Simon Cowell Talks Shelter Dogs, Obama’s Choice, And Michael Vick With PETA

by Michael dEstries May 15, 2009
Categories: Animals
Tags: michael vick, simon cowell.

American Idol judge Simon Cowell has long been on our list of famous animal lovers — but in a new interview with PETA, he really opens up on the topic. Everything from his feelings on Obama’s decision not to get a shelter pup to Michael Vick’s abuse of pit bulls is covered. Below are some highlights:

His thoughts on the First Family’s new pup:

I think we’ve got to be balanced on this. I think—on a positive note, I think it’s nice that they have made an issue of buying a dog for the kids. What I think would be great would be if they also took in a shelter dog, just from anywhere, to balance it. I’ll even pay for the dog food!

On people who chain dogs up for life outside:

That’s disgraceful. The awful thing about what that person doesn’t realize is that in the dog’s mind, as he’s being chained up … that dog has put his trust in the person who’s chaining him. That dog would give up his life nine times out of 10 for the person who’s chaining him up. … For a dog, under those circumstances, just to be left alone, starving to death, lonely and thirsty, is about as low as a person can go. You’ve got to have a really warped, disgusting personality to want to do something like that. That really disgusts me.

On Michael Vick’s animal abuse:

He should never, ever be publicly supported again. Ever. If people really knew the gory details of what he was doing …. They think it was just a dogfight, but what do you do after the fights? The way they kill the maimed dogs ….

Check out the rest of the interview here.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →

s

ok, i agree that chaining dogs outside isn’t the kindest thing to do, but when i was a little kid we had a dog that was tied up in the backyard. she had a big doghouse, we walked her twice a day and we fed her. does that make my parents “warped [and] disgusting”? i don’t think so. maybe naive (is that how you spell it?), but certainly not warped and disgusting.
sorry. just saying.
Get Technical

s,

I don’t think you and your parents were warped, just uninformed.

Not many people are perfect pet owners. Some don’t even realize they’re hurting their animals. That’s the whole point of education.

keeping a dog tied all day still isn’t kind and healthy, especially during extreme cold or extreme heat (dogs can’t sweat and get overheated easily).

The chain could feel heavy or raw and hurt its neck. Plus, a twice a day walk is not enough. Dogs needs to run around and socialize with other dogs too (the dog park is for hookups…just kidding)

As a human, I wouldn’t want to be chained up all day long.

It would have been better to have your dog walk around freely outside (when the weather permitted) and a nice tall fence so she/he couldn’t get loose. An electric fence is not the greatest, but it’s even a better option than chaining.

Hopefully, more people will make a greater effort to give animals better care once they’ve learned how seemingly harmless traditions have been shown to be detrimental (e.g. chained dogs have been shown to bite more).
http://RawfoodsRetreat.com erin

Don’t crucify me but if someone has a biiiiig fenced in yard (or properties or acreage) and the dog reallly likes being outside and is NOT on a leash then I don’t think it’s terrible if s/he spends some time outside but should be allowed in or at least in a nice warm barn at night. And only dogs who love this (I have known cases where they do) But NO chains. Ever. Not cool. Again, some people are just misinformed. It used to be the norm but is finally changing. Let’s think about it.

Is it normal to buy or adopt an animal and keep it chained to a tree or fence? is it humane? Does the animal like it? heck no…..

My parents weren’t allowed to fence because of neighborhood covenants and all this crap growing up.. so they tried the chain thing. I took the dog to a field nearly every day and let her run run run. She was a border collie (SO smart and loved to run!) We found her as a stray in Honeytown hence her name Honey.

Sadly she died in a tornado but at least I know that for the years she lived she could run and got looong walks. Any time they tried that chain BS I took her out to the country (3 minutes away lol!) and let her run! She loved it. I know she’s in doggie heaven running today. NO dogs likes a chain. IT’s not right. If you’re going to put the dog on a chain then don’t have a dog. If you have a farm and the dog stays outside most of the time it’s ok if the dog is happy SOme love it. Others don’t but no dog likes a chain

E
Whoever…

It’s not okay to keep animals chained… Especially nowadays when we already know that they have emotions and feelings just like us. None of us would like to live in chains…

However, although I agree with Mr. Simon I would like to know if he’s a vegetarian!

I believe people like him (in case he’s not a veg*an) are either very uninformed or they only care about certain animals.
Worse than keeping a dog chained, is what happens in the meat industry or the tests done on animals (which includes the make-up put on Mr. Simon when he goes on television – I doubt they use make-up that wasn’t tested on animals), etc.

Therefore and even though it’s good that public figures express their concern about animal abuses, maybe they should set an example first.
Because they will be compared to ‘real’ animal rights activists and then those who don’t care about animals will just say AR people are hypocrites. Which doesn’t help the ’cause’!

At least that’s my opinion.
Ashley

He is not vegetarian and definitely not vegan.

Proof:

animalaid.org.uk – 2002 interview, Tries being Vegetarian for a week, concludes he won’t become one

guardian.co.uk – 2005 interview, lists lots of meat he likes
Ashley

So yes, the guy has favorites when it comes to animals (like a majority of Peta celebs such a Jenna Jameson and that Kardashian chick.)
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Jeri

GO Simon!
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