Back in the 1960's my father took a job as MIS Director with the Quaker Oats Company in Chicago. Wanting to know as much about the company as possible, he visited all of their divisions and took a crash course in how the company made cereal, cookies, etc. One of Quaker's divisions at the time was Ken-L Ration, which was a popular dog food (Anybody remember the jingle, "My dog's faster than your dog..."?). My father learned firsthand how the product was made, which mainly consisted of horse meat. It was a very efficient operation and the company took great pride in how quickly and sanitary the process was to slaughter the animal and process it into dog food. So much so, Ken-L Ration was one of the few dog foods fit for human consumption. I won't go into detail as to how the animals were killed, but suffice it to say it was done very methodically and almost instantaneously so as not to cause the animal prolonged pain. The slaughterhouses have it down to a science and, in a way, they are much more humane than a lot of pet owners out there.
Man's relationship with animals is rather interesting. They have served us as companions, and as invaluable assistants in everything from hunting and transportation, to construction and menial tasks. We have used them for entertainment and sport, but more than anything we like to simply have them as pets. Dogs and cats predominantly take center stage when it comes to house pets, but it is not unusual to see caged mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, fish, parrots and canaries. Then, of course, there are the exotic animals creeping into homes, such as lizards and snakes, large cats, insects, monkeys, even bears. Many of the exotic animals can be dangerous if improperly handled and require considerable commitment to maintain them properly. I don't understand why people need such animals; I can only suspect it is primarily used to somehow attract attention. For example, why in the world would someone want to own a komodo dragon?
Last year, there was an incident reported here in Florida where a husband's pet python somehow escaped its cage and strangled his two year old infant in its bed. We also have a major problem down in the Everglades where people let their pets escape after they become tired or bored with them. As a result, we now have pythons and Boa constrictors challenging alligators for domination of the area.
It's bad enough that people want such pets, but who are the knuckle heads allowing this? Don't we have some heavy fines or penalties for owning such animals? If not, does anyone check to see if the owner has suitable facilities for maintaining the animal, or if they have proper training? It's a bit disconcerting to know there are fewer rules and regulations for obtaining a deadly animal as opposed to a gun. At least a gun doesn't have a mind of its own and doesn't require constant care and feeding.
Then we have the people who are either "hoarders" of animals or treat them as nothing more than a commodity. The "hoarders" are those who have dozens of cats or dogs running amok in their house. I guess the smell of feces and urine doesn't seem to bother some people, but it does promote the spreading of disease and attraction of vermin. Those who see pets as nothing more than a commodity are totally insensitive to animals as living organisms. These are the people who treat animals the most callously.
I don't know why we find it necessary to mistreat, abuse or neglect animals, but I think it says a lot about our sense of humanity. I have always been of the opinion there is a personal responsibility associated with having or working with animals. If we have a pet to comfort us, we should love and respect it, not abuse it. If we have an animal to work for us, we have to give it the same care and attention as we would give any piece of equipment, be it a tractor or truck. It's not smart to starve or abuse your workers, be they two legged or four. It just doesn't make sense.
There are laws to protect animals against cruelty and abuse throughout the United States. If you have got a concern about an animal being abused, contact local law enforcement officials. You may also want to report it to:
ASPCA - American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
These groups also accept donations which assists them in their work to protect animals.
If you are sincerely concerned about the mistreatment of animals, the worse thing you can do is to do nothing. In this instance, where the victims cannot speak for themselves, turning away from a known problem makes you just as guilty as the person committing the act.
As a footnote to my father's visit to the Kel-L Ration slautherhouse, as efficient as the company's operation was to kill and butcher the animals, it was a bit much for someone unfamiliar with such work. When my father called home that afternoon, he asked my mother what she had planned for dinner. For some strange reason, the idea of a "roast beef" didn't exactly sit well with him.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
For Tim's columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm
Years ago, the Firesign Theater comedy troupe recorded an album entitled "Everything You Know is Wrong" (Yes, I am a fan and still have the original LP). This particular album was a satire of New Age beliefs whereby they contend everything we have learned is absolutely wrong and we are all being intentionally misled. Large or small, everything we know is wrong; e.g., that the south won the Civil War, that the Aztecs invented the vacation, etc. It's a very entertaining album which Firesign fans know well.
When I got into the work force back in the mid-1970's it seemed everyone dressed in a suit and tie, drank black coffee, smoked their brains out, and worked their butts off. Today, golf shirts have replaced suits, herbal tea and bottled water have replaced coffee, nobody is allowed to smoke, and rarely does anyone work beyond 5:00pm. More importantly, we used to care about the work we produced; there was a sense of craftsmanship, regardless of the job. 
Customer Service is generally regarded as the "front-line" for any business. It is their responsibility to service the customer, answer questions, expedite problems and keep the customer happy, thereby encouraging repeat business. It is intended to make money, not lose it. At least, in theory, that is what it is supposed to be.
Years ago, actors and actresses used to say they were making "pictures" as opposed to movies. It wasn't so much an art form to them as much as it was about telling an interesting story. I used to love to go to the movies, but I tend to balk at today's comic book style computer generated reruns. True, I like the older films, but there are three pictures in particular I never get tired of watching:
Nope, its not the lawyers; its the "bean counters" that are ruining business. Let me give you an example, I know of a large machine-tool operation in the Midwest who used to be heralded for producing quality products. To this end, the company established an in-house school who taught their machinists how to build products, not just any old way, the company's way. The school was led by the senior craftsmen of the business who took pride in their workmanship and passed this on to the new employees. When an employee graduated from the school, a machinist not only knew his job, but took pride in his work and became loyal to the company due to its reputation. Even if an employee dropped out and went elsewhere, he would always recommend his former company's products because he knew they were built with quality. This school went on for a number of years and became a part of the corporate culture. However, in the 1980's the company hired a team of MBA's to look over their operations and make recommendations for improvement. You must remember, this was a time when cost cutting was the norm. After looking over the financial statements of the business, the management consultants concluded the school represented a costly overhead and convinced the company to close it down.
Something you don't hear much about anymore in American classrooms is "Civics" which was intended to teach the basic duties and responsibilities of citizens. Sometimes the class was called "American Government" as well. Regardless, the intent was to teach the mechanics of our government and citizenship. Unfortunately, you don't hear too much about Civics anymore, which is a pity as I believe there are a lot of people operating without even a basic understanding of what is going on in this country. This is why I believe everyone should be certified to be a citizen rather than just by birth right.
We have an expression we use around the office whenever we discuss a new idea and someone impulsively acts on it without first thinking it through, we call it "backing up the truck." This came about several years ago when we were discussing a publicity idea to promote our I.T. related products. Basically, we were thinking of writing a series of white papers on various subjects and mailing them to our customers and key contacts in the industry (e-mail was still in its infancy). At the time, everyone at the meeting agreed it was a good idea but we should sleep on it over the weekend. However, one of our guys took the initiative of calling a paper supplier and, lo and behold, on Monday morning a delivery truck backed up to our offices with a couple of skids of paper. We were all bewildered why the person ordered the paper before a decision had actually been made, hence the expression.
In all of my travels, I often run into companies who ask the same question, "Why can't we get our act together? Why does Project Management routinely fail in our company?"
Glenn Beck of the Fox News Channel has attracted considerable attention lately, not necessarily for what he has said, but for the advertising boycott of his show. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was the latest to sign his company up for the boycott. Whether it has truly had an adverse affect on Beck and Fox from a financial point of view is yet to be seen, but the boycott seems to have had little effect on their ratings which remains strong. It even seems the greater the outcry against Beck, the greater his numbers rise as more people tune in just out of curiosity as to what all the hubbub is about. This makes you wonder if boycotting truly works or if it can backfire on you.
I have never had much use for birthdays, a rather barbaric custom we invented to remind ourselves how old we're getting. I don't know about you, but I didn't have a heck of a lot to say about being born. It seems this is something parents should be celebrating rather than their offspring. Aside from my wedding anniversary, the only other holidays that have any meaning to me are Mothers Day and Fathers Day.
Back in 1994, the Republicans in Congress led a movement to implement sweeping government reforms in what was called a "Contract with America." This was a clever political ploy by the party to elect congressmen and, to their credit, they delivered on their promises. Whether you agreed with them or not is immaterial, the "contract" concept captivated the public's imagination as the politicians felt compelled to comply with it. Perhaps it is time to implement another "Contract with America," not so much to enact any particular legislation but to enforce how our politicians will act and behave while serving in office. Think about it, aside from their oath of office and the congressional rules by which they operate, there currently isn't anything committing an elected official to how he will represent his constituents. Polls tell us the American public believes government is broken and, consequently, have lost faith in their elected leaders. A formal contract would go a long way towards reestablishing trust.
I had a friend who used to be very class conscious when it came to work. He wouldn't socialize with other people he deemed below him and was very choosy when it came to where he lived. If the wrong class of workers were in the neighborhood, he wouldn't visit the area (let alone move into it). It had nothing to do with race or religion, only the types of jobs people had. In his mind, there was a clear delineation between people based strictly on their livelihood; e.g., blue collar labor, technical people, middle management, professional people, and executives. I guess we are all a little class conscious about how people make a living, a kind of one-upmanship, but I never saw it quite this vividly before.