I’ve dedicated my life to increasing awareness of animal issues. I read, write, post, and publish, promising to be a voice for animals. It is my passion, my job, and how I spend much of my days, hoping to reach as many people as possible.
I suppose there are ways to measure my success, such as the number of people who open our newsletters, in the hits on our web sites, in the orders for our magazine, and the responses to our social media posts. But did the opens, hits, or orders move people or change any minds? In many ways I may never know if I have reached anyone. Does this deter me in any way? Of course not, because, after all, the person who changed my mind about things will never know her post reached me. Yet…
Face to face encounters are the only real gauge with which I can accurately know my effectiveness. Recently I was reminded of this
In the living room of the group home where I work a couple evenings a week, a lady bug had gotten herself lost in the forest of fibers that made up the living room rug. In trying to rescue her and get her to safety, she (rightly) did not trust the human fingers coaxing her and I had to chase her around the room off ceilings, lamps, and walls until she flew in the direction of, and finally out, the front door.
A coworker witnessed the ordeal and was admittedly dumbstruck, telling me he’d never before seen anyone put so much effort into saving a bug and the he, himself, had never even thought to save one.
We did a lot of talking after that and he has told me since, over and over again, how much I have opened his eyes to animals. In fact, he has written much about the subject including this excerpt from an essay: “The time has come to end this and repair the world. Animals deserve full human rights the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ to quote Jefferson. Toward that end, they deserve the fruits of their labor no less than humans—which means bees their honey, cows their milk, hens their eggs, rhinos their horns—and pangolins, pigs, sheep, cattle, fish, and foul their very lives.”
The basic act of kindness he witnessed, just doing what I do without even thinking, brought about a change I can surely measure. I was reminded that although I spend much of my time consciously trying to alter others’ feelings about animals, often it is simply the example I set which has the most impact.
This issue of The Animals Voice Magazine revisits some inspiring people who have given their time, talent, and voice working for a better world for animals. I would like to dedicate this issue to Nathan Wise, a man who watched me save a ladybug and allowed it to change his mind, who now listens to these voices and others, has joined me in my efforts, and continues to encourage me. Thank you, Nathan.
Susan Barzallo is the News & Associate Editor of The Animals Voice.
