Illustration Friday: Round

Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary: Ian and Simone

(image pulled from the peaceful prairieblogspot)

A beautiful true story of loneliness, love and loss between Ian, the turkey and Simone, the hen at the Peaceful Prairie farm sanctuary. It is a testament to the powerful bonds animals make and is no different than the bonds between humans.

Here is a small sampling of the story by Joanna Lucas:
"Simone collapsed late one afternoon. We found her floundering on the ground, unable to stand, hold her head up, eat or drink on her own, struggling, and failing, to inch closer to Ian who was standing guard nearby. We cradled her in a soft blanket and held her for what seemed like hours, stroking her back, talking sweet, reassuring nothings, helping her nestle next to Ian one last time, before moving her into the house for care and hospice and, in the process, inevitably tearing her from everything she loved, knew and trusted. When we finally got up and carried her away, Ian followed. He walked with us as far as the open gate. There, he stopped in his usual hesitant way, pacing in place, flapping his wings, shuffling his feet, dithering between opposing desires—to be loved, to be safe—taking a few steps out in the open, turning back. Only, this time, after taking his first strained, faltering steps forward, he kept going. The fear of losing sight of Simone was greater than his fear of leaving the safety of his yard, so he pressed on, trailing behind us stiffly, haltingly, hemming, hawing, squirming and stuttering all the way to the front door."

Go here for the entire story:
Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary

Judy is a Punk

True Friends Never Forget...Especially Elephants

Illustration Friday: Silent

I know it's a bit early, but it was either this or a commentary on keeping silent when one has witnessed abuse...I figured this one was more palatable?

Photographs of Dogs in Cars

Go here to see amazing photos of dogs waiting in cars...It's a must see for anyone who loves dogs and photography...beautiful and haunting at the same time.

Lately, I've posted about animal abuse, whales being hunted down in Japan and human rights violations in West Africa so I thought I should post something uplifting such as the story of the baby elephant, Chhouk. He was found missing part of his front left leg; an injury caused by a poachers trap (go humans! not!) Okay, so I'm dissing on crappy humans again. The beauty of this story was not only was he rescued by a Wildlife Rescue Group in Cambodia, but they replaced the missing six inches of his foot with a prosthetic leg! Go humans! (seriously this time) You can see the vide below:



and read more about Chhouk here:

And please don't buy any type of ivory, whether it is a frame, jewelry or what ever the hell else they make with ivory tusks. I don't think you'd like it if your foot were caught in a trap, probably maimed and cut off you and then have someone come round and pull your teeth out. In a note of irony, apparently the London newspaper, The Guardian, reported the intense poaching of tusks has caused a new breed of elephants w/out tusks...which scientists believe is a genetic mutation to help them survive. Go elephants!
(Maybe other animals will mutate to be bald for life and have their flesh taste like human flesh so we won't hunt them down or factory farm them for their skin or meat! That'll learn us (probably not but a girl can hope)