Consequences

Consequences

Consequences – By now a lot of people have seen the video of the man – (allegedly) abusing a young, female Doberman on an elevator in an upscale Vancouver condo. He may have felt that he was out of sight – not being seen. Whether he only momentarily lost his temper or not – I don’t know. What I do know is that what he appeared to be doing to this dog – (if accurate) – in the video is wrong.

To deliberately harm a defenceless – leased and collared dog in a confined space – where she has no means of escape is a despicable act of bullying and brutality. A school yard bully does this type of thing because there is no one there with the power to make it stop for the child being bullied. Animals suffer the same appalling reality.

This dog – Sade – had no champion in her corner either – except as is turned out – an elevator video camera. Someone saw that video and decided that this behaviour was not tolerable. He (or she) acted upon their conscious and exposed the (alleged) abuse.

As is turns out this man is the CEO of a corporation and the company took action when the video surfaced. No company likes to have its reputation questioned or tarnished and they responded when the video was exposed. This is the statement that was issued regarding the incident:

Centerplate Issues Statement Following Internal Review of Animal Cruelty Incident Involving CEO Des Hague-Censures, Penalizes and Places CEO on Indefinite Probation

PR Newswire

STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 27, 2014

STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Centerplate’s Board of Directors recently convened a special meeting following the completion of an internal investigation and review of an incident involving animal cruelty by its CEO Des Hague.

“We pride ourselves as individuals and as a company on how we treat others – both humans and animals. The company finds Mr. Hague’s personal behavior unacceptable and outside the bounds of our high standards and expectations of all of our staff. We do not condone nor can we overlook the mistreatment of animals and Mr. Hague’s personal misconduct.

Thus, upon internal review of the incident, and recognizing that Mr. Hague is truly ashamed of his actions and has expressed sincere remorse and shame for erratic behavior that is uncharacteristic of him we have decided to take the following immediate actions:

Mr. Hague will be given a written censure by the Board whereby he will be placed on indefinite probation stating that any further acts of misconduct would result in immediate termination.

As a condition of his continued employment with Centerplate, Mr. Hague will personally donate $100,000.00 USD which will be donated towards the establishment of the Sade Foundation in honor of the dog he mistreated in the elevator to help support the protection and safety of animals in the city of Vancouver where the incident occurred.

Further, we are requiring Mr. Hague to serve 1000 hours of community service in support of an organization that serves to protect the welfare and safety of animals.

Centerplate in no way condones the mistreatment of animals, and as a strong sign of our conviction, we the company will also contribute a portion of our sales to the Sade Foundation. Additionally, we will open this foundation to all Centerplate employees and the general public who want to support and contribute in the hope that meaningful change can come out of this tragic situation.

Mr. Hague still faces potential charges in Vancouver, where he is personally responsible for charges and fines in relation to the incident”.

My Personal Feelings About This Incident – I was happy to see such an immediate reaction to an event involving abuse to a defenceless animal (even though it is still being referred to as “alleged”). Regardless – the swift censure of this individual – shows the type of “consequences” that need to be applied to all forms of animal abuse – anywhere in the world.

If abusers (either individual or corporate) – realized that society will NO longer tolerate animal cruelty and that there will be significant consequences to that chosen behaviour – things would change very quickly. Laws would be updated – judicial systems would react with more appropriate sentences than exist today in most abuse cases – substantial fines would be levied and paid – and jail time would be assessed where needed.

I strongly believe in the need for a Global Animal Abuser Registry – for those individuals or companies – who are proven to be guilty of deliberate abuse to sentient beings. All creatures have no voice – and therefore no choice in the cruelty being inflicted upon them – and are therefore doomed to suffer in silence.

Consequences to all proven and documented acts of cruelty and abuse – that are swift and appreciable – would create the change that is desperately needed globally. We can never hope to live in a peaceful world when we tolerate cruelty to those who are at our mercy.