There are some wonderful ladies in our cause who, single handed, have
done remarkable work for God’s precious animal kingdom: One of them
contacted me earlier this year: Janice Down whom I first met in
Portsmouth, I’d been overtaken by the heat following a rally, a long
procession of witness, and then a memorial service at the docks. Janice
- a dedicated nurse soon got me fully recovered. Indeed, at a later date
I had the honour of christening Janice's child Jack, during a memorable.
animal blessing service in the prestigious church of St James,
Piccadilly
And now, a decade later, one discovers that this unassuming young
lady has inaugurated an outstanding animal sanctuary in Shrilanka. What
stick-ability and stamina! Well I don’t know about you, but I get
cheesed off with begging letters coming through the post from leading –
tax exempt ‘charities’; while their shops appear to have an unfair
advantage over ‘the little man’: the struggling, small trader. What is
more - in their literature – they, more often than not, request a
specific box be ticked, plus amounts suggested; £2,500, £700 £150, £100,
£50. or a blank for an ‘assumed’ paltry less!
Well, 1 have never once asked for a donation concerning the costs
incurred in publishing this News Letter or the amount of work one seeks
to accomplish for our great cause Until recently, I have not asked for
expenses to cover rallies in which one was asked to participate and this
included Southern France's bullfight last May! Consequently. 1 find
myself depositing begging letters of all types straight in to the
rubbish bin; yet making sure I use any prepaid return envelopes enclosed
as an outlet for animal activist tracts
Last month a collector came to our door. "I've come about Age
Concern" he said Well my face in up: “Oh, do come in!" I said, "You are
most welcome!" He looked a little taken back and added "I deposited an
envelope with you!" "Yes" I said: “I found it but there was nothing
inside, and you'd forgotten to seal it. Never mind, I'm glad you've
returned Wont you come in?” The ‘poor' fellow - well, hardly! - declined
and appeared embarrassed. “But I’ve come to collect the envelope” he
said. "You mean you brought it empty the other day and today you want it
back? That doesn't make sense!"
I then chose to embarrass the fellow no further. With a large smile,
1 said: "I'm a senior citizen turned 74, one that Age Concern was
founded to financially help" .1 then tried to let him see that I'd been
'pulling his leg’ and dropped a couple of coins in to his envelope.
Well, he was hardly the laughing type and left even more embarrassed
still.
Animal Padre's
