BRATTLEBORO — For anyone surveying the national landscape on animal cruelty, it is easy to fall into near despair.
The cases of heinous animal torture and abuse - and the incidents of unintentional cruelty as well - seem to be becoming only more horrifying and more wanton.
Worse, while blogs and Facebook pages reveal a systemic and dark reality for animals in our society, our wealthiest and most prestigious animal “protection” organizations and their top leaders are far too often the topic of scandals, giving rise to the question of just who is leading the pack in the prevention of cruelty to animals.
Increasingly, we are seeing more effective grassroots contributions in the animal-protection movement.
Recently, I read the following quote by novelist and activist Alice Walker:
“It has become a common feeling, I believe, as we have watched our heroes falling over the years, that our own small stone of activism, which might not seem to measure up to the rugged boulders of heroism we have so admired, is a paltry offering toward the building of an edifice of hope.
“Many who believe this choose to withhold their offerings out of shame. This is the tragedy of the world. For we can do nothing substantial toward changing our course on the planet, a destructive one, without rousing ourselves, individual by individual, and bringing our small, imperfect stones to the pile.”
Suddenly, the hope that sustains often-beleaguered, passion-fueled activists rose up within me in the form of both a smile and a restored sense of the possible.
Minutes after I read that quote, an email arrived and crystalized for me the truths in Walker's observation.
The message contained a photo of the sender - a beaming Carol Scafuro of Ludlow - holding one of many recently manufactured signs that warn drivers of the dangers of leaving a dog inside a car.
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I met with Scafuro recently to talk about new grassroots work fueling the growing success of Red Rover's My Dog is Cool campaign here in Vermont.
According to Scafuro, the creation of the signs is the product of an ad hoc meeting of committed animal-loving activists which was convened in Springfield, Vt., last year.
After reading about Brattleboro's installation of similar signs in our town parking lots last May and the death of one of two dogs left in a hot car in Vermont the same month, Scafuro's friend Mary McCallum - a writer, animal defender, and Vermont Public Radio (VPR) commentator - discussed the problem on the air, noting Brattleboro's movement on the issue.
Shortly after that piece aired, Scafuro invited me to attend the meeting being planned in Springfield last August.
“Sometimes it's just fate. I mean, several of us had been very active on various animal issues for many years, which can be such an uphill struggle. When we heard about the responsiveness of the community in Brattleboro on this issue, it was so inspiring,” she said.
“At the time we met last year [at the diner], some of us were strangers. Some had been working on different things, like rescue, various shelters, and rehoming animals, for example.
“But to see actual prevention at the center of such a successful and proactive public education campaign! Well, everyone was on board at that point. Motivation just ignited.”
Soon after the meeting, Sue Skaskiw, director of Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society (VVSA) and host of the Community Access Television show “For the Animals” invited Carol Scafuro and me to be guests. We talked extensively about the problem and the success of the campaign. You can view the televised discussion at vvsahs.org/fortheanimals.php.
Currently, volunteers are visiting businesses and town officials around the Springfield, Chester, and Ludlow areas to promote the signs. The community support has been nothing short of phenomenal, says Scafuro.
The model of acknowledging participating merchants on the signs that they sponsor has also proven extremely successful for Paola Potts of Escondido, Calif.
Potts was also moved to action by the My Dog is Cool campaign and has deftly led the way in the San Diego metro area. In January, I was fortunate enough to meet with Potts and her husband, Jerry, and see the results of their hard work displayed in many public and private parking lots around San Diego County.
“Actually, we were a bit surprised at how aware of the problem the public actually is,” she says. “Business owners and employees have been remarkable!”
“Not one business we've approached thus far has declined the opportunity to sponsor a sign,” Scafuro adds.
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As we talked on the air about the recent success we've seen in public education regarding the issue, Scafuro noted the small size of Red Rover, which operates very effectively on an annual budget of about $2 million - meager compared to the budgets for the largest animal organizations.
She credits Red Rover's engagement of volunteers, “tapping into their passion and yearning for visible, tangible change that better protects innocent animals,” she says.
“They encourage creativity and offer support, information, and necessary tools to interested volunteers who ultimately find unique ways that encourage the public to think, or rethink, about the dire problems that cause animal suffering and unnecessary death.
“The campaign facilitates realizing the possibility for change. It's that shift in our awareness that is essential for humane change to occur.”
Sadly, already this month, two dogs have been reported dead as a result of being left in hot cars in California and Nebraska. However, the edifice of hope in more effectively preventing this unintentional tragedy from happening again in Vermont is growing, stone by stone.