to be blubbing over those donkey and general animal charity ads but the starving children ones...

[CaptainTripps]

and suchlike leave me cold.

I mean ffs what is wrong with me? It should be the other way around.

Have I got an human empathy chip missing? I feel really bad about this.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I am moved by some adverts for both people and animals but not by others.

Adverts are just pr, some better executed than others.

The causes behind those adverts all move me. I'd he destitute if I gave to them all.

I find the ones about elderly people having no one particularly awful, because it's so easily rectified.

I can see where the people who are saying animal abuse is equal to child abuse are coming from. I don't exactly agree but will say I am highly dubious of anyone who abuses animals parenting skills.

The only charity I can categorically say I will never donate to is the RSPCA. Related to a personal dealing I had with them it has left me very dubious of them as an organisation.

[Takingbackmonday]

I would never give to the RSPCA purely because of their political motives

[Caitlin17]

Curlew you're also ignoring my point the 2 animal charities are expected to fulfill a quasi-judicial role with no funding.

Which would you prefer?

Let's give them no money and put this function soley on the police and stretch their resources? or
Let's give them no money and just not bother about enforcing the law?

[Mirage]

I support charities for working animals,such as SPANA and PFK.They help both animals and their owners in poorer countries.At the end of the day,if their donkey/camel/oxen/horse can't work,the family starves.Win win as far as I'm concerned.However I would never donate to the RSPCA,they are worse than useless in my experience.

[Caitlin17]

curlew And you think they're not ? Suggest you read the annual reports of both and see exactly the horrors they are dealing with.

Woo has given you an explanation of why the NSPCC holds reserves. I don't know the figures for the RSPCA but the SSPCA has nothing like that amount of cash.

[curlew]

I want them to use their cash reserves!

[Caitlin17]

Thank you Woo. Curlew is also ignoring the fact the SSPCA and RSPCA have responsibility for dealing with crimes which can be serious enough to merit jail sentences with no state funding.

[Caitlin17]

curlew And your point is? Would you prefer it wasn't funded?

Are you aware there is research clearly demonstrating the sort of person who can be casually cruel to an animal is very, very likely to be the sort of person who will be casually cruel to a child?

[WooWooOwl]

So does the NSPCC

^Reserves
Total reserves decreased by £0.8 million to £71.5 million. We aim to retain sufficient free reserves in a range equivalent to approximately three to five months’ forward expenditure. These reserves are held in case of any sudden decline in income and to ensure that contractual commitments to staff, premises and funding partners
to provide services to children can be made with some confidence.
At 31 March 2011 Unrestricted Free Reserves were £47.5 million (2010 £46.2 million) and were equivalent to 3.7 months forward expenditure (2010 3.7 months^

[curlew]

The RSPCA has huge financial reserves......

[Caitlin17]

I agree with Woowoo. I'd turn the question on its head? How can you not emphasise with any sentient being which is suffering deliberate torture.

Please also consider the SSPCA and RSPCA get no government funding despite the fact part of their work involves the detection , prosecution and hopefully prevention of serious crime.

[BlingBang]

The children ones get to me - I'd pick a children's charity over an animal charity every time, in fact I refuse to give to animal charities. Saying that, I tend to avoid comic relief, children in need etc and often turn over the adverts for children's charities as they are just too upsetting, especially the abuse ones.

[Writerwannabe83]

Tell me about it, I have never found myself having to pre-apologise for things that may be misunderstood until I joined MN I think 99% of the posters have enough common sense in them though to understand the point someone is trying to make but you're right, there are always some who like to jump in

[Takingbackmonday]

Yeah... I care for all starving kids EXCEPT the African ones - Christ can you imagine? Still, people are quick to jump.

[Writerwannabe83]

- good job you cleared that up talking I was just about to reply about your unacceptable racism! Joking obviously

[Takingbackmonday]

And I agree with WooWoo

How is it worse? Of course if it's your own child, but why is hurting a child worse than hurting an animal? If anything, animals have less understanding .

[Takingbackmonday]

Just to clarify i don't mean I change over if they are African - that would be terrible! I meant that the appeals are usually for parts of Africa.

[Takingbackmonday]

I am exactly the same.

Animal adverts make me well up; starving children - usually African - make me change channel. I KNOW how awful that sounds and I think it is due to being desensitized; these pictures/videos are everywhere and there is always another campaign. Perhaps something the charities should think about.

[WooWooOwl]

I don't think child abuse is any worse than animal abuse to be honest, although I know that will probably shock some people

Not shocked. Disgusted. Repulsed. Ashamed that humans could feel that way. But not shocked.

woowooowl what an ignorant, offensive comment.

I hope you don't work with children at all.

How bloody naive. I'm incensed and disgusted that anyone could think that.

Why?

I'm genuinely interested in why people think that human suffering is somehow worse than bears or elephants or whatever suffering.

The pain is the same. Their ability do do anything about their abuse is the same. They are equally helpless, and they are capable of feeling the same levels of pain and mental anguish.

Note that I'm not saying that I'm not upset by child abuse. I am. But I am equally upset by animal abuse. It's horrible to see any living being abused and tortured at the hands of someone. Why is that something that disgusts others so much?

[curlew]

I think there is a lot of ignorance about the causes of deprivation in the developing world. And the impact that our lifestyles and the decisions the politicians we elect have on people in other countries.

[TeaAndCakeOrDeath]

Writer I agree too, for all those saying they are not moved by the adverts, its one thing to have the nspcc "little Max has stopped crying because nobody comes" played by actors on the tv which you can turn over/mute, its quite another to have 'little Max' right in front of you sobbing with pain because his feet are hurting (shoes have holes in and feet are wet/cold for long periods of time) or find him stealing food from the kitchen because he's so bloody hungry (Sunday afternoon) having gone without food since his last free school meal

*Both cases I have worked in case anyone thought I was being dramatic

[AmberLeaf]

Bloody donkeys!

It is awful that some children are having to live in such awful conditions but it isn't anything that is purposefully being inflicted on them by other cruel individuals, it is just the way of the 3rd world country they live in, the causes are natural and although it is very unfortunate there isn't anyone to blame for it

That is not true, the causes are not natural at all.

[Caitlin17]

I also agree with the posters who said inflicting cruelty on an animal is as bad as inflicting cruelty on a child.

I think I feel that way because what scares, depresses and sickens me is the mindset of the person who can do either and knowing such people exist.

Oh, it may have changed but I believe until recently The National Trust trumped most others.

[Writerwannabe83]

Snap, I work with children and families in deprived areas too and totally understand what you mean I see neglected children and abused children (physical and sexual) and when I see what dire circumstances some of the families are forced to exist in, well, it leaves me feeling disheartened that in a country like ours people are being forced to live like this. I admit that my job leaves me feeling very upset at times but at least I know it means that although adverts about dirty water don't move me to tears, I must have some form of human empathy As another poster said up thread, seeing something on TV is not the same thing as seeing something in real life and having to actually accept that such neglect and suffering is actually out there.

[DontmindifIdo]

Well then, I don't find animal charity ads particularly move me, but then I'm unusually unsentimental about animals. I will insist on non-cheap meat that's been ethically reared, but that's a more logical "what's right and wrong" argument than particularly caring. (I'm not sure if that makes sense)

But of the children's charities that upset me, it's often cruelty rather than starvation that upset me more. This thread has made me think about it and I think there's truth in the fact for my whole life, there's been collections for starving children in Africa. There seems to be an acceptance that you cna't just throw money at the 3rd world and expect it solve the problems long term. There will always be another famine, another drought, another natural disaster in that part of the world, and there's enough corruption that there's an element of even if you do send money, it's not going to fix the problem. That it's part of the world that is hard to sustain life so you are only ever going to offer a short term solution, with problems made worse by actions of people in positions of power.

To me, I expect to hear about children starving in Africa, I always have and I suspect I always will. However, I don't expect children to be living in terrible conditions in this country, I expect that as a civilised country with a lot of money and no natural disasters, we should be able to afford a decent standard of living for all children and for authorities to keep them safe, that we can't is something that jars more, and feels more like a fixable problem.