disturbed by the answers

Here’s what she said:

Q: “Why, why, why do you do this to your dog?”

A: Because I like the idea of having a baby but I don’t want the responsibility of a real one and because you can’t go out on a Saturday night and leave a baby with a bone and come home in the wee hours of the morning.

Q: What outfits do you have for him?

A: He has cowboy boots, casual T-shirts, a winter coat and some turtle necks and a really nice polo shirt. He looks AberCrombie when he wears it. Oh, and he has bling too, a studded metal collar just for show.

And then I do the unnecessary cruel stuff like antler ears, bunny ears, Santa hats… we really get into the holidays.

Q: Cowboy boots? Why?

A: We moved to Texas I wanted him to fit in.

Q: Does he hate it when you dress him up?

A: Yeah, he hates it and he runs away from me when he sees me bust out the clothes. He’s like “noo” and he runs away. He doesn’t like baths or clothes or shoes.

Q: Does your family think you’re crazy?

A: They think its cute. My mom she calls him her grand-baby. My little sister has doll clothes, I put a little apron on him. I think he likes the attention from my family.

Q: Why did you start this?

A: My best friend she has a little Chihuahua named Bitty. We both got into it together and her dog has PJs, a rain slicker, all kinds of stuff, and she’s the one that actually got us started. She would send us stuff.

Q: Why do you do it again?

A: Just to entertain me, we don’t go anywhere. I don’t dress him up right now though, it’s too hot.

Q: Does he avoid you?

A: No, that’s what’s great you can do the worst to them and it’s forgiven.

While the injuries were readily treated at the hospital, the family, through a wide email campaign, was imploring the owner of the animal to come forward with proof the animal had received rabies vaccinations so their son would not have to be subjected to injections on top of what he had already experienced.

Though I did not authenticate the story and if it was indeed true, I do not know what the outcome was, the scenario is frightening and likely one that repeats itself every time someone is bitten by a strange dog.

Here are some tips the CNJ received on preventing dog bites from the World Wide Pet Industry Association. Have a gander and share them with your kids so that with summer coming and more people heading outdoors, similar occurrences might be avoided.

How to Prevent Dog Bites

• Ask Before you Pet: Always ask pet owners before petting their dogs. Some dogs may not be properly socialized and may bite if a stranger pets them.

• Be Cautious: Avoid petting a dog if his hair is standing up. This usually is a sign the dog is angry or irritable and will not want to be touched.

• Manner Matters: Do not approach a dog from behind or make loud or abrupt movements when approaching it. Dogs do not like to be taken by surprise, especially by strangers.

• Use Common Sense: Stay away from dogs while they are eating or sleeping as they may be caught by surprise or become territorial.

• Educate Your Children: Most victims who require medical attention from dog bites are children and half of them have received bites to the face. To avoid a potentially deadly bite, teach your children the tips mentioned above and supervise their behavior around unfamiliar dogs.

How to Prevent Your Dog From Biting Others:

• Socialization: To have a dog that behaves itself in public, it is important to socialize your dog at an early age by exposing it to other people and animals.

• Training: Training for your dog is an important investment to make. Dogs that are trained are less likely to bite and learn how to behave properly. It is important that dog owners go through the training process with their dogs so they can continue to train them after the initial sessions.

• Practice Responsible Pet Care: For the safety of others, ensure your animal is properly vaccinated. Never teach your dog to attack or to chase others because he may get confused as to when this kind of behavior is appropriate. If your dog ever exhibits violent behavior, take him to training courses immediately.

• Use Discretion: If you are not sure how your dog will respond to a particular situation, leave him at home or keep him separated from guests who are visiting your home.

For more information on pet safety and articles relating to your pet, visit www.petsource.org.

While that might well increase their traffic, I dare say being able to see their fur balls while wearing your fuzzy slippers in the comfort of your own home 24/7 is a pretty good option too.

So forget the ride in the car and pull the family around the computer for a tour of the shelter at www.clovis.petfinder.com

When you find the snout you can’t live without, then you can all jump in the car and head down to meet them in person.

For example, here’s Luke…

A neutered, microchipped male husky with all his shots, Luke is one of many dogs listed on the site and available at the shelter.

“He is a very affectionate boy and will follow you just about anywhere. Luke loves to spend time with his people and really likes children. He is good with other dogs. Luke will probably not do well in a home with cats. He is crate-trained and appears to be house trained as he has had not had any accidents so far. He knows basic commands and is learning more every day. He is very trainable, as he wants very much to please his humans. Luke needs a home where he is not the only dog and where he will be a part of his human family as well.”

Animal Control Officer Larry Rogers said volunteers Cody Johnson and Deon Van Kuren come by the shelter every day to photograph new arrivals. He said Johnson, Van Kuren and Jonathan La Vine work to keep the listings current and accurate.

The photos are updated online daily with a description of the animals for the public to browse.

I discovered petfinder.com more than five years ago when I was searching for my stolen rats.

At that time the site was used primarily in larger cities as a connection point for finding adoptable critters.

I only learned in recent months the Clovis Animal Shelter submits listings to the site as well.

When we ran the first story about the wayward ferret and a story about small town animal control in the same day, we posted the link to the shelter’s listing and you, the readers must have seen it, because I got an email from La Vine today.

“I just saw the PetFinder stats for last month and there was a direct impact from the link that you placed on the CNJ site.

If the exposure that those animals got as a result of the stories that you wrote about the ferret led to even one adoption that would have not otherwise occurred, I believe that your time and effort was worth so much more than just a feel good story. Thank you so much for following this story as it progressed,” he said.

According to La Vine, the shelter’s site views increased by more than 300 the day the links were posted on our stories, and continued a steady increase over the following days while the ferret story was listed among our “Most Commented” stories.

Well here you go Jonathan, let’s see if anyone missed the link the first time around… www.clovis.petfinder.com

Grinning from ear to ear, he held the cage out as a group of school children from the Clovis Nazarene School and their chaperones swarmed around him so they could get a look at the newest zoo resident.

Their excitement and curiosity was matched by the small white weasel, which poked her nose out of the cage and examined the youngsters.

I could see immediately how much joy she brought the kids, and had no doubt she was loving it too.

While the children giggled and met the ferret nose-to-nose, the adults laughed and talked about the publicity the small mammal had caused.

“Snowball”, a female ferret found April 21 in a resident’s outdoor dog kennel, was delivered to the zoo after city officials were unable to determine who her owner was.

At least 6 people claimed to own her but none were able to provide any proof that she belonged to them, Martinez said.

Even more inquired about adopting her, Martinez estimated more than 100 people would have lined up for a chance to take her home, but officials were unable to make her available because her ownership was in question. Her predicament made her famous.

Newspapers as far away as the San Francisco Chronicle published her photo and her plight was featured in the CNJ and on the local evening news.

Clovis police Lt. Jim Schoeffel said Monday, the only fair thing to do was give her to the city zoo, to avoid turning her over to the wrong owner.

He established Wednesday as the deadline for proof of ownership, but none produced it.

Zookeeper Kathy Yanotti said the ferret will not be placed on display, but will instead be used as an educational animal.

The zoo keeps several animals in a facility at the back of the park for use in classrooms, presentations, or when groups tour the zoo.

I have visited this building a couple of times. Inside are several animals that are either hard to display or have other things going on, such as an armadillo that can climb or dig out of darn near anything, or Wally the alligator who outgrew his baby pool and is waiting for a new pond.

I also know the animals in there get a lot of attention from the zookeepers who come in and out throughout the day.

Snowball was taken from her travel cage by zookeeper Lisa Fox. As Fox exchanged “meows” and “quacks” with a parrot watching from a corner cage, she showed tenderness and affection for the elongated fur ball in her arms, gently stroking her head and tickling her nose.

A few minutes of exploring Fox’s shoulders, weaving in and out of her long ponytail, and she was introduced to her new cage.

A sweet, affectionate, mild-mannered critter, I have no doubts Snowball will get tons of attention if nothing more than for the simple fact she is hard to resist. I have been told I can come back and visit her, and I probably will.

It was a tough situation. Ideally, Snowball would have been reunited with her owner and returned to whatever home she slipped away from.But I have confidence she will be satisfied in her new life. Just look at all the people she has gotten to meet already!

I vowed I would not use this blog to preach because I think there is plenty of that already out there but I am going to address the issue of ferrets.

If I had to pick the two most underestimated animals found in most pet stores I would have to say they are ferrets and iguanas.

Both need copious amounts of time and energy and are probably way to easy to obtain.

And most people likely have little to no idea what they are purchasing.

When it comes to iguanas, they are most commonly sold as babies at about a foot long (with the tail) and will reach a size of five feet or more when grown, be very strong and if not handled properly, probably wont like you. 

But for now I am going to focus on ferrets.

This week, the subject of ferrets arose when a young female was found in a backyard dog kennel and taken to the Clovis Animal Shelter.

At last count, 6 people had come forward to claim her.

Now there are two ways of looking at this.

Either A: All but one is lying, trying to get a near free ferret, or B: All of them have truly lost their ferrets and genuinely believe the little girl at the shelter belongs to them.

Which leads to my point.

Ferrets by nature are curious and mischievous, always looking for nooks and cranies to explore.

I think anyone who has a ferret can testify to the reality of their ability to evade, elude and escape.

But therein lies the rub.

Ferrets are not really caged animals.

Sure, most people have cages for them because you would likely go insane trying to follow and keep a ferret safe in your house 24/7, but they need time out and about.

A lot of time out.It is recommended they be out of their cages a minimum of four hours a day and that should be quality time with their people.

Proportionately, most dogs and cats who are wandering the house freely, probably get ¼ of that a day if they’re lucky, and most can adapt.

But a ferret is a high energy, high maintenance animal.

Just in the time I was at the shelter to write my story, the ferret pooped on a filing cabinet, dug the dirt out of a plant and wove her way  behind multiple desks and filing cabinets. 

Trust me, I think their adorable but I know I am not ready for one…One look at the number of ferret rescue organizations out there (a Google search for “ferret rescue” returns 128,000 hits) can attest to the fact people buy them and quickly realize they are in over their heads.

And breeders have begun the practice of sterilizing them before they are sold to reduce populations and homeless ferrets.

We are lucky in Clovis that ferrets at the shelter are uncommon.

But this week alone I have been told of two lost ferret ads that are out there and one found ferret ad beyond the female in question, so they are obviously kept as pets by a number of residents.

Bottom line is this:Do some research on theses guys before you fall in love with their cute faces and friendly personalities.

Be prepared to ferret proof your home, take it to the vet and spend hours a day with it.

And for Pete’s sake, take a photo of yourself with your ferret, get it microchipped (there is at least one vet in Clovis who will implant ferrets with microchips) or get it tattooed so that when, not if, it slips through a crack in the door, you have a better chance of getting it back.

Walking to my car, I stepped over a puddle from the recent rain. As I looked down, I saw a bird egg resting in a crack on the sidewalk.

Gently, I nudged it with the tip of my boot and it rolled awkwardly, revealing a broken underside.

I looked towards the building, surmising the rain had somehow worked the egg loose from the roof and washed it down the gutter.

Tsk-tsking, I suddenly had a flash-back to a couple days before…

“Sharna do you have a gun?” I hear my boss bellow from his office.

“Excuse me?” I respond.

“I said do you have a gun,” he asks again.

At this point I am making faces from behind my partition, as if pushing my eyebrows together and scrunching my cheeks will somehow bring me enlightenment.

Is this one of his infamous trick questions? I wonder, rising to my feet.

As I peek around his doorway I respond, “Not with me.”

“What do you need a gun for?” I ask as I anchor myself against the door frame.

“Do you hear that?” he says, pointing at the ceiling.

Now at this point I have heard nothing but the flurry of my own perplexed curiosity bouncing around in my skull, but decide I’ll play along.

“Hear what?” I ask slowly.

“That,” he points to the ceiling again, a strange grin on his face.

Still clueless, I determine I have unwittingly walked into one of his snares.

“I don’t hear anything.”

“There’s a bird in there. It’s driving me crazy,” he says, pointing above his head.

“A bird?”

“It must be nesting in the ducts and it is making noise all the time. I can’t believe you don’t hear it,” he explains.

I have to admit I was relieved… for a second.

“And you want me to shoot it?” I ask.

“I don’t bring guns to work, it’s against company policy. And I’m not going to shoot a bird in the air ducts,” I explain.

Then I come up with an idea.

“Well if he’s just moving in, why don’t you try annoying him, maybe he’ll decide the neighborhood sucks and go somewhere else,” I suggested with a smile.

“I think I will go up on the roof and see if I can get him out,” he says distractedly as I back out of his office…

I don’t think he ever made it to the roof, but he stopped complaining about the noise.

Looking at the broken egg, I wondered how long it would take for him to notice the silence.

Ah well, nature abhors a vacuum.

In no time another bird will see an opening in the roof and decide to build again.

Besides, it’s kind of funny when the boss has birds in the ceiling.

The first clue I had that I might have trouble fitting in the southwest was in 1994 when passing through Amarillo.

A huge billboard rose above the edge of an overpass greeting me with an oversized picture of a juicy hot dog.

Underneath were the words “Vegetarians can eat the bun”.

“Oh boy,” I thought, suddenly understanding I was in beef country.

And that’s pretty much what I have done at every social gathering I’ve attended over the years.

Oh it hasn’t just been buns, there have been chips and dip, potato salad, fruit salad… Sometimes I’ll get lucky and feast on macaroni or spaghetti.

It’s OK, I don’t mind in the slightest.

Often people sympathetically try to come up with alternatives, special entrees or they start scrambling through the fridge looking for non-meat offerings.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “I’m used to eating the bun.”

Sometimes they even graciously throw a couple veggie burgers on the grill next to the real burgers and dogs.

Politely I gnaw on the dried out little patties, smiling and imagining myself slipping the psuedo meat behind my back to the dog, but knowing he probably wouldn’t eat it and then I’ll have some explaining to do.

People take a multitude of positions on my diet ranging from “I will convert you” to curiosity. Some people are even threatened, assuming I must have a political or ethical reason for being a vegetarian and I am going to preach to them.

I have seen and heard just about all of it and encountered a rainbow of attitudes and opinions regarding my diet.

To address this, I have created my own personal FAQs list to refer people to when I get the inevitable questions. So here it is…

Frequently asked questions:

Q: So you eat fish and chicken then, right?

A: This one is my favorite. I have been asked this more times than I can count, even by educated people. No I don’t eat fish and chicken because it is meat.

I don’t eat meat. I don’t eat chicken or beef broth, I don’t like to “pull the pepperoni of the pizza” and if I ask if there is “meat” in the beans what I want to know is if they were cooked with a big ol’ hambone.

There are two kinds of vegetarians. Vegans do not consume any meat or animal products. That means no milk, no cheese, and no eggs… I can’t understand this any better than meat eaters can understand my choice because I love cheese. Not to fond of milk, but I cook with it and I also eat eggs. That makes me an Ovo-lacto vegetarian. We eat dairy and eggs. There is no category of vegetarian that just eats white meat or just fish. That is not a vegetarian, it’s a low-cholesterol diet, but not vegetarian.

Easy rule of thumb: If it was ever self motivated, meaning it walked, crawled, swam, flew, jumped, slithered or was born (or hatched) with the ability to get from A to B of its own accord, I don’t eat it.

Q: Have you ever eaten meat?

A: No, I have never in my life intentionally eaten meat. Now I have occasionally encountered a jokester who sneaks a chunk of hamburger in my food or had a piece of bacon end up in my omelet at a restaurant. If I smell or see evidence of meat in my food, I pick it out. I have even resorted to telling servers I am allergic to meat because if you tell them you are a vegetarian they have the “Oh, so you just don’t want to eat meat” attitude. It’s not that I just don’t want to, its that I don’t, period.

Q: How could you go your whole life without eating a big juicy steak?

A: Well, when was the last time you ate an artichoke? I don’t know how, I just don’t eat meat. My parents raised me to be a vegetarian. This has been my lifestyle since before I had conscious thought. I don’t miss it, I don’t crave it and I really don’t even find it appealing.

Q: Why did your parents raise you a vegetarian, were they hippies?

A: No, they weren’t hippies. They were actually at least the second generation of vegetarians in my family. It is a decision they made based on religious convictions. In the Bible, it is said God created man and animal to live together in harmony without fear of one another. The Bible also addresses clean and unclean meats and there are several instances where God showed displeasure at the needless killing of animals. Because my parents believed God never intended for humans to eat animals and there were potential health concerns with meat consumption they took the “if you don’t have to why should you” approach and wallah… I’m a vegetarian.

Q: Are you a vegetarian because you are an animal rights activist?

A: No. I love animals and wish I could say there is an ethical reason I chose to be a vegetarian but my parents get credit for that choice. Of course at a certain point I had the ability to override my parents decision, but I have never wished to eat meat.

Truth be told I do have a hard time with the thought of eating another living creature. And I think the mass industry of growing animals for food has to affect nature’s balance on some level. Eating meat traditionally has been a status symbol. A poor family sure as heck isn’t going to eat the chicken that gives them eggs or the cow that provides the milk but a wealthy person can afford to slaughter excess animals. I believe over the years meat consumption has increased through the growth of a stronger middle class and meat has become a dietary staple expected for every meal and snack, but it wasn’t always that way. And I do think higher (excessive) meat consumption is part of an increasingly self-serving and self-indulgent society. Does that mean I am going to throw red paint on someone eating a burger? Absolutely not. Ideally we would all think about the affect our choices have on the world we live in but that is an ideal…

Combining all that with the natural revulsion I have for the smell, look and taste of meat, I might have chosen this path for myself anyway and I thank my parents for the choice they made. My brother, on the other hand was raised the same as me and eats selective meats on rare occassions  now as an adult and my parents have added some meats to their diets over the years, so I think it is an individual choice.

Q: So you’re like a health nut and eat tofu and salads, right?

A: I have eaten meat substitutes and there are some that are good and some that are really not good, but it is not a primary part of my diet. In general I eat just like everybody else. I don’t eat anymore “rabbit food” than anyone else. At one local restaurant I refuse to say the words “wabbit platter” when I order the vegetable plate because it just feels too humiliating. Besides, I’ve never seen a rabbit eat a baked potato with cheese and butter and sour cream on it.

Foods from other cultures seem far more accommodating than American cuisine (which is mostly meat based). Italian, Mexican, Indian and Asian foods are easily adapted to a vegetarian diet. I use a ton of butter, cheese, oils, salt and I eat like a horse. If I read a nutrition label, I could care less about calories or fat, I am looking at the ingredients to make sure there’s no lard or chicken or beef or whatever in the food. For example, did you know Worshteshire sauce has anchovies in it and prepackaged pie crusts; biscuits and tater tots usually have lard in them?

Q: So what do you eat?

A: I covered most of this in the last question, but I eat what you eat just minus the meat. If you have spaghetti and meatballs, I have spaghetti with marinara. If you have beef enchiladas, I have cheese. If you have shrimp alfredo and linguine at the local seafood restaurant, I have linguine alfredo.

Q: So that must be why you’re so skinny?

A: I doubt it. If you believe the Adkins diet philosophy, I should be obese and I have known plenty of overweight vegetarians. I’m betting it has more to do with metabolism and genetics.

Q: So how do you get protein and iron? You must be anemic…

A: I get it from the same place the cow got it; I just don’t eat the middleman. Dark leafy vegetables, grains and other food items have iron and even protein in them. Beans, nuts, dairy products and eggs are also a good source of protein. A bean burrito, peanut butter sandwich, cheese sandwich or even egg salad is a fine substitute for a meat entrée. I’m not anemic, never have been. I actually had a nutritionist tell me once my children would have diminished brain function if they didn’t have meat in their diets. Setting aside the personal insult, I hope the people in India (Hindus are vegetarians as are Buddhists) don’t find this out because right now they think they are world contenders in the information technology industry.

Q: Why would you raise your kids to be vegetarians if it’s not an ethical thing?

A: I love my kids and wanted to give them a conscientious diet to begin with, knowing they will ultimately make the choice themselves. I believe it is probably easier to add something to your diet than to remove something. I also believe the vegetarian diet forces you to evaluate what you’re eating because you often have to eat a combination of things to get what you would in meat but you do not have the down side of the cholesterol and fat and higher likelihood of bacterial and viral contamination or spoilage. I do not believe everybody in the world should run out and become vegetarians but I do see issues with the consumption of meat and wanted my kids to have a solid foundation for evaluating their diets, even if they add meat later. I’m giving them the same foundation for choice my parents gave me.

Q: So you must not like to be around people eating meat?

A: I guess if you were to bite the head off a live puppy in my presence I would have a problem, but otherwise do your thing. I know how to cook meat, not real keen on squeezing bloody hamburger in my bare hands, but I can handle it. In high school my stepfather made fun of me because I was a vegetarian so I went and got a job in a steakhouse to prove to him and myself I could handle and be around meat. I don’t judge people for their diet choices, return the favor and it’s all good…

It started when I was told about a video regarding the state of animals in Clovis and Portales posted on YouTube in response to the (now locally infamous) “Boycott Clovis” video.

Then this weekend I was among a group who descended on the home of a friend to welcome her new weenie dog that she adopted from the animal shelter.

We ended up having a discussion about the domestic animals roaming the streets of Clovis. “People here just don’t care about their animals”, one woman said.

I disagree because I know a lot of people that care very much.

I think there is a misconception that rural people don’t love their animals. Not only do I think that’s untrue, I think the problem in Clovis is not a “rural” problem in the true definition.

Many rural people love their animals; their view is just more pragmatic than those in more urban areas. That doesn’t necessarily mean they mistreat or disregard their animals.

I think the finer point is there are people here that don’t see pet owner responsibility through from beginning to end, and those people contribute dramatically to stray populations.

There is a segment of the population who seem to take on pets out of some romantic or idealized notion without the ability or capability of following through. And for whatever reason, it appears to be a large segment.

They either don’t have or don’t take the time to train and cultivate their animals and when the animal behaves like an animal, they lose interest.

But we see the same dynamic with people who marry for the wrong reasons and contribute to high divorce rates, people who have children when they aren’t ready or aren’t fit parents…

The bottom line is ignorance and immaturity. The results are ugly.

Before you know it, what was a cute, fuzzy little puppy is now a vagrant mongrel running the streets. (Or a marriage descends into violence, or juvenile delinquents and lost souls enter society.)

In our discussion, one woman suggested the city needs to develop stringent pet licensing ordinances, referencing the state of New York, where she said law enforcement actually look in back yards and knock on doors to verify pet licenses and immunizations.

It’s a great thought, but how will Clovis enforce more ordinances without more personnel? I asked.

I proceeded to tell how I sit at work everyday with a scanner beside me. The three animal control officers in Clovis account for the vast majority of radio traffic throughout the day. Their transmissions seem more frequent than the 50-some police officers and four fire departments put together, I said. It’s gotten to where I can even identify their voices.

Maybe they just use their radios more than the others to converse, but it seems like those guys are hopping nonstop with dog bite, injured and abused, stray and other animal calls.

Looking at the statistics in the annual police report for 2007, animal control responded to 3,780 calls last year.

That averages out to more than 10 calls a day. With three officers, (assuming nobody takes a day off) that is almost four calls each per day, and actually it’s more, because they don’t have a fulltime weekend staff.

And we have to look at what a call involves. It could be just checking to be sure an animal has food and water or it could be three hours chasing a vicious dog through the streets to prevent injury to the public.

I am not going to hazard an opinion as to whether these guys do their job well or not and I am not going to presume to know if they could be more or less efficient.

What I will say is based on the numbers they seem pretty busy.

Based on that, it doesn’t really surprise to me to think enforcing animal ordinances in Clovis would be reactive as opposed to proactive.

The topic of euthanization came up in our discussion, which surprisingly, we all agreed on. As much as one might value life, you have to be practical about it. There aren’t enough suitable homes for them all.

Ideally the greater majority of dogs and cats would be spayed or neutered, but they aren’t.

I remember a while back the CNJ did the “Tale of three dogs” video series, following two dogs and a litter of pups through the animal shelter process. In the final segment the two dogs had homes and the puppies were put down.

I had the inside scoop on it, I knew the puppies were doomed. But right alongside people in the community, I watched and I cried. I wanted to go “save” them but believed it had to run its course.

Maybe there should be a discussion on the issue of animals in our community, or maybe we just keep doing what we’re doing. Perhaps it’s not a problem at all.