“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” Mahatma Gandhi

People are talking, and rightfully so, about dogfighting. Many people who thought it was just a 'fringe' activity, not in my neighbourhood, no, couldn't happen near here, not with people my kid hangs out with, not here, not now, not no how, are beginning to see just how widespread this cruelty is and how deepely ingrained in the fabric of these great united states, and how much this crosses race and class and age lines. And how goddam much this has been proverbially swept under the rug, ignored by politicians and law enforcement alike. Is this because, in every town and every county some sherriff, some city councilman, some supervisor, some local hero grabs a beer, puts some green down and feels his pulse racing along with those unnamed faceless abusers he is standing among, watching two dogs tear each other's throats out? Am I angry? I am totally outraged and enraged. And hey, do you wonder why animal advocates across the country are asking, and have been for years, what are police departments doing running animal shelters?

When scandal rocked Oakland's Animal Shelter two and a half years ago, among the accusations were that a senior staff member was breeding dogs and protecting dog-fighters because they were his buddies. Oakland has a dismal, absolutely dismal record of changing the culture of virulent cruelty which runs like a poison through the city's veins - claiming human lives and forging a new generation of young men who see life through a prism running blood red. Oakland also has a huge animal cruelty problem, no shit.

But it's not the only city in the East Bay to be drenched in blood. So, before outraged Oaklanders get on my back, I just wanna say I dragged a bloody dead dog from the freeway in Richmond today. Would I surprise you by saying it was a 70 pound brindle and white unaltered pitbull mix. Ya don't say, Jill, now there's an odd thing. I dragged it from the freeway, loaded it into my car and drove it back to Berkeley's animal shelter, where Marcie helped me put the body into a barrel to go in the freezer. Where at least it now has a description in the Dead On Arrival file and isn't sitting rotting by the side of the road.

I'm a big critic of the city in which I live. Berkeley is gutless on many things, but I'm going to say this. Thanks to advocates (including me), and to the current management and staff at the animal shelter, thanks to former Mayor Shirley Dean who took my advice 7 years ago, and moved the city away from a police run to civilian run animal care department, thanks to two special politicians, Dona Spring and Betty Olds, who faced classic liberal inaction on this issue - Berkeley now has the lowest euthanasia rate of any municipal shelter in California (and that includes San Francisco).

When police departments no longer run animal shelters, and cease to protect abusers, when District Attorneys prosecute animal abuse cases, when people don't turn their face from what is happening right next door, the cruelty will start to stop. Oooh, I feel better already. Life is a beautiful sweet thing. And I am a fucking optimist.