Today I'm thinking about my heroes who are, or were, active in the fight to rescue or protect animals.
When I think about my heroes who fight for animals, or who seek to better understand and thus protect them, these are the top 13 names (in no particular order) that come to mind:
- Dame Jane Goodall, PhD, is considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. Her pioneering studies of the social and family interactions of chimpanzees in Tanzania began in the 1960s. Today, at age 84, she travels the world speaking about conservation and animal welfare issues. www.janegoodall.org
- Dame Daphne Sheldrick is the late founder of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Nairobi, Kenya. Her organization continues to rescue and care for orphaned elephants, raising them until they can be released to live in the wild. www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org
- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, known as the Notorious RBG, the court's most liberal justice and a long-time advocate of women's rights
- The Kenyan men who are responsible for the daily care of the orphaned elephants, feeding them, watching over them, and sleeping in the stockades with them are so committed to the care of the traumatized babies.
- Iain Douglas-Hamilton, PhD, CBE, has been studying elephants in Tanzania and Kenya for more than 50 years. In 1993, he founded the Save the Elephants organization that supports research, education and anti-poaching initiatives. I have been honored to meet Iain a couple of times, and he joined us for dinner one night. www.savetheelephants.org
- Saba Douglas-Hamilton, Iain's daughter, is a well known wildlife conservationist and documentary film maker and public speaker in her own right. I know Saba from her time as manager of Elephant Watch Camp.
- Dian Fossey, PhD, was an American primatologist and conservationist best known for her studies of mountain gorillas. She was murdered in her research camp in Rwanda.
- Theresa Strader founded National Mill Dog Rescue in 2007 to rescue unwanted dogs from puppy mills. To date, the organization has rescued more than12,000 dogs. www.milldogrescue.org
- Jeff Young, DVM, is the founder of Planned Pethood Plus. He and his staff operate a veterinary clinic in Denver, Colorado, that provides veterinary services to all, regardless of ability to pay. They also visit other countries to hold free spay/neuter clinics, as well as donating veterinary services to a variety of wildlife rescue organizations.
- The Black Mambas, an all-female anti-poaching team, protects South Africa's fragile rhinoceros population through a boots-on-the-ground approach. The group also sponsors the Bush Babies environmental education program. www.blackmambas.org
- Steve Irwin and family. He was killed by a stingray barb to the chest in 2006, but his wife and two children are carrying on his wildlife conservation work. They continue to operate the Australia Zoo. www.australiazoo.com.au
- Michelle Oakley, DVM, is a Canadian-American veterinarian based in Haines Junction, Yukon. She treats animals from eagles to musk ox to dogs, cats and pigs in Alaska and in Canada's huge Yukon Territory.
- Jennifer Smith is the founder of Noah's Arks animal rescue in South Carolina. The organization provides emergency medical, surgical and rehabilitation to abused dogs. www.noahs-arks.net
If you're not familiar with some of these people, I invite you to learn about them and the wonderful work they are doing (or did until the time of their deaths).
- stay inside in my warm pajamas and bath robe on a cold winter day. It sounds good, but sadly, it isn't something I ever do unless I'm really sick. I have dogs to walk, and I've never been someone to spend the day lounging.
- donate more to the many causes I support. Today is "Giving Tuesday," and my Facebook feed is filled with reminders to donate. I do what I can, but how I wish I could donate so much more. There are so many worthy causes that touch my heart.
- feel hopeful that humans will come to their senses and start caring about the environment and the animals that share this planet with us.
- learn not to hate cold weather so much.
- spend more time doing the things I love and less time doing the things I need to do
- increase traffic to my photography page (www.annsullivan.zenfolio.com)
- sleep more soundly (although I sleep a lot better than I did in the past)
- bring myself to really start learning Lightroom and Photoshop
- eat less popcorn and more vegetables!
- believe that people and governments will begin to do what is necessary to save the planet
Hate is a strong, very negative emotion.
I was taught not to hate anybody. I might not like this person or that person, but it's wrong to actually hate somebody, right? I might have a strong dislike of certain people or organizations, but hate? No, I didn't hate anybody ... until the current administration took power. Now, I confess, I do hate.
- I hate what this administration has done to my country in two years. It has made the racial, economic and class divides much worse.
- It has emboldened racists and fascists.
- It has weakened or removed environmental protections that have given us clean water and air and helped protect us from toxins.
- It is working to gut the Endangered Species Act.
- It is working to reduce the size of national parks and national monuments, and to allow extractive businesses such as mining on protected public lands.
- The person occupying the White House is a pathological liar who seems incapable of telling the truth.
- He's a con man and a hypocrite.
- He tries to use the federal government to go after his political enemies and others who have been "mean" or "unfair" (two of his favorite complaints) to him.
- He convinced 81 percent of white evangelical Christians that he is one of them and that they should vote for him, despite his history of numerous extramarital affairs, three marriages, constant lies, failure to pay those who did work for him, and crude comments about women.
- He appears to believe that he is above the law. He fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates because she determined that his executive order banning people from several predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US was unconstitutional. He fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions because he refused to act to stop the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion with Russia by Trump and his campaign.
- He insulted Sen. John McCain, who spent 5 years in a Vietnamese prison after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War.
- He
has offended and insulted America's staunchest friends and allies, insulting the
leaders of the United Kingdom, Mexico, France, Germany and Canada, among
others.
- He mocked a disabled reporter in front of thousands of people, then denied it.
- He praised a Republican for body slamming a reporter.
- He clearly admires several of the world's dictators, including Russia's Putin and North Korea's Kim Jung Un.
- He disrespects federal judges who dare to disagree with his decisions.
- His endless trips to his golf resorts have so far cost US taxpayers some $73 million dollars.
- He insulted the Khan family, whose son died while fighting for this country.
- He verbally attacked the US Navy admiral who oversaw the mission that killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.
- Security
costs to protect his adult children when they travel on family business and vacations have cost US taxpayers millions of
dollars. A single ski vacation for Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and their
families cost nearly $330,000. And that is just for ONE trip!
- Several of his cabinet members have been caught taking advantage of their positions for financial gain.
- The
lack of expertise among his cabinet appointees is stunning. Education
secretary Betsy DeVos has never attended a public school, nor have her
children. She is trying her best to force public schools to become
'Christian' schools. EPA chief Scott Pruitt was at the time of his
appointment suing the EPA.
- He calls opponents and anyone who dares to oppose him insulting names. That is something a 3-year-old would do.
So yes, I do hate everything this president and this administration stand for. I hate what they have done, and continue to do, to this country. Although disappointed that the Democrats were unable to take control of the Senate, at least they now have a majority in the House. More women than ever will serve in Congress, including the first two Native American women and the first Somali woman.
Change will be slow, but change is coming. Until there is a fundamental shift in the political process, in the attitude and honesty of politicians (who need to start doing what they are supposed to do -- represent the average American) and in the attitudes of the American public, all we can do is continue to resist, to stand for what is just and for what is right, and to remain vigilant.
Send money. Give money. Donate now. Give the gift that matters. Year-end matching gift opportunity.
Surprise! It's the holiday season, and the deluge of appeals for money has started. I'm getting appeals in my mail box and e-mails seeking donations in my inbox. Facebook, too, is filled with reminders that Tuesday, Nov. 27, is "Giving Tuesday." And now there are lots of online appeals for donations to help those in California impacted by the wildfires. How do we know which are legitimate requests and which are scams?
I get it. I really do. The need is great. Non-profit organizations need money to operate and carry out their good works. I worked for a non-profit organization for 8 years in California. I'm a pretty generous person. I donate to a variety of causes. But enough is enough. I'm still getting regular appeals in the mail from an organization to which I donated ONCE 20 to 25 years ago! How much money has this organization wasted with its ongoing appeals about some "emergency" in this or that part of the world to someone who hasn't donated a dime to it in a quarter century?
Non-profits are so persistent that I now refuse to donate to any organization to which I haven't previously donated. The reason is simple: I don't want to end up on a mailing list, or an e-mail list, or to have my personal information sold to still other non-profits.
Predictions are that last year's changes in the tax laws will make it harder for people to itemize their charitable donations when they file their 2018 taxes. That means that donations are likely to decrease. Fewer donations means more pressure on the non-profits to raise necessary funds. And that may well translate into still more pressure on donors to contribute.
I don't want to be a Scrooge this holiday season. I still will donate, whether the donations are deductible or not. But I don't appreciate the constant 'reminders' for more money. Here are a few suggestions for non-profits.
- Please stop trying to disguise your requests for money as surveys or questionnaires. You're not fooling anybody, so just say you need money to do this or that project or to help this group of people or animals.
- Don't send me requests for money to provide Thanksgiving meals for the homeless when it's barely August!
- When you send me a thank-you letter or receipt for my latest donation, DO NOT include a form and envelope for another donation! That makes you seem greedy and unappreciative.
- So, too, does the not-so-subtle technique of filling in possible donation amounts, with the smallest amount listed being greater than my previous donation. If I give $25, the next donation form will start with $35, with the 'other' box being at the end (i.e., the highest). I know these tricks, and they don't work on me.
When I worked for 8 years for a large California humane society, some people would complain about the fact that employees were actually paid to work there. I was making $12,000/year, and I was one of the higher paid employees. Apparently employees who work for non-profits are supposed to work for free. Sadly, grocery stores don't hand out free groceries to those who work for non-profit organizations. Now we have CEOs of large national non-profit organizations being paid millions of dollars. For example, the CEO of Goodwill brings home $2.3 million each year. The CEO of the American Red Cross is paid $500,000. The CEO of the Salvation Army, by contrast, is paid just $13,000 per year. Quite a difference!
So when you get those piles of requests for donations to various charities this holiday season, please do a bit of investigating before you write that check or donate online. www.charitynavigator.org is a good place to start. After all, you want your donations to go where they will do the most good, not to fund a lavish lifestyle for the CEO.
Television commercials already are bleating about "the perfect gift."
Is it that $70,000 SUV? Or perhaps it's a diamond tennis bracelet? Or something else the buyer can't really afford.
I don't have anyone in my family for whom to buy holiday gifts. There is nothing I need or want, and I have spent the past couple of years getting rid of unwanted books, CDs, shoes, clothes and various household goods. This week I donated a chair and a microwave. Last month I donated a down jacket, a dressy wool coat, a 7' artificial Christmas tree and two large boxes of lights and ornaments, and a 55" Sony television.
I have two good friends who love coffee. So when my travels take me to a coffee-producing country, I buy each of them a bag of coffee beans. So far they have received beans from Ethiopia, Brazil, Tanzania, Kenya, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. I don't need a special holiday to buy coffee for my friends. I buy it, and give it, whenever I happen to be in one of the countries known for its coffee production.
Coffee beans are "the perfect gift" for these friends because they both love coffee. I couldn't even begin to figure out something else to buy that would show how much I value their friendship. Both also really love their dogs, so treats for the dogs are other "perfect gifts." And both like to cook with spices, so I have bought them spices from Turkey, Morocco and Tanzania.
That "perfect gift" doesn't have to cost $70,000. Maybe it can be something thoughtful yet inexpensive. Perhaps a gift of homemade food? I have a friend who loves my homemade fudge and cookies. How about a meal together, or a day trip to a favorite place? One friend who loves dogs is receiving a card noting that a donation has been made in her name to an organization that funds research in health issues that impact animals. Another friend is getting a one-of-a-kind photo calendar with images I took during our trip to Brazil this past summer.
The older I get, the more I resist the push to buy "the perfect gift" when that gift is a) expensive and b) often unwanted. I want whatever gifts I give to be personal, not some off-the-shelf, mass produced item. I want them to show that I have put thought into the gifts, rather than just ordering something online.
So this year, let your search for "the perfect gift" lead you not to the mall or to an online shop, but to your heart.
I love photography, and I love sharing my photographs with others.
I also love elephants, and I am very concerned about the survival of this amazing species. To that end, I am selling custom, made-to-order wall calendars, with 100% of the proceeds being donated to the Elephant Crisis Fund (www.elephantcrisisfund.org)
Each calendar features a different full page (8-1/2x11 inches), full-color photograph each month. (The picture to the right shows the calendar page for January 2019).
Through Nov. 27, the cost
for each calendar is just $20, domestic shipping and sales tax included. These are not mass-produced calendars. You get to choose the subject of the calendar from the possibilities below.
elephants
bears (grizzly and polar)
trees
landscapes
silhouettes
birds
bison
Yellowstone
Utah's natural beauty
big cats (lions, leopards, cheetahs in any combination)
American wildlife
African wildlife
scenes from the American Southwest
sunrises/sunsets
African wildlife
Yosemite
Or you can mix and match images from any of the categories above.
Payment is accepted via PayPal. Calendars will be delivered in about a week from the day they are ordered.
