Why I Give to Animal Charities - by Miss Bunny

Giving a percentage of my hard-earned cash to charities is something which has always left me with an immense sense of wellbeing. Not to mention a huge boost to my karma! As an animal/wildlife lover I took the decision a long time ago to concentrate on giving to just four charities which are prominent in this area. I feel that giving more money to fewer charities on a monthly basis will benefit them far more than if I just gave sporadically to seven or eight charities just to try and cover all the bases.

Some people question why I choose to give to animal charities and not human charities, as apparently this is selfish of me. But my answer is always the same: ‘animals are just as deserving as humans of protection. They can’t ask for help, so we have to be there to give them a voice’. To illustrate this point of view further; I don’t feel that my pet gerbil Big Sam is any less deserving of a life, protection, food and warmth than a pet dog or cat, or even a child. He is still a living creature and his life has meaning, especially to me the person who has fed him, looked after him and loved him for almost four years! Obviously if I was given the choice between protecting him and protecting a child I would pick the child, but it wouldn’t be an easy decision. I have always felt more of an affinity with animals and wildlife than with humans, I’m not sure why. I am always just as upset to see an animal injured or die in a movie as I am to see a human injured or die, perhaps even more so in some instances. I suppose that says something about my personality that isn’t necessarily good but I really couldn’t care less really. This is how I feel and have always felt. It really drives me crazy when people say ‘it’s only an animal’. Well you are only an animal. A life is a life, no matter who it belongs to.

This being said, Adam and I gave a large donation to the East Africa Drought Appeal recently, and we often give money to emergency appeals following earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters. We do this mainly to feel that we are helping people who desperately need financial assistant from the west. I know that I can’t just drop everything and fly out to them to help in person (which I would if I could), so donating a decent amount of money seems like the next best thing. Here’s a link to their website if you feel that you want to help out, they are still desperate for donations - http://www.dec.org.uk/

Also, check out my four  favourite charities; RSPCA, RSPB, Cat’s Protection & Dog’s Trust! Here’s some links to their websites…

RSPCA - http://www.rspca.org.uk/home

RSPB - http://www.rspb.org.uk/

Cat’s Protection - http://www.catsprotection.com/ (I adopted my kitty cat’s from this charity when it was still called The Cat’s Protection League!)

Dog’s Trust - http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/

Thanks for reading my rant!

--Miss Bunny