A message received from a very special person...
Dear most wonderful Occupy for Animals,
thank you so much for everything you do for the animal world.
I've gone around and around in my head about this, but unfortunately I can no longer receive your posts. The truth in photographs is too horrible for my sensitive soul and I've been having horrible nightmares with images of these posts hovering in my dreams.
The rats and dogs tortured by the tobbaco "research" have put me over the edge. Then today's photo with this cruel and vicious woman who slaughtered the polar bear was the breaking point for me.
Tell me how I can support your work without the visuals and I will!
I'm so sorry to have to leave your page, but the nausea I feel when I see this extreme and unspeakable cruelty is crippeling me.
I've got dollars to donate and can help in many ways so do let me know. But if I keep looking at these images I might need to be committed, and then I won't be able to help at all. Please forgive me.
Love,
Amber
This message has moved us all to tears, and we have decided
to give it a special place on our website.
Below, our answer for our dear friend, Amber...
Dear, dear Amber…
Your words have touched a deep chord… reading your letter was like hearing our own words in the early days when we first got involved with Animal Rights work. I do not think there is anyone here that has not experienced the anguish of the soul that your email has so eloquently described; we can all totally understand and empathize with the feelings you express.
You might find this hard to believe, but yes, even now after years of this work, we are not inured. These heartrending images are just as disturbing to us today, as the first ones we saw twenty, thirty years ago. Yes, even we still get nightmares about them...
I know I speak for all of us when I say that there are days when one or the other of us just do not want to see what new atrocity will be on our screens; days when it all seems so futile, when it seems nothing we do makes any difference at all. But then we get our fighting spirit back, because we know we are fighting for those that cannot fight, we have chosen to be their voice. We cannot give up on them. If we give up, what hope is there that animals will ever see an existence without abuse?
If even we were to turn away, who, then, will fight their fight?
From your gentle tone and choice of words, it is easy to see you are a sensitive soul and it’s true our images are deeply disturbing, so we can understand how profoundly they would have impacted you. Please forgive us; the truth is never easy to confront, but we know you understand that we have to keep doing what we do. What people don’t know about, they cannot stop.
We are so sorry to lose you; what this movement needs is many MORE people with heart, not fewer.
We thank you for your email; for sharing with us what has been going through your mind and heart, and for your generous offer to donate and help in other ways.
PS: a suggestion: you could change your settings so that you see FEWER of our posts, but still see some; we would hate to think you’re gone from us forever! One of us could talk you through how to do this. Or if you want to see no more posts at all, we could be in touch with you on email.
Thank you, Amber, for caring. We are truly sorry to lose you...
Love,
Occupy for Animals ♡ The team
(Text: Priya Tuli)