Another Brutal Case Of Animal Abuse In Niagara Should Leave Us All Wondering What Manner of Psychos Are Living Among Us – Let’s Find Those Who Mutilated Animals at St. Catharines’ Happy Rolph’s!

By Dylan Powell

Last week, people from around the world reacted with outrage and disgust at an undercover video which detailed sadistic abuse of animals at a family farm in Plain City, Ohio.

Better times at an animal sanctuary similar to Happy Rolph's.

The Farm owner Gary Conklin, swiftly fired farm worker Billy Joe Gregg Jr, offering him up to the media as a sacrifice for what happens on farms across the globe on a daily basis. At Billy Joe Gregg Jr’s hearing he asked that he be released for numerous financial reasons, but also because he wanted to look after his animals. The irony of those words exposed the grand lie that permeates our societies relationship with animals; how can we love one and not another?

For those who live in the Niagara Region, this morning brought with it news of another horrific case of animal cruelty. Police believe that two suspects broke into a local petting zoo, Happy Rolph’s, and left a wake of carnage: four dead animals, one rabbit decapitated with its head mounted on a stake, numerous other animals shot at with BB and Pellet Guns and also a missing baby goat.

Animal cruelty cases are definitely nothing new to the Niagara Region, anyone remember Bailey the Maine Coon Cat? Or even more recently the neglect and misuse of animals by the T.E.A.R.S organization? There is a void in this region that needs to be filled when it comes to proper education. Notably, when I say education, I do NOT mean entertainment. Happy Rolph’s Petting Zoo, which operates in conjunction but separate from the Bird Sanctuary, is in and of itself NOT an educational tool for children on how to properly respect animals.
Farmed animals from this petting zoo are not provided a forever home, and the fate they will eventually meet after each season is not much different then the one the four small animals at this petting zoo met last night. These “incidents” will continue as long as we refuse to educate ourselves and most notably our children, on how to treat all animals with respect and dignity. This Region in particular offers no such outlet. In one day a child can be whisked to see Orca’s at Marineland, a captive animal reduced to live in a bath tub so that (Marineland owner) John Holer can stuff his pockets and at night they can accompany their parents to a rock concert at Zooz, a business that is either blatantly ignorant to the hearing capabilities of other animal species or who just simply do not care.

If this Region, its people and its City Council, want to do something serious to combat horrific scenes like this, please, fund an actual accredited Sanctuary for farmed animals. If we continue to miss the opportunity to provide an outlet where the public can be educated about the inherent self worth of all animal species, then we are doing nothing but holding our breath until the next Billy Joe Gregg Jr. comes along, or the next Happy Rolph’s, or the next Bailey, or the next T.E.A.R.S, etc. For those who wish to see the City of St. Catharines fund a Sanctuary for Farmed Animals, please contact me directly.

I will be collecting signatures for this in the coming weeks. theveganpoliceradio@gmail.com .

(Dylan Powell is a Niagara resident and an advocate for the humane treatment of all creatures great and small. This article can also be found on his website at http://theveganpolice.com/main/?p=606.)
In light of this latest case of animal cruelty in Niagara, you can also call on the City lof St. Catharines and its residents to fund a sanctuary for farm animals, where the public can be educated about the inherent worth of all animal species. Here is the link for a petition to do this – http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fund-a-farm-animal-sanctuary-in-the-niagara-region
If you have any information on this latest brutal crime, we urge you also to contact the Niagara Regional Police at Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 and/or the Lincoln County Humane Society at 906- 682-0767.)

(You can also join the discussion on this subject through Niagara At Large’s Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Niagara-At-Large/222801761906 or by visiting Niagara At Large’s news site at www.niagaraatlarge.com where you will find, as you scroll down, more articles on related issues around animal abuse.)