But I ditched the previous idea for getting art for the page since it seems like no one was intersted. That's okay, I"ll get art for this one way or another.

I need to find time to start on that first essay dealing with why it's a good thing to care about the treatment of animals. After all how we treat animals reflects back upon us. Here are a few things I plan to address:

The effect of companions animals on human health and longevity.
The correlation between animal abusers/cruel death, and the abuse of people/murder.
How working with animals often helps troubled people get back on the right track.
How animals are often very good early warnings for imminent natural disaster.

These are just a few of the things popping around in my head. Many of these things above have good bits of evidence backing them. For example a recent study showed that looking at an aquarium can help lower blood pressure. Well taken care of dogs can also equal better fitness (dogs have to be walked). The presence of animals in a home also is linked to lesser levels of stress(I need to find the specifics on that one.

We also know that people who have a history of callously abusing/killing animals for pleasure end up being violent against people, and also tend to follow the path into being a murderer. On the other hand there are programs that pair troubled or criminal people up with working with troubled dogs and the result very positive for both human and animal. We also know from incidents like Tsunamis and Earthquakes that animals are very good indicators of danger. There are also so many stories of animals warning their owners of fire, toxic gases, and in the case of dogs sniffing out skin cancer when they are not even trained to do so. I hope to be able to dig up a lot of references for this. If there are other examples you know of that deal with how treating animals well and living well with them is good...please please drop your comments in the comment section.