Friday, August 12, 2005

special note: Salukis in Need

Hello, friends,

As many of you know, Salukis have been a big part of my life for going
on three decades. Yoda, my first Saluki, is the image at the top of my
gazehound.com website, and still a powerful and positive influence in my
life even though he passed away many years ago. He sparked a love and
respect for this breed that has become part of my core identity. As a
result, I'm led to do what I can, though often "what I can" doesn't seem
to be enough, to aid the breed in various ways.

I have been involved with the organization STOLA (Saluki Tree of Life
Alliance, Inc.), a national Saluki breed rescue group, since its
inception, and am still active as it's web maintainance person and as a
volunteer. As a volunteer of STOLA, I have recently been involved in a
dire situation that is going to need ongoing support in many categories.

While Saluki people on the whole are great folks, in every barrel there
are bound to be one or two bad apples. One of the "most rotten" in the
Saluki barrel is a lady who, among other names, Saluki people know as
Sandy Moss. Her Elektra Salukis have, for decades, been victims of her
mental illness and negligence. She is what modern psychology experts
refer to an "animal hoarder", and since the 1980s she has kept Salukis
in growing squallor, not tending to their needs, and allowing them to
breed indiscriminately. One time in the past she was brought up on
criminal charges, but after she got out, she moved to a new state,
changed her name, and went about collecting her dogs from "friends" who
hid them for her and started over again.

This past week, brave and dedicated volunteers, including STOLA
representatives, and a caring group of officials from her Virginia
county, finally obtained enough evidence to move in on Sandy Moss and
arrest her. Multiple counts of animal cruelty were pressed, and she is
currently in prison. While I cannot reveal any details of what the
rescuers found on her property due to the pending court procedures,
let's suffice to say that you probably don't really want to know
anyway. Many, many tears have been shed over these details.

The dogs are currently divided into two batches. One group of fourteen
was gotten out before the actual raid and are being fostered by a STOLA
representative. The other group of twenty five dogs is in the custody
of animal control, and must stay there for some time, as they are
evidence in the legal procedings. Both groups, however, are in dire
need of support, as a rescue of this magnitude is more than either
STOLA's budget or the budget of the animal care facility used by the
county are able to safely cover.

Due to the non profit nature of the organization, STOLA is not allowed
by the IRS to donate directly to the county run facility, but private
volunteers have put together a separate fund for that purpose. STOLA
has donated web space and an email address to those volunteers to help
out. If reading this message inspires you to learn more and possibly
make a donation to either group of Salukis, please feel free to visit
the STOLA website at http://www.stola.org. You will see links on the
front page to both the private page for the Elektra Saluki Aid Fund, and
to STOLA's main donations page.

I hope this note finds you all well, and that it has not disturbed
anyone. Salukis are a special part of my heart, and I would not be
emailing you this way if there was not a very special cause.

Thank you for your time,
--Gayle

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Gazehound's Animal Communication News, August 2005

*GAZEHOUND'S ANIMAL COMMUNICATION NEWS
*August 2005

================================
Keeping in touch with the animals....
and the people who love them
================================

TEACHERS, THE TAUGHT, AND THE UNTEACHABLE

We are all students of life, and the entire universe is our classroom.
As we walk though this life-school, we meet many teachers along the
way. In fact, just about everyone we meet teaches us something, even
when that something is a minor detail. Some teachers, of course, are
profound, having a vast impact in our lives. One thing it's been a true
privilege to witness as an animal communicator, is how so many people
consider their animal friends some of their wisest teachers.

So often, I talk with an animal and their human, and find that the
relationship between them is many-fold. Yes, they are human and pet ...
but I don't think I have yet to meet any human who feels that it ends
there. There is often a parent-child relationship involved, and believe
me when I say that the human is not always the parent in the deal.
There is of course a deep and faithful friendship. And almost always, I
find that the pair have learned so many things from one another. Very
frequently the human considers themselves a humble student of the
animals in their life, and often the animal will share with me the same
emotion ... that their human friend has taught them a great deal as well.

After have enjoyed this observation over time, I've come to the
conclusion that many humans take an enormous step forward in not only
their relationship with animals, but their own soul evolution, when
they accept the lessons that the animals (and all of nature) around
them have come to teach.

What do our animals teach us? The answer to that question is as
many-fold as there are human-animal partnerships on the earth. It
certainly is not for me to know, though occasionally I've been able to
aid the exploration, what lessons you and your animal are learning
together (though "patience" seems to be a common one ::smile:: ). To be
honest, I think it might count as cheating if someone were able to
reveal the answer to that question for you. Searching for that answer
is often part of the learning process, and sometimes one of its greatest
joys.

The animal companions I've known in life have been some of my greatest
teachers (although there have also been many human teachers that
certainly deserve a lot of credit, don't get me wrong). Each animal who
has passed through my life, however briefly, has taught me something.
The lessons have ranged from minor to life-altering, and I try always to
remember, and to give thanks for them. There have been times that some
of the most difficult moments have taught me the most beautiful
lessons. For instance, I've learned more from the death of a dear
animal companion than all the books in all the libraries in the world
could hope to teach me.

Life-altering.

The primary event leading me to the topic of this newsletter, however,
is a disturbing glimpse through the eyes of those who are too
closed-minded to admit to the lessons that can be taught by (in their
minds) "lesser beings". Last night, the National Geographic Channel ran
a travesty of a program called "Psychic Animals". I came away from
watching it so incredibly sad ... not sorry for the content of the show,
which was a joke, but sorry for the souls of the individuals who,
calling themselves "researchers", put the show together. It was
obvious that they began with the premise of "debunking telepathy", had
made up their minds long before they set up their experiments, and that
they jaded and shaded every experiment and every result to prove their
own preconceived point. By including only a very biased and basic
fragment of the communication session they chose to film, they
deliberately made all animal communicators and those who use them appear
to be naive fools. They completely discredited any claims of
intelligence in the animals they featured. Saddest of all, they
closed their own lives, as well as (unfortunately) the lives of the more
gullible of their viewers, off from receiving one of the greatest joys a
human can experience ... the chance of having an equal and intelligent
relationship with a member of another species.

As the saying goes, "There are none so blind as those who will not see."

However, as disturbing as this so called "scientific" show was, it left
me not angry, but thankful. I'm thankful that I've known animals who
have left me with a complete assurance that the skeptics who filmed that
program are wrong. I'm thankful for all the lessons, and all the beings
who taught them, that have blessed my life. And I'm thankful for all of
you -- knowing that there are many people out there who know what I
know, and feel what I feel, and will, despite the critics and the blind,
continue to teach others that we are not alone on this planet, but share
it with many other highly intelligent ... and communicative ...
individuals.

================================

FYI NOTES

Please remember that there have been some changes in amounts and
policies regarding the various discounts I give. Details can be found
on the Rates page of my website. In a nutshell, though, all discounts
will be standardized at 20% of the usual half-hour rate. For referral
credits, it is now required that the person who has referred someone to
me let me know that they might have a credit available when they call or
email to make their next appointment. This is something that has always
been suggested, but I've tried to keep track as well ... recent events
have made that a rather difficult task. Also, if you are kind enough to
refer someone to me, please also suggest /strongly/ that they subscribe
to this newsletter. It's the easiest way for me to keep up with my
clients on such issues, thanks!

================================

PREE'S TALK-TO-ME TIPS
... "Simple" Isn't Necessarily "Wrong" ....

Today's thoughts are my thoughts (though running them by Pree received a
"good idea"), and are sparked by events on the aforementioned TV show,
in particular the animal communication session ... or portion of one ...
that was featured. The communicator was talking with a horse, relaying
the owner's questions, and the horse was responding. The horse's
answers were not earth-shattering or complicated, they were simple
answers that a horse would give. The "researcher's" conclusion,
therefore, was that the communicator was simply relaying common sense
information that she would have known about horses anyway, and not
receiving anything telepathically from the horse.

Just because the answers were common sense answers, it doesn't mean the
common sense didn't come from the horse. ("Horse Sense!" -- Pree) The
owner asked general questions of the horse, so naturally the horse would
give general answers. When you ask a human being "How are you?" what
will the answer usually be? "Fine." No one would deem the "Fine" to be
an assumed response on the part of the asker, of course. So why should
"--more grass, please", in reply to a question about how a horse likes
her environment, not be a valid response from the horse?

Animal communicators do sometimes, even often, receive very specific
information from their animal clients. I've had many humans verify the
accuracy of such details. However, we also, often, receive general
answers to more general questions. This does not in any way invalidate
the fact that the animal is responding to the question, nor that the
person practicing animal communication is hearing them correctly. As
you practice talking to your own animals, and sometimes receive very
general answers, please don't let that cause you to doubt what you
hear. Sometimes the answers are, simply, simple!

(By the way, to all of you who will, as a result of this email, wonder
how Pree is doing...? She says to let you all know she's "Fine.")

================================
THE BLOG-WAGON

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by my Creature Thoughts blog. Please
feel free to interact by leaving comments and suggestions, asking
questions, or making requests for future posts. Remember, too, that
issues of this e-news will be archived there. In addition to Creature
Thoughts, I've started a couple of other blogs you might wish to take a
look at, which occasionally have related topics in them.

The original "Creature Thoughts" Blog: http://gazehound.blogspot.com
<http://gazehound.blogspot.com/>"Stream of (Sub)Consciousness":
http://stream-subconscious.blogspot.com
<http://stream-subconscious.blogspot.com/> is a place where I ramble on
about the esoteric, the philosphical, and probably even the ridiculous
at times.
"Point and Viewpoint": http://pointandviewpoint.blogspot.com
<http://pointandviewpoint.blogspot.com/> is a "reviews" site where I've
been posting thoughts on books, movies, television shows, etc.

--------------------

Gayle Nastasi
Animal Communication Consultant
http://www.gazehound.com/pets
Free bi-monthly newsletter:
http://www.gazehound.com/pets/acnewslist.html
Creature Thoughts Blog:
http://gazehound.blogspot.com
<http://gazehound.blogspot.com/>