Not only because I am an owner of two dogs, but because I love any animal and belive they should be treated with fairness and respect. This story gave me goose bumps, How could 100 dogs be killed just because they were too much money to keep. It’s a horrible, horrible  event that occurred and I hope that the company pays for their actions.

 Now for the individual who was told to commit this disgusting act, I know it would be easy to say he should pay for everything that he did and he should have stopped it and so forth, and I was one of those people, untill yesterday when I tuned into the popular radio station “the beat” 94.5fm. and while listening to the Kid Carson show where they discus a lot of topics, this being one of them, Kid had a very valid point. That under authority people tend to do what they are told. Now Id like to belive that if I where to ever be in a situation such as this (which heaven forbid I ever am) that I would tell my boss to F! off  and try my hardest to stop the situation from ever happening, but you never know how you would react in a situation till your actually in it. Now I am defiantly not defending this individual for what he did, not at all but before anyone can say he should pay or suffer for what he did you need to put your self in his shoes.

If someone in authority told you to do something wouldn’t you listen? If your teacher told you to stay after class, wouldn’t you? there are many situations where if another individual had power over you, you just do what your told. Now of course in this situation things occurred that shouldnt have and 100 innocent dogs lives were taken in horrific ways. I hope that this type of  incident never happens again and the right actions are taken to prevent this situation and the right actions are taken to make the company and any other individuals realize that this was the worst possible situation they caused. 

WHISTLER — A man who shot 100 sled dogs complained to WorkSafeBC B.C. that he suffered post traumatic stress after the slaughter and was granted compensation.

The news has horrified dog lovers and led to a joint criminal investigation by the RCMP and B.C. SPCA.

“Shocking doesn’t begin to describe what happened to these poor dogs,” said an emotional Marcie Moriarty, B.C. SPCA’s manager of animal-cruelty investigations on Monday.

“I don’t want to use the term euthanize because the man describes it as execution-style killings.”

A WorkSafe B.C. report dealing with the compensation, details the gruesome scenes on April 21 and 23, 2010, when the worker euthanized 100 dogs over two days. The size of the cull meant he had to kill the dogs in full view of the rest of the pack, leading to a bloody frenzy of wounded, frightened and angry dogs.

The dogs were buried in a mass grave.

One dog, Nora, was found crawling around in the mass grave 20 minutes after he had dumped her body into the pit. Others were chased, shot cleanly or died after their throats were slit. The employee, according to the report, was “covered in blood” when finished.

According to the report, on April 21, the man wounded one dog — Suzy, the mother of his family’s pet dog — who managed to run away despite having the left side of its cheek blown off and an eye hanging from its socket. A rifle with a scope was used to kill her from a distance; that bullet passed through her and seriously wounded Poker, a dog that wasn’t slated to be euthanized. It was later killed.

On April 23, one dog, who had part of its head blown off, attacked him after he ran out of ammunition. He killed the dog with a knife, slitting its throat while it was on top of him.

The report said the man, who had named and raised many of the dogs, has “continued to deteriorate mentally and emotionally” since the incident.

While not named in the WorkSafe B.C. documents, the man has been identified as Robert T. Fawcett, listed in corporate papers as a director of Howling Dog Tours Whistler Ltd.

In a Dec. 27, 2010, posting on a website forum for trauma sufferers, a Whistler resident named Bob Fawcett, an award-winning dogsledder, wrote: “I’ve had a pretty horrible ordeal and actually figure I may be able to be a good sounding board for others … and it has pretty much destroyed my soul.”

Outdoor Adventures at Whistler said in a release that it has had a “financial interest” in Howling Dogs Tour Whistler Inc., which has “operational control of the dogsledding operations,” for four years.

In the statement issued Monday, Outdoor Adventures said: “OAW was aware of the relocation and euthanization of dogs at Howling Dogs in April 2010, but it was our expectation that it was done in a proper, legal and humane manner.”

info from:

http://www.globaltvbc.com/money/Massacre+horrifies+shoots+sled+dogs+execution+style+after+Olympic+slowdown/4197145/story.html

Being a grade 12 student and taking part in this social justice class made my eyes open wider and my mind expand in all directions. it helped me learn that one person can start change no matter how little or big, everythingcounts. This class was an awesome experience and yeah it did get boring and all the reading material was dry, but besides that it was GREAT! i hope that the new students who have become a part of this one of a kind class will enjoy it as much as i have. I hope that each new student allows them selves to see all the issues that you will learn about as interesting and learn new ways to help make the world a better place

As for the great teacher, keep on teaching this class! it would have been so dull if you didn’t have the passion for teaching not only in a normal classroom, but in a class that can make a difference in the world you did an amazing job with the first Social Justice class (and we will always be the best ) i hope you have as much success with the next bunch as you did with us!

 ~ thanx again and to all those new Social Justice Kids! enjoy the class that will open up your mind to new experinces and a new way of thinking about issues! and also enjoy blogging its so cool to see that other people around the world actually take the time to read what your typing ~

not onlydoes it exist  in the ways of colour or race, but in all sorts of areas, such as age, sex, and even apperance. Not being hired for a job because your name seems “foreign” is so wrong!  It seems thses days discrimination has risen to whole new levels. Some sort of discrimination happens every day, if it a store woker following a teenager because they think there going to steal something, or a boss thinking because your a  girl your stupid and cant do things. So yes discrimination does exist.

With respect to the reading “The cycle of Socialization” by Bobbie Haro, he writes when explaining how our actions affect predjudice and discrimination, that “our silence is our consent.” (pp 20).

What does the author mean? Explain using examples, possible find articles that speak on this.

If you don’t speak up you accept what is happening.

http://silenceisconsent.blogspot.com/

Examples of this would be if you were to hear some person speack about a diffrent race or even the way a person choices to live their life and you dont state your opion about how those words make you feel.

Allowing for a person to say “oh thats gay” and just letting them say it. Your allowing people to get away with it and showing thats how you feel or that you accept it as being right.

It could also be concerning a casue that you are a part of, not speacking up to or against the government or what ever higher power you may have to, to get you point or feelings across.

 It just like being a witness to a crime or car crash and not coming forward to reveal the information that you hold. Being silent doesn’t get you anywhere, and shows people that you either dont care or well follow what ever is going on.

Throughout our history racism has taken part in creating the place that we are at today, weather it was the African Americans in the Untied States or the Japanese in Canada during World War Two. Racism has caused many troubles in people’s lives. Frantz Fanon wrote a paper about how difficult it was for him to a black man. The struggle caused him to be unable to accept himself for who he was born as, racism caused him feelings of self-hate and confusion. In Frantz paper he wrote a line that shows how any person who was discriminated against about their race would feel. “Resign your self to your color the way I got used to my stump; we’re both victims.” Having racist comments thrown around would cause a person to feel unworthy and ashamed of whom they are. Racism has done this for years and still happens in life today

Is racism wrong? YES, it is not only in the way of affecting people’s self worth but in a biologiacal sense. The human species is classified as a being who can reproduce offspring which who can also reproduce, creating the never ending circle of life. So if any other race can reproduce offspring within their own race or even with another, are they not apart of the human species? Through classification they are no different from the dominate race.

Racism has affected many people for many years, causing people to feel worthless, like they don’t belong, and that they are something other than a human being. Racism is a part of what we have become as a society, it is what we have learnt from the history of the world and will continue as long as people are afraid of change and differences.

Tamil protesters leave Toronto highway Updated: Mon May. 11 2009 12:37:48 AM ctvtoronto.ca Thousands of Tamil protesters have left Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway, after surging onto the highway to call attention to the escalating civilian death toll in Sri Lanka. Around midnight, protesters began making their way down an on-ramp as police monitored the situation. Some told ctvtoronto.ca they planned to take their demonstration to Queen’s Park. Reporters and witnesses at the scene said the demonstration was largely peaceful. However, police arrested at least one person and video taken from a nearby highrise showed a bicycle being thrown at officers. Activists demanded to speak to a representative of Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the civil war in Sri Lanka, but police said that would not be possible. Reports say the protesters agreed to leave the area because the Liberal party said it would address their concerns in Parliament. Police Chief Bill Blair told reporters late Sunday it was an “unlawful and unsafe” protest, and the RCMP and the OPP were assisting. He said protesters gave no indication they were planning to take to the Gardiner. Blair also said he was extremely concerned about the presence of children at the protest and said the elevated highway itself was very dangerous for people on foot. “I’m very concerned about the safety of children, I think it’s an extremely dangerous situation to put children on the front line of a protest in that way, I think it puts them at tremendous risk,” he said. Ghormy Theva, a protester on the Gardiner, told CTV Newsnet Sunday evening that demonstrations would continue until “definite” action was taken by the Canadian government. At one point, more than 100 Toronto police were on the scene and had set up a perimeter on the highway. Vehicular traffic was severely backlogged on the Gardiner, a major thoroughfare in the city. Officers on the scene were reportedly armed with tear gas, and police described the protesters as “uncooperative.” The national spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress. David Poopalapillai, told CTV Newsnet Sunday that “desperate times call for desperate action.” But he said he was taken “off-guard” by Sunday’s protest and said recognized the inconvenience it caused to motorists. A second protest shut down the University Ave. and College St. intersection. The protesters rallied after international news agencies reported nearly 400 civilians were killed during an overnight artillery bombardment. The Sri Lankan military is denying launching the assault that killed 378 civilians and wounded about 1,100. Thousands are fleeing Sri Lanka’s war zone as tensions between the military and Tamil Tiger rebels escalate. Reports are hard to confirm because of a ban on journalists and aid workers in the war zone. Late Sunday, protesters disputed the death toll from the artillery bombardment, saying it was in the thousands. The demonstrators protested in Toronto yesterday afternoon as well, marching through the city and ending up on the lawns of Queen’s Park. On Sunday, about 2,000 Toronto Tamils crowded several streets, making their way in front of the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090510/Tamil_protest_090510/20090511?hub=Toronto

This is a great way to get a point out and allow for your voice to be heard. When I heard about this on the news, I had to write a blog about it. Not only did this protest stop trafic but it actually got the attention that they wanted to gain.

 The only thing that i didnt get is whats wrong with having children being apart of it? if they understand what they are doing they should be able to join in. How would taking part of this walk be dangerous for a child but not for an adult???? I found that strange……..

 I feel that this is a large problem so many people have gone missing, it almost seems like no one but the families are trying to keep up the search for justice. Once again this seems to be a issue that has been swept under the rug. I could not even begin to understand what the families  are going through, some of these missing girls have been missing since 1969, that’s 40 years!  not knowing were your loved one is, or what has happened to them for 40 years!!! thats just wrong. These issues need to be looked at and taken more seriously by everyone,not just the families.

Now what could be done? Im not 100% sure because the families seem to be  keeping  the pressure up on the law inforcers and such to try and find information. But what could we do? The only thing that I could think of  would be to educate people, by passing along information on what has happened and what is going on. There is a website dedicated to the High Way of Tears. So to help educate people the website is posted.

http://www.highwayoftears.ca/

There were also other students who attended this event who shared their projects with us. These really tiny girls from King George Secondary shared their video of Homelessness in the D.T.E.S and the ways that they are working together with their school to help people become more educated about this issues and also helping out the people of the D.T.E.S.  It was an awesome event and I learnt more ways to help change. This confrence was inspireing and allowed me to gain more knowledge and confidence that I can help give to a cause and promote change in whatever  I feel strongly about.

I want to say thank you to my Dad for driving the three of us! Melissa and Dahn for going on a Saturday, when they could have stayed at home and slept in and finally To Mr. Carlyle for telling us about the conference.

What is this groups experience of poverty? (financial hardships, lack of materials, exclusion)

Who is in this group? (ethnicities, ages, genders, locations)

What is the cause of their poverty?

What barriers do they face in overcoming poverty and how can they eliminate it?

A good place to look for answers is in organizations set up for this group, government documents and media source

Josephine Watson is a single mom who brings in about $2,000 a month — and half of that goes to feed her three teenage boys. There’s not much left for other essentials. Even though the boys try to pull their weight with a paper route, it’s nearly impossible to make ends meet.”We notice when our mom is stressed and everything affects us,” said Josehpine’s son Matt. “We are living through a hard time.” Her children are part of a troubling statistic for the province: B.C. has the highest child poverty rate in Canada. Sixteen per cent of children in this province live beneath the poverty line. That’s despite success in other provinces that have brought their rates down. In Alberta in 1997, the child poverty rate was 15 per cent — and now it’s been cut in half. In 2006, the rate was 7 per cent. But B.C.’s child poverty rate has stayed stubbornly high. Experts say that this is dangerous — if a child doesn’t get the nutrition he needs in the early years, he’ll grow up not being able to learn well and not healthy. That can cost our health care system in the future. That’s no surprise to those who help the poor every day. Many of those relying on food banks are children. ”I go to the food bank to replenish my food every two weeks,” said one patron, who gave her name as Lana. “It keeps us in a safe spot in my head and in my heart.” Why does B.C.’s child poverty rate remain so high? Many social groups say one reason is our minimum wage. Eight dollars an hour was the highest minimum wage in the country in 2001. Since then, other provinces have moved beyond that. Now, B.C. has the second lowest wage in the country. Only New Brunswick’s is lower now but the government there plans to up it to $8.25 by the fall — leaving B.C.’s minimum wage workers at the bottom. Watson makes more than minimum wage, but paying the bills is still a struggle, and she worries about her mounting debt.”I feel like I will not get out of this situation while my kids are still living with me, which is pretty sad and hopeless, and I try not to feel depressed,” she said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Mi-Jung Lee 

B.C.’s Shame: The highest child poverty rate in Canada

Updated: Wed Apr. 01 2009 07:45:50

ctvbc.ca

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090330/bc_bcshame01_090330/20090330/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

This group is single parents who makes minimum wage or just a bit higher, in the lower mainland. Not being able to make a sufficient amount of money to pay the bills and feed the kids is what is affecting these people. With three teenage boys to feed that takes so much money because lets face it boy eat a butt load. Struggling to feed her family and also trying to pay the bills on 2,000$ is that possible?  The only way that I could see fixing this problem would be to get another job that pays more. But right now in to days world that doesn’t seem possible. These days you need to have higher education to make more then 10 dollars an hour. Which isn’t always possible for people because of how crazy the coast for that can become. All in all it is a vicious cycle that seems to be growing.

I feel that it is important to  fight for children rights because they dont really have the power to do it themselves. Look at the children soldiers, they either become one and possibly die  or get killed. Its a death or death situation  for them. By fighting for children rights it allows people to help in anyway they can. Like how UNICEF and other organizations help by sending aid or what ever is  needed  to these countries to help. Children our the future of the world and if there isn’t any left because of abuse over power, then how will the world move on?