Imagine that you have a surfeit of time and/or money.
Maybe both (perhaps you are in the enviable position of running a large banking institution?). In a fit of selflessness, you decide to use this precious resource to help eradicate one of the many evils in this world. Good for you! The world needs more of your sort.
What will you do? Perhaps donate some money to buy food/shelter for one of the starving millions? Travel to a remote village to help dig a well/sanitise the water supply? Maybe you'd like to do something closer to home, and give a child a chance at a better life by fostering? Cancer - that's pretty nasty, and we don't have a cure yet, nor enough palliative care nurses.
So many deserving causes. Which should be the recipient of your generous gift?
But wait! What's this? Somewhere, a dog is unwanted by its owners. If someone can't give it a new home, it may have to be put down. Oh noes! This is a traged beyond measure. Luckily, you are here to help.

Sorry, I'm waffling on a bit. I'll cut to the chase: animal welfare charities (and their supporters) - self indulgent toss, at least to my mind.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 1 Mar 2012, 19:29, 2 replies)

It would be...
...if there were so few resources that the world as a whole had to make a genuine choice between feeding people and looking after fluffy animals.

But there isn't. There are enough resources in the world to support everyone in at least reasonable comfort if those resources were distributed evenly. But they're not.

And I'm not even talking about billionaires versus the rest, I mean you and me. Hey, you know what? I bought a DVD a few days ago, cost me a fiver. That fiver could feed a poverty-line family in Africa for, what, a week? Two weeks? Three? But I decided they can fuck themselves because I'd rather have a DVD. And all the other DVDs I've got. And the computer I'm typing this on. Plus my TV, my microwave oven, my books, clothes I never wear, the flat I live in that could conceivably house one other person at least, all that energy that goes on shipping food to me from around the world, all that oil that goes into the plastics that form my DVDs, CDs, PC casing, clothing etc. etc. etc.
(Harry Webshiter Spiggley biggley bog., Thu 1 Mar 2012, 19:38, closed)

Every day, 6,529 DVDs are consigned to landfill.
We can't let this go on.
Do the right thing - give a loving home to a DVD, today.

Our operators are waiting to take your call.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 1 Mar 2012, 19:55, closed)