Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 12, 2014

Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 12, 2014 10 JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 12, 2014 10 JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS 
PEASANTRY AND PETS 

A Personal, Positive 

by Chris LeclercHappy Tails 
Retrospective 

nine, leaving the 
center kitchen as the 

 When I was 4 ½ years old, I 
lived in Huntsville, Alabama 
with my 6 older siblings and my 
parents, who’d just experienced a 
spiritual epiphany that promptedthem to make a major change 
in their lifestyle. My dad, who’d 
been working for Pratt & 
Whitney Aircraft as a tool & die 
maker for several years, suddenly 
decided to quit his job and go full 
time into a Christian children’s 
outreach ministry. I have a 
handful of memories about 
what life was like in Florida, 
prior to that change, but my 
clearest memories of childhood 
are focused on what happened 
thereafter.

 I was born in Florida in 1963, 
a year remembered by most 
Americans as the year President 
Kennedy was assassinated. Of 
course, I was not aware of what 
was going on at the time in our 
country, or anywhere else for 
that matter, but later in life it 
somehow became significant 
to me, to include as part of my 
“story”, the fact that I was born 
the same year President Kennedy 
was assassinated. 

Regardless of the political 
or social status that prevailed 
when I was a small child, one 
thing I can say for sure is that my 
family was poor in dollars, but 
incredibly rich in blessings. We 
were blessed with an enormous 
amount of love and spiritual 
nourishment on the home 
front. Kindness to others took 
top priority in any lecture that 
I may have had to endure from 
my parents. “What we have, is to 
be shared.”, still comes to mind as 
part of what they endeavored to 
teach me, and for that I am very 
grateful to this day.

 My mom and dad also taught 
me how to get by with very little. 
Not to say that we suffered or 
went without, because amazingly 
enough, the miracles of provision 
that I witnessed through the faith 
of my parents is what has kept 
me believing in God after all 
these years. They were excellent 
examples of how one should 
live their life in faith; working 
hard and knowing that God will 
provide. Without their example, 
I often wonder if I would even be 
a believer today.

 So, with all that “down home” 
childhood drama spilled like 
beans on the table, I am finally 
getting to the main point of 
this happy tale. In 1968 we were 
living in a duplex, located in a 
rural part of Huntsville, Alabama 
(Toll Gate Road, on Monte Sano 
Mountain, to be specific) that 
belonged to a family at our 
church. The center wall had 
been demolished, turning it into 
a single-family dwelling with 
space enough to accommodate 

largest room in the house.

 Now, I regress just to give 
you a little history about my 
folks. My mom and dad grew 
up in Worcester, Massachusetts 
during the depression. My dad 
left photography school to serve 
in the Navy on the USS Missouri 
during WWII. Meanwhile, my 
mother worked at her parents’ 
restaurant while honing her skills 
singing and dancing on stage. 
Shortly after my dad returned 
home from the war, they met, 
married and stayed that way for 
60+ years until they both passed 
away. Because of their own upbringing 
and life experiences, 
they had lots of valuable life 
lessons to share with us kids 
about gardening, building a 
home and practical ways to save 
money and feed a family while 
paying the bills. After all, God 
helps the man who helps himself, 
right? 

So, in 1968, while we were 
living in that reformed duplex 
on the mountain, another 
church family offered us a 
couple of rabbits, one male 
and one female as a gift to our 
family. Knowing it would be an 
awesome experience for us kids 
to have the responsibility and 
benefits of owning pets, as well as 
a little extra cash we would gain 
from selling some of the rabbits, 
and the supplemental food they 
would eventually provide, my 
dad accepted their kind offer. He 
immediately went about building 
an enormous above-ground 
hutch for them to snuggle and 
nest in. As you can imagine, we 
kids were very excited when the 
rabbits arrived.

 It didn’t take long before we 
had our first brood of bunnies, 
and each of us got to pick one to 
be our very own pet. I remember 
selecting the runt of the litter 
for myself. He had a silky brown 
coat, so I named him Cocoa. As 
the momma and poppa rabbits 
continued to proliferate, we 
were able to sell several of the 
bunnies to our friends in the 
neighborhood at Easter time. I 
also remember my dad helping 
me tote a few of them to my 
second-grade classroom for 
show and tell. What a wonderful 
memory that is for me now!

 Then, one day my dad came to 
us “little kids”, as they used to call 
me and my sister, 2 ½ years my 
senior, and explained that some 
of the rabbits might have to give 
up their lives in order to provide 
food for the table. At first I didn’t 
understand what he meant. I 
knew the chickens we kept in 
a coop in a separate area of the 
back yard were there to give 
us eggs, but the idea of a rabbit 
providing food made no sense to 
me whatsoever.

 My father was very careful 
to perform the necessary task 
of slaughtering selected rabbits 
early in the morning, while 
everyone was sleeping, to prevent 
us from seeing what was going 
on. He knew we would notice 
some of them missing the next 
day, and would have to address 
the issue in another conversation 
to clarify why he had to do what 
he did to feed the family, but he 
didn’t want us witnessing the act 
at such a young age. I remember 
asking my dad where the missing 
rabbits had gone, and that was 
the first time I finally understood 
that we needed to eat some of 
the rabbits as part of our means 
of survival. I cried hard for a 
long time when it hit me that the 
rabbit had to die for my sake. As 
I grew older, it became easier to 
accept the fact that some of those 
sweet bunny rabbits would have 
to sacrifice their lives to feed me 
and the rest of my family. 

Although I don’t eat rabbits 
today, I believe that my dad 
taught me a very valuable lesson 
by explaining how our food made 
its way to the table. Some kids are 
never told what goes on behind 
the grocery store counter… how 
some animals are sacrificed for 
human consumption. These days 
it is so easy to forget that nature 
and its creatures are indeed 
what feeds us. We go to the store 
and choose from an enormous 
selection of foods that have 
been prepared by other hands, 
and often don’t give it a second 
thought.

 After all, it is hard to think 
about how a steak is actually 
taken from a cow, or a pork loin is 
obtained from a pig. But I believe 
that carnivorous humans should 
have to witness the process at 
least once in their life, to earn 
the right to consume the meat 
they eat. The same goes for the 
vegetables we are blessed with. 
We should all have to experience 
the hard work that goes into 
planting and harvesting a garden 
that puts food on the table. It’s 
a basic part of our survival, and 
until we appreciate it, we are 
missing out on a very important 
basic precept of life.

 I hope we can all learn to value 
the foods we eat, particularly 
those who eat meat. Although 
I would like to see our society 
move away from eating animals, 
and having so much go to waste, 
I realize it is a very deeply rooted 
culturally accepted practice in 
our society. But, it is so very 
important for us to remember 
the sacrifices being made on 
our behalf. Show respect to all 
animals. Be humane in your life 
style by taking only what you 
need, and giving back what you 
can. Be grateful for what feeds 
you, and above all don’t forget to 
love and let live! 

LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND?

 So is Shawnee! She is a very pretty, friendly rabbitwho likes attention. She arrived at the shelter at 
the beginning of December and a few days later (onDecember 9) she had a litter of eight babies. Surprise!
They were Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, etc. She was a 
terrific mommy to her babies, and when they were oldenough they were separated and now six of the babieshave been adopted. Shawnee has always been very sweetand with that gorgeous brownish-orange and black coat,
she has it all! 

She is an American rabbit which is a rare specimenamong rabbit breeds. They are known for their calmtemperament and beautiful coat and Shawnee lives upto their reputation. She is spayed, micro-chipped andready to move in. Please stop by, feed her some carrot orbeet tops and get to know her. She would love to be part of a family!
She currently resides at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society located at 851 E. Grand Avenue in San 
Gabriel. We are located off San Gabriel Blvd., north of Mission and south of Las Tunas. 
To arrange a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Shawnee (aka….. 7807), please stop by any time from 10:00am to 
4:30pm Tuesday thru Sunday. 
Her adoption fee is $40 which includes her spay surgery and a microchip. Feel free to call us at (626) 
286-1159 for more information on Shawnee. 

 See our website at www.sgvhumane.org for information and photos of all our available pets. 


PET OF THE WEEK 

BALON: ANIMAL ID #A4688104 

Like a thief in the night, Baloo will steal your heart the 
second you meet him! That’s a good thing, considering he 
will do nothing with your heart other than fill it with joy. 
Baloo (A4688104) is a submissive seven-month-old gray and 
white male pitbull puppy who was forsaken at the Downey 
Shelter on March 22nd because his former owners moved 
and couldn’t be bothered to make arrangements for him. He 
seems confused as to why he is at a scary shelter instead of at 
a quiet home with loved ones. Weighing thirty-four pounds, 
Baloo is still working on his leash skills and will benefit from 
formal training. He has a medium energy level, gets along 
fine with other dogs and cats and volunteers think he will do 
great with children. He received an “A” on his shelter-given 
temperament test, and is just an awesome little guy with a 
lot of potential. If you are looking for a pet to give you true 
loyalty and devotion then this is the puppy for you! Baloo is 
a spectacular indoor pet for an individual or family living in 
a private home, and especially someone with a lot of love to 
give to show this shy, sweet boy how to enjoy life freely. Please think about adopting baby Baloo! To watch a 
video of Baloo please visit this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FxDJGutl7c 

To meet Baloo in person, please see him at the Downey Animal Shelter, located at 11258 S Garfield Ave., 
Downey, CA 90242 (Phone: (562) 940-6898). He is currently available now. For any inquiries about 
Baloo, please reference his animal ID number: A4688104. The shelter is open seven days a week, 12 pm-7 
pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Friday-Sunday. This is a high-intake shelter with a great need for 
adoptions. For more information about Baloo or the adoption process, contact United Hope for Animals 
Volunteer Adoption Coordinator Samantha at Samantha@hope4animals.org. To learn more about United 
Hope for Animals’ partnership with the Baldwin Park Shelter through its Shelter Support Program, as well 
as the many dogs of all breeds, ages, and sizes available for adoption in local shelters, visit http://www.
unitedhope4animals.org/about-us/shelter-support-program/.