There’s no place like home ... so love the Earth

“It’s time for the world to stop trapping ‘furbearers’’’ (Westerly Sun, April 23) falls short, but you have to start somewhere to stop exploiting and abusing animals. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ mantra: Animals are not ours to eat, wear, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way, with this command way beyond our furry companion friends kept as pets. The smaller Canadian Lynx getting trapped in the brutal life-destruction trap set for larger fur-wearing animals might shed some light on the barbarism the fur industry does not want you to know. The fur industry walks hand in hand with assault weapons, cigarettes, beef, pork, and fossil fuel producers that need to start winding things down in this superior alternative 21st century (civilian assault weapons need no alternative) that produce less! Less suffering, less destruction, less remorse, less toxicity and less bad health outcomes from better-choice alternatives in this ever-shrinking world. Hey fur industry, don’t let the door hit you on your way out with superficial vanity from 21st-century fur turning heads for all the wrong reasons.

“There was a time in this fair land” (the opening line to the recently departed Gordon Lightfoot’s awesome “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” song that turns heads for all the right reasons and demands YouTubing, which you don’t even have to get up for) when animals (and fossil fuels) helped humans survive, but the survival train has left the station, with shallow profiteering all that remains. Yes, we need employment, but innovators help us evolve to a higher calling with justice, sustainability and love (JSL ... great initials) necessary ingredients for a life well-lived. But JSL can’t be found in the animal and fossil fuel exploitation world. April might have been Prevent Cruelty to Animals Month, but we need a Prevent Cruelty to Animals Planet.

We’re all limited to roughly 2,000 calories a day across three meals with millions of calories to choose from among thousands of food choices that range from — literally — soup to nuts. There’s only misery and selfishness in present-day fur-wearing and carnivoring and any action we take to reduce the overwhelming suffering in this world qualifies to make the world a better place. All actions we take and all actions we don’t. Do no harm, take no $**t, love fighting, hate violence, ever mindful about our beloved Earth: There’s no place like home.

Jay Lustgarten

Westerly