![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm going to try and post again on a semi-regular basis, because dammit, I used to love my LJ/DW interactions. Part of the problem is that I spend so much internet time on my phone now, and as far as I know, Dreamwidth doesn't have a mobile app. Livejournal does, but it's extremely poorly-designed.
I've been having the very beginning of what is probably osteoarthritis in my hands (welcome to being 45!) the past few months. I wake up in the morning and my hands feel like claws. Moving my fingers takes an effort. I saw my GP recently, and she said typing as much as possible on a proper ergonomic keyboard will help slow it down. I have been doing SO MUCH of my typing with two thumbs on a phone keyboard for the past few years that it's a major adjustment. But going back to journalling with LJ/DW gets me back into the habit of using an ergonomic keyboard hooked up to my laptop, which is better for my hands and wrists. And I've been nostalgic for the glory days of LJ/DW too. Let's see who's still hanging around.
Warning, I am about to get very opinionated and probably controversial. I've been pissed off ever since last August about this animal transport out of Kabul during the chaotic final days of the evacuation. A sanctuary for unwanted dogs and cats in Kabul was run by a Brit named Pen Farthing for some years. In August 2021, in the middle of a massive humanitarian crisis that made the fall of Saigon look organized by comparison, a charter flight took all the dogs and cats out of that sanctuary to the UK. Probably with help from the Foreign Office. The FO spokespeople say they didn't help. An FO whistleblower who testified to the British Parliament about the debacle in Kabul said they did.
I am an animal lover. I have two spoiled cats. I would probably have a dog as well if my health were better (dogs are a lot more work than cats) and Savannah (older cat) didn't treat every dog who enters HER home as public enemy #1. I literally know the names of every dog who lives in my 36 unit apartment building. I don't always know their owners' names, but I always know and remember the names of their dogs.
I just spent $750 treating Houdini's (younger cat) illness which turned out to be Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disorder. Which means going forward he'll need to be on intensely expensive prescription urinary food to inhibit the formation of crystals in his urine. Granted, much of the $750 vet bill I will get back from his pet health insurance, but I won't get the food paid for. I even make monthly donations to the Vancouver SPCA, and have done so for years. So, I am definitely a dog and cat person. I think I've proved my bona fides.
That having been said, Kabul in August 2021 was literally a war zone and humanitarian disaster of mammoth proportions. Also, this animal sanctuary had multiple fully qualified veterinarians working at it, and they presumably had the usual veterinary drugs available to them. You euthanize all the animals, and then you focus on getting as many of your staff out of Afghanistan as possible. Particularly the female staff, who will have an even worse time under the Taliban than the men.
Would it be pleasant for the vets on staff to euthanize all those animals, many of whom were probably healthy? Nope. But needs must. Speaking as an animal lover, you do NOT clog up runway time during a desperate evacuation by chartering a plane for dogs and cats. Because when push comes to shove, pets, much as I love them, are not human beings.
I've been having the very beginning of what is probably osteoarthritis in my hands (welcome to being 45!) the past few months. I wake up in the morning and my hands feel like claws. Moving my fingers takes an effort. I saw my GP recently, and she said typing as much as possible on a proper ergonomic keyboard will help slow it down. I have been doing SO MUCH of my typing with two thumbs on a phone keyboard for the past few years that it's a major adjustment. But going back to journalling with LJ/DW gets me back into the habit of using an ergonomic keyboard hooked up to my laptop, which is better for my hands and wrists. And I've been nostalgic for the glory days of LJ/DW too. Let's see who's still hanging around.
Warning, I am about to get very opinionated and probably controversial. I've been pissed off ever since last August about this animal transport out of Kabul during the chaotic final days of the evacuation. A sanctuary for unwanted dogs and cats in Kabul was run by a Brit named Pen Farthing for some years. In August 2021, in the middle of a massive humanitarian crisis that made the fall of Saigon look organized by comparison, a charter flight took all the dogs and cats out of that sanctuary to the UK. Probably with help from the Foreign Office. The FO spokespeople say they didn't help. An FO whistleblower who testified to the British Parliament about the debacle in Kabul said they did.
I am an animal lover. I have two spoiled cats. I would probably have a dog as well if my health were better (dogs are a lot more work than cats) and Savannah (older cat) didn't treat every dog who enters HER home as public enemy #1. I literally know the names of every dog who lives in my 36 unit apartment building. I don't always know their owners' names, but I always know and remember the names of their dogs.
I just spent $750 treating Houdini's (younger cat) illness which turned out to be Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disorder. Which means going forward he'll need to be on intensely expensive prescription urinary food to inhibit the formation of crystals in his urine. Granted, much of the $750 vet bill I will get back from his pet health insurance, but I won't get the food paid for. I even make monthly donations to the Vancouver SPCA, and have done so for years. So, I am definitely a dog and cat person. I think I've proved my bona fides.
That having been said, Kabul in August 2021 was literally a war zone and humanitarian disaster of mammoth proportions. Also, this animal sanctuary had multiple fully qualified veterinarians working at it, and they presumably had the usual veterinary drugs available to them. You euthanize all the animals, and then you focus on getting as many of your staff out of Afghanistan as possible. Particularly the female staff, who will have an even worse time under the Taliban than the men.
Would it be pleasant for the vets on staff to euthanize all those animals, many of whom were probably healthy? Nope. But needs must. Speaking as an animal lover, you do NOT clog up runway time during a desperate evacuation by chartering a plane for dogs and cats. Because when push comes to shove, pets, much as I love them, are not human beings.
