“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
-Mahatma Ghandi
Although aspects of our culture have
changed in the past century we have significant remnants from a time when many
more of us were farmers, ranchers, and factory workers. We are now, for the most part, sophisticated and well
informed. But in many ways I might
argue that we are still primal people operating from the most primitive portions of
our brains. We still seek
excitement in ways that seem archaic and even a little weird. Examples of this behavior include
the national pastime where we gather in our homes with fatty foods and
libations and watch tiny little men bashing their heads together on the big
screen. I’ve heard many explain
that watching football and other sports is a way for us to get our “war needs”
met in a safe way, at least for the spectators. For boys to learn about manhood. To gather communally over
shared purpose. Another example is
our insatiable desire to make money quickly and without any significant work on
our part. Gambling in all its
forms is as popular as chocolate and wine in a room full of women. But when we look at our history of gambling on the animal world it’s time to wonder what purpose this serves in
our collective memory and well -being.
Until more recently in our history, many
countries including the USA had legalized Cock Fighting, an ancient
pastime. This barbaric ritual consists of arming
roosters, bred for the task, with razor sharp metal knives attached to their legs and then a fight to
the bloody death. Having had
laying hens and their attendant roosters my entire adult life I am well aware
of the war like qualities of some individual roosters. On the other hand, many are simply
sweet beta birds happy to have a pat from their caretaker and quietly go about
their fathering and guard duties, peacefully. What is the purpose of encouraging these gorgeous creatures
to mutilate each other into exhaustion and then death? Money. Dog fighting and Greyhound racing, still legal in many
places, also exist to satisfy man’s appetite for excitement and money. This is where Arizonan Jamie Massey
comes in.
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| Jamie Massey |
Jamie is a tall quiet man who loves live
music, dancing and being with friends.
A former elementary school teacher, he is now retired. Through the years He has become a
passionate crusader to end violent animal sport in Arizona and has consulted in
other states as well. We had a
conversation on his beautiful patio in Tucson and I learned about his work as
an effective animal protection campaigner.
His journey as an animal advocate began in
1979 when he moved into an 1100-acre ranch in East Texas. It changed his life. His new home
included 2 creeks, 7 ponds, 55 native trees, birds, wildflowers, raccoons, deer
armadillos, coyotes, beavers and in this lush environment he developed a
passion for wildlife but began to notice that most people didn’t share his new
found love. At the local barber shop the question of the day would be: “what did
you kill lately?” He noticed a burned out beavers lodge,
and one night after a hunting incident, found a dead cow in the woods with a bullet
hole, and a botched deer hunt ending with a buck that had to be corralled and then put down. Jamie lived near a local ranch and when calves were sold he
would hear them calling all night long while he slept, as they tried to bust
out of the feedlot. These and other experiences led him to an epiphany of sorts
as he began to understand his connection to the world and made a commitment to
serve. “That’s when I became a vegetarian and decided to make a difference for
animals and the environment. In college I read many books including
those about Buddhism and realized we’re not separate. Not having a religious education, I think, helped me to
figure things out on my own and that we’re not the great species and they
(animals) are not here for us to exploit willy-nilly. Many or even most vegetarians have a sensibility that
it is wrong to eat meat, but I initially did it more so I could be consistent with
my wildlife protection efforts.”
We discussed the idea of defense mechanism;
that is “we don’t often accept ideas that incriminate us. We have to come to a behavior through
other means. Most people do it
(become vegetarian) through health and not thinking about ethics. One of my fourth graders said something
to me that moved me, I was criticizing all of the hunting that was going on and
she said, ‘But Mr. Massey, you ordered the same thing for lunch that we all
did. I saw you.’ And the truth
was, I was using my mouth one moment to defend animals and the next moment to
eat them. We’re all imperfect works in progress, and if you waited to be perfect until you speak out, you
will wait a long time.” I think this is true, we all have inner hypocrisies and this is where we
can offer grace to each other and ourselves. There are many other ethical dilemmas that lend themselves
to the discussion of creating a seamless approach and they are worthy
discussions to have. When we
discuss eating for the health of the planet and with consideration for the
animals who feed us, Jamie said, “You don’t have to be vegan, but maybe have
one vegetarian day a week. Is life valuable or is life not
valuable? Do what you can. We all
live with the fact that our lives cause harm. Cars, air, we’re all culpable." And this is what my project Finding Hope supports, simply
doing what you feel moved to do and as you are able to make a difference.
After Jamie moved to Phoenix in 1988 he
met Larry Sunderland, a hunter whose dog stepped into a trap and was injured,
as was Larry. He was cited for removing it due to an antiquated law still on
the books and this is where Jamie became involved legislatively. He joined HALT: Help
Abolish Leg-hold Traps, and the group was successful after two tries in 1994. This law banned trapping on Arizona
Public Lands, which consist of 78% of the state. Leg-hold trapping is still
legal on private lands.
In 1989 he met John Kromko in Phoenix who
asked him to help with a hearing to ban cock fighting in Arizona. There was
some legislative support for this effort but the law didn’t pass and they had
learned a lot about lobbying.
Jamie started a group called Arizona Lobby for Animals (ALA) as well as
several other ad hoc groups. In
1996 ALA waged four campaigns to ban
cockfighting and all failed. It
was then decided to take the fight to the streets for a statewide ballot
initiative. In 1998 cockfighting was banned in Arizona with a 2:1 vote and this
measure was the first successful initiative whose focus was a domestic animal. This success was gratifying. “It was my
claim to fame, and it gave me a source of pride.” Jamie had
recruited 822 volunteers who turned in signatures, as well as hundreds more who
donated money.
In 1999 Jamie went to Oklahoma to help
with their campaign to ban cockfighting. He spent 4.5 months doing signature-gathering
campaign and was the only non-Oklahoman to participate, contrary to some
reports. After working there only 40% of the state knew it was legal, even though
it had been heavily reported in the news. After some legal challenges the law was passed and the Oklahoma Supreme
Court, finalized he law in 2003.
Jamie next turned his attention to address
the extremely high euthanasia rate in Arizona shelters and formed the group
Euthanasia Reduction(ER). While many of us have become accustomed to the idea that all shelter
animals are spayed or neutered before adoption this hasn’t always been the
case, creating many unwanted animals.
The goals of ER were to create a three-pronged approach to this thorny
issue statewide.
1) Enact a one cent sales tax on pet
food.
2) Take that money to fund a commission to set up and fund projects to reduce the kill rate. Provide statistics on shelter kill-rates and publicize them.
3) Take the Pima County policy to spay and neuter all pets
before release, statewide.
While
the law was eventually passed it was changed significantly due to pressure from
various animal related groups yet the third provision was enacted creating positive change.
In 2008 Jamie began getting involved in
Greyhound issues. At that time
there were over 700 dogs kept 23 hours per day, muzzled, with the lights off in
tiny crates. “Not much of a life. Yes, they loved to race, but that was the only part of their life they
loved.” 350+ females were
routinely given steroid shots by untrained kenneled workers, violating federal
law, to prevent them from going into estrus so they would not have down time
from racing and also because it would create difficulties in the kennels. This method was used instead
of segregating by gender or even spaying as track owners wanted to see who
would be a champion. The worst
dogs come to Tucson, those who have a losing record, and who wouldn’t be bred so it doesn't make sense to use steroids. I
asked Jamie who comes to these races? The track owners make their money by simulcasting at local
bars which attract many participants. Jamie was reluctant to typecast a typical greyhound better saying it could be anyone. “ It’s something to
do and most people don’t want to look at the consequences of their actions.” Most protests against Greyhound racing
don’t occur at tracks but at the establishments that promote it.
I asked Jamie if he thought our practice
of encouraging Greyhound adoptions by local groups was possibly deleterious for
the dog’s well being in the end. It’s
been my personal feeling that interacting with the tracks in this way, might
promote racing by providing a softer human-interest side of the story to the hard-core betting reality. If there
were a problem with disposing of the losing dogs or those who are injured then would it be more likely that the
practice would be banned? “The county used to euthanize dogs for $5.00, no
questions asked. When the county stopped providing this service Greyhound
rescue groups popped up. Greyhound
adoption does make the industry looks better. Meanwhile the homes to which the Greyhounds
go do not adopt another dog at the shelter. The track requires silence from its
adoptee groups when it comes to dog racing.” This is why
most Greyhound adoption groups did not participate when the ban was taking
place.
South Tucson, where greyhound racing is still active, is a tiny municipality and
only needed 77 valid signatures to get a ban on the ballot. “So I immediately thought ‘let’s ban greyhound
racing in South Tucson.’ I wasn’t sure if it would pass but it’s worth a
try.” However, it was a state
jurisdictional issue and Jamie was warned by a lawyer that the courts would overturn it. “What can I do to improve the lives of
the dogs and lead them to closing,” Jamie asked himself. He went to the UA Law Library and read the statutes. They refer to food, shelter, and veterinary care and he
considered creating an ordinance related to all dogs in South Tucson and the
following provisions were crafted.
1) Dog
can’t spend more than 18 hours crated. Which would lead to runs, water, shade
and more people to care for dogs.
2) Outlawing
steroids. Over 100 area veterinarians approved of this tenant.
3) Rejecting
raw meat that is dead on arrival, diseased, dying and disabled for the
Greyhounds diet. Previously raw
meat of these types was allowed in dog racing as opposed to cooked in
commercial pet food.
The law passed in 2008 by thirty votes and
was never enforced. The track
began to transport dogs into Tucson to inject dogs with steroids to get around
the law, therefore obeying the letter but not the spirit of the law. In October
30, 2013 South Tucson had an unadvertised council meeting during which they
turned off the microphones and the court reporter was not able to complete the
report thus ensuing any conversation would be off the record. They voted to
overturn the law calling it an emergency measure so it could not be later overturned
by referendum. At this time the
greyhounds are enduring the same difficult conditions they have for many years.
What’s the future of greyhound racing in
Arizona? Jamie feels that it would take a state -wide law and that doesn’t seem likely. The rescues want to care for as many as they can and if they speak up
the track will not work with them. At this time, I think it’s good to educate others about what
is happening. Maybe with more
caring citizens aboard a law can be passed in the future.
Jamie was last working with others
to ban puppy mill puppy purchases at local pet stores in the city of Tucson.
Currently there are at least 27 pet-stores in Tucson who do not sell puppies or
kittens so selling these unfortunate beings is not necessary for economic health. Jamie, working with Steve Kozachik, a local city council member, is getting close to banning these sales in Tucson. Mr. Kozachik expects to take it to the city council in February and have a public hearing in March.
I asked Jamie if he had any parting words for my readers. " I understand how people can fail to try to do something big, but small is okay. Many of us have our wills beaten down each time we fail to do something we know we should or we do something we know we shouldn't, so why bother when it will come to naught? Doing small things builds one's will power and then allows one to do the bigger things. Treat your will like any muscle that you want to get stronger. There are so many ways we can help create a better world for animals... do the small things. For example find a vegetarian dish you like or add healthy and humane foods to your diet. Go to a vegetarian restaurant once a week. What's been nagging at you to do? Do that."
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| Jamie and friend Laura Vinyard |
There are a multitude of ways to make our world a better place. I am so honored to be learning about individuals like Jamie and groups who have a passion for doing that one thing that matters to them, and hence for the rest of us. Please keep writing and sending me your stories.
Namaste,
Felicia
Related Links:
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona
Information on the puppy-mill sales ban in Tucson
To learn more about Greyhound adoptions
To learn more about cock-fighting
