Healing Our World: Reverence for Life ... When?

By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Reverence for Life ... When?

We who have lost our sense and our senses -
Our touch, our smell, our vision of who we are;
we who frantically force and press all things,
without rest for body or spirit,
hurting our Earth and injuring ourselves; We call a halt.

We want to rest.
We need to rest and allow the Earth to rest.
We need to reflect and to rediscover the mystery that lives in us,
that is the ground of every unique expression of life,
the source of the fascination that calls all things to communion.
We declare an Earth Holy Day, a space of quiet:
for simple being and letting be;
for recovering the great forgotten truths.
-- Daniel Martin

Should reverence for life be a priority in our lives? This subject comes up often in these commentaries since we are continually surrounded with issues that challenge the notion that humans are the dominant form of life on Earth. Each day around the world, humans display supreme arrogance by ordering the death of other creatures for convenience, for progress or for sport.

In Seattle, for example, animal rights groups have been fighting the city’s plan to kill up to 3,500 geese because the birds' fecal matter, which the city claims can be as high as three pounds per goose per day, is soiling local parks and public areas.

Canada geese in a park, a common sight around Seattle. (Photos (c) J.A Giuliano)

The birds are afforded some protection through the Migratory Bird Act because they migrate north to south with the seasons.

The groups lost in June when a U.S District Court judge ordered the killing to continue.

Critics of the geese claim that the parasites in the fecal material are a danger and that it increases the algae in waterways, jeopardizing aquatic life. Yet there have been no documented cases of illness from contact with geese fecal matter. Most complain that it is just plain messy and the Parks Department has been unable to come up with a way to clean the parks.

They claim that non lethal solutions have been tried - such as using dogs to chase them away and putting fake eggs in their nests to reduce reproduction - but the population is too successful.

Animal rights activists claim that the data used to condemn the geese is faulty. For example, the claim that they produce three pounds of feces each per day is challenged because studies of geese in New York and New Jersey claim that they produce one pound per day. And 80 percent of the feces is water, leaving about 9.6 ounces of dry material once the water is gone.

I have walked through plenty of goose droppings in the last few months. I walk through it and wipe my shoes off. Big deal.

The accused - beautiful creatures

We like animals when it is convenient. Pet stores across the nation cater to our whims. Yet rarely do veterinarians treat pet store animal injuries or sicknesses. A former employee of a national pet store chain told People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in January that "If we sent in a bill for veterinary care for a hamster that cost the store 80 cents ... someone would be reprimanded or fired."

Legalized killing of animals that have become inconvenient or create economic hardships has become the norm. The PETA website www.nofish.net reports that "the governments of 31 states offer bounties to encourage their citizens to kill various animals, not just wolves and coyotes but species such as magpies, ravens, and moles as well. Bounties can range from five cents for a dead starling to $80 for the carcass of a bobcat, amounting to yearly expenditures of thousands of state and local tax dollars."

More than 2.5 million animals have been killed because of the federal Animal Damage Control Act that gives virtually anyone the right to kill just about anything if they claim that their livestock is threatened.

Government employed hunters slaughter thousands of animals every year including coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, and other predators.

A Denver Wildlife Research Center study of one coyote control program reports that "of 1,119 animals trapped, injured, or killed, only 138 were the targeted coyotes. The remaining victims consisted of 21 non-target species, including hawks, golden eagles, songbirds, rabbits, and deer, as well as 63 domestic animals."

None of us can sustain the energy it takes to look away from the sights and sounds of our Earth, her people and her animals crying. We all need help to recognize the anguish so we can find the path to an open heart, open arms, and the joy that is inherent in each and every one of us.

We know that many animals and plants are in danger of extinction. We have an Endangered Species List to track their decline.

Maybe we need an Endangered Values List as well, where we put ethics like reverence for life, the sacredness of the earth, the air, and the water, and the acknowledgment that we are all part of the web of life. Then we could work to delist the endangered values, restoring spiritual and psychic health to a people badly in need of healing.

I’m not sure how else we will learn as a people to revere life again.

RESOURCES

1. Read a fascinating account of the flaws in the case against Canadian Geese by the Coalition to Protect Canada Geese at: http://www.icu.com/geese/ps-comments-af.html

2. Another good rebuttal to the arguments against the Canadian Geese can be found at: http://www.icu.com/geese/ps-comments-gbf.html

3. PETA has a campaign against pet stores at: http://www.peta-online.org/feat/petco/index.html

4. Contact the Northwest Animal Rights Network to get involved in protecting the geese at: http://www.narn.org/ or Tel: 206-250-7301

5. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and e-mail them. Tell them that the killing must stop. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html or you can search by state at http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html. You can also find your representatives at http://congress.nw.dc.us/innovate/index.html

[Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and the Manager of Discovery Park for the City of Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation. He can be found in his new home in Seattle, ready to stand between a goose and its killer. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his web site at www.healingourworld.com]