11/20/07 How Would Your Dog Vote?
Having addressed the politicians, Animal Friends is now turning to the voters
Animal Friends wishes to appeal to the voters to ask themselves who would be the political choice of their dog or cat, or any other companion animal that is in their care. Cows, pigs, and hens in the death camps certainly would vote for nobody, given the position that they have been brought into, but those citizens who are aware of the importance of ethical development in the society and the survival of all forms of life on this planet should give their votes to those politicians who think ahead – further than just the next four years.
Animal Friends reminds the citizens of Croatia that they should ask themselves which political party would really do something in the next mandate in order to: shorten the transitional period until the complete prohibition of breeding animals for fur, prohibit the selling of dog and cat fur, abolish experiments on primates, ban dog races and keeping dogs on chain, and work on the improvement of laws in order to achieve greater animal protection and animal welfare, regardless of the EU directives.
Vote for someone who will do something so that the Animal Protection Act becomes more than a dead letter and who will ensure that animal abusers and those who abandon animals should be duly punished; someone who will promote the construction of animal shelters, outlaw animal trade, and increase the number of adopted animals for the benefit of the entire society.
Voters should also ask themselves who will stop the tyranny and arbitrary cruelty of hunters, who will discourage those who view hunting as a form of sport or tourism, who will endorse proper protection of wild animals and their habitations and help develop eco-tourism, without forgetting those animals who are serving their life sentences in zoos.
Animal Friends is of the opinion that citizens should give their votes to the party that will introduce educational programs on animal rights, on sustainable nutrition and lifestyle into primary and secondary schools, instead of hiding from children and youth the information that might save them and the world from the cataclysm that threatens us because of neglecting our duties towards other animal species and the environment.
It is in the voters' power to force the politicians to start working seriously on the solution to these problems. In this way, our society will develop an ethical and ecological awareness that will make us a community inclined to non-cruelty and showing respect for all living beings.
Therefore, Animal Friends sends a message to the citizens: Do not support those parties or politicians that have shown themselves indifferent towards cruelty against animals or careless about their rights. Give your vote to those that will show their awareness and willingness with respect to that basic and increasingly urgent question – our attitude towards animals.
