Want a measurement of who you are? Look at how you treat animals
“Know thyself” – Plato
One of the most elusive aspects of this thing we call “life” is figuring out who we truly are.
You already know that difficult events, failures, road blocks in life, your talents, and your passions have given a great measurement to who you are. However, there is another way for you to discover yourself more, and that is through your treatment of animals.
How you treat animals gives crystal clear insight into how you treat your own life, the lives of those around you, and the lives of complete strangers.
When I was recently visiting my grandmother I saw a neighborhood stray cat in her yard that was severely injured. He was limping, holding up one of his legs that looked broken and he was clearly in pain. I didn’t know how to help him, but I knew something had to be done. So I did a quick search online and found a great rescue organization in my area called Rescue Ridge. I got in touch and explained them the situation. One of their members, Joni, quickly replied and offered to help the cat get to a vet. She didn’t care about the cost of the medical bills or who was going to pay for it; she just wanted to give help to this helpless animal. She provided a cage, so my job was to catch the cat and get him in it for transporting. The cat was pretty friendly with me but I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
I woke up early the next day, forgot about everything I was doing and went searching for the cat. I found him and attempted to catch him, but he took off and hid. So I waited and waited for hours. Then I went home and came back. Waited another hour. Went home and came back once again. The cat was back and I tried for another hour to catch him by hand or lure him into the cage with food. No luck. I was getting really frustrated by now. I had spent an entire day and thought to myself, “am I crazy wasting all this time trying to catch a stray cat when I could be doing more important things?”
I finally went back the next day and was able to get the hungry cat into the cage to eat after a few more hours of frustration. Once he was in, I quickly shut the door. Joni, the pet rescuer was over to pick up the cat right away. She brought the cat straight over to a vet and it turned out that the cat had basically shattered his knee and the bone was sticking out. Now he needs surgery to fix the broken bone or he may possibly need an amputation. And if doesn’t get either of those, he most likely won’t live very long. The surgery is going to cost about $1,500. So my family, Joni, and Rescue Ridge are going to try to raise donations for the surgery.
Now that I’ve had time to reflect on the question I asked myself about being crazy spending all this time and energy on this animal, I’ve come to the answer of no. I’m not all crazy! I realized that if I didn’t have compassion and patience for an injured and helpless animal then I don’t have true compassion and patience for anything.
If you want a better idea of what your character is then look at how you treat animals and even the environment. And ask yourself whether you show them and it compassion, patience, selflessness, and respect. Ask yourself if you treat them the way you’d like to be treated. And be certain to examine how you treat animals that are often seen as “insignificant” by others.
I’d like to take a quick moment to encourage you to help and to thank Rescue Ridge and their rescuer Joni. She took time off from work to help us with the cat, without looking for anything in return and then was thanking us for helping. She has real passion and a caring heart. Rescue Ridge is a non-profit organization based in New Jersey that takes in dogs, cats, horses, and other animals that other shelters have given up on. Rescue Ridge is these animals last hope. They run entirely by donations and by the work of volunteers. If you would like to help them in any way you can, please visit their Petfinder page here: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ220.html and click on the first donation button towards the middle of the page under the “Sponsor A Pet” section. And if you could please leave a note under the “purpose” section with your donation that you’re a Lyved reader, we’d greatly appreciate.
If $5 is all you can spare, even that would help immensely. Or if you’d prefer to contribute to an animal organization closer to you, please visit the shelter page at Petfinder.com: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters.html
And finally, if you live in New Jersey and would like to open your heart and home to this very friendly homeless cat please contact the Rescue Ridge or myself and I’ll put you in touch. They’ll send you an application to fill out to see if you’d be a good fit. The cat is almost a year old, black and white (we’re calling him Oreo), he enjoys playing, running around, and would unconditionally love whoever gives him a second chance.
UPDATE:
Please click here to read update on Oreo.
Dog photo by lecates
12 Responses to “Want a measurement of who you are? Look at how you treat animals”
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This is wonderful Andrew. I think little things really go on to reveal the bigger character. The ability to empathize, I think, is the highest form of human virtue. Identifying with suffering and seeing past monetary interest to help is precisely what makes the world a better place and we need more of it.
Thank you Kevin! You’re absolutely right. I think that people focus on the big things because they believe that truly reflects who they are. But it’s taking time for the small perhaps seemingly insignificant things that expose who we are.
-Andrew
Oh how true this article is! I really enjoyed reading this and will pass it along! I could write and elaborate but everything here is so well said why say more. Great article.
Hi Wendy,
Thanks so much for the compliments! I really appreciate you passing along the article too.
-Andrew
Andrew,
Thank you for the taking the time to help this innocent cat. As a volunteer for Rescue Ridge, I can attest to Joni’s passion and tireless work to help all animals in need. Working together, we can accomplish great things.
Thank you for this article too; hopefully it will reach a larger audience and enable us to rescue even more animals.
Dawn
Hi Dawn,
I’m happy to help out. Joni was really wonderful. She stopped everything she was doing to help the cat and us out. We’re so thankful.
I hope this article could raise some awareness for Rescue Ridge and encourage others to help animals in need.
-Andrew
I’ve been overwhelmed emotionally and financially lately by the number of rescued animals I’ve been fostering and feeling kind of down b/c of all the ugly people on the internet (and on this planet) when I read this AND the comments that followed. I don’t feel so angry and crazy now and I have been reminded that there are AT LEAST as many kind, loving people in this world as there are sick twisted ones. I am reminded that I’m not alone and to pay more attention to the big and little examples of decency that are there for me to see if I would just open my eyes. Thank you.
Kevin, your comment esp. inspired me to be hopeful.
Hi Eileen,
I think a lot of people wonder where all the good people have gone. All we hear about in the mainstream media are the terrible, selfish, and sickening people. But we must remember that there are many great people in this world. There’s probably more great and positive people than the terrible.
You’re very welcome! I’m glad this article gave you a little boost of positivity.
-Andrew
Thanks Eileen, the pleasure is mine. Like what Andrew said, I think beauty has a way of hiding away from sight, we just have to find or learn to see them. All the best with the animals and keep up the good work!
hello Andrew, i heard about Oreo from Joni during a fundraiser for another rescued kitty named Abby.. she just said “well now we have to plan the next one” (fundraiser)….and then told me about Oreo and your site. I am truly blessed to have come to meet Joni and all the wonderful people in Rescue Ridge. I too contacted them through the internet when i started to catch kittens born to two cat moms who had been dumped on an elderly ladies’ property. I have since become one of the volunteers who work with the cats and feel like I’ve come back to my younger self — the kid who always loved animals and took in strays……
thank you for your wonderful article on Rescue Ridge pam
Hi Pam,
Thanks so much for stopping by! Rescue Ridge is great. They’re passionate, they get the job done, and they stay positive the whole time even though their job is so tough. I wish there was more people like them and you out there helping animals.
Thanks again for stopping by and thanks for helping the helpless
-Andrew