Happier Mother's Days for Elephants!

In the wild, male elephants stay with their mothers until adolescence (age 13--elephants live to 50 years old!) and females never leave.  But Ringling Bros. takes babies away from their mothers at 18 months, before "training" them with physically and psychically painful methods.  PETA has a very sweet Mother's Day card you can print out and mail to the USDA asking for regulations to stop these cruel practices.  Imagine a deluge of pink cards with cartoon elephants at the USDA! 

Circuses are cruel institutions that belong in the history books as outrageous examples of the exploitation of fellow animals for money.  Let's all resolve to find more humane ways to entertain our children.

Inspiration

Last November I drove from Michigan to the West Coast and back, stopping to see friends along the way.  Going west, I took the shortest path, along I70, through the plains and Colorado.  On the way back, I stopped in Phoenix, so I took a more southerly route home.

The farms in the middle of the country are mostly corn, something I'm used to seeing in Michigan.  But Texas and Oklahoma are full of cows.  Brown cows, spotted cows, and black cows.  They didn't seem as unhappy as I had been expecting: stuffed together, standing in rivers of their own excrement.  Though maybe they keep some pretty by the freeways for the benefit of those driving by.

But those big, beautiful black cows with their sad, thoughtful brown eyes reminded me so much of my driving companion:

My Parsley is so sweet and innocent and trusting, I couldn't help but attribute those qualities to those pretty, calm cows.  And now I can't justify being a party to their inhumane treatment.  So no more burgers for me.