A plethora of blogs and a virtual 'war of words' is happening right now regarding animal issues. We'd like it to stop. Then and only then will it be possible to move forward instead of endlessly moving back and forth as each 'side' takes or makes ground.

The following is a response I've used on several 'activist' blog sites. I'll also be posting on mainstream media sites too.

When I was a kid about 9 years of age and there was a ‘fight’ between two kids in the playground, bullies from both sides of the ‘fight’ would move around the growing throng to basically see who you were cheering for. Each side worked hard to garner support for ‘their hero’.

Mostly I sat back and watched this stupidity – no not as a fence sitter, but because fighting is, was and always will be a childish and immature activity.
 
Even at that tender age I thought to myself ‘why are they fighting’?... ‘why don’t they just sit down and talk to each other and see what is bugging the other one?’ after all it’s natural we don’t agree on stuff from time to time but without sensible dialogue between people, this futile ‘war of words’ and ‘trading punches’ will simply continue.

Of course years later I realised that outside my then ‘9 year old utopian view of the world’ I realised that people actually like fighting. They like ‘telling the other side what they think of them’ – they like ‘letting the world know how wrong the other’s point of view is and that we’d all be better off without them.’

It’s true – just read the plethora of blogs on this (pet and animal) topic alone. Hate and angst abounds.

That’s sad isn’t it? – Intelligent caring ‘adult?’ people who still don’t realise as I have said many times before on our radio show that we are all ’on the same side’ – literally! It’s called ‘The Pet Industry’.
Some of us deal with the commercial end (whether you like it or not), some of us deal with the rescue end (and we all hate that because it shouldn’t exist), some of us deal with news and information (and some of us blog endlessly without ever putting a new twist on things) and some of us are involved in legislation (sadly because education in some areas is not working as expected!!)

And whether you like it or not – nothing’s gonna change anytime soon until you (we) all start talking to each other like sensible caring grown-ups instead of continuing to act like spoilt little children who can’t get their own way.

Your time would be better spent this way, your blood pressure would be down a few points… and let me let you in to a little secret – sshhh… ‘you might find that the very person you are fighting, is in fact your biggest ally’ – Can we do it? OF COURSE WE CAN!!

Brian Pickering
Producer/Co-host/Blog Responder
Pet Talk Radio!