It was the murder that shocked the world. It was these worlds that shocked the world: “I can’t breath. Please. I can’t breath. Mama! Mama, I’m through.”
Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin tortured and suffocated African American George Floyd to death for 9 straight minutes. It was arguably the longest 9 minutes in history. The world died with Floyd that day.
Floyd’s death was the straw the broke the camel’s back (pun intended). This is the beginning of the end of Police Brutality. No more. In some cities, police officers are marching with protestors, taking a knee in the Kaepernick position and holding up signs against police brutality. That’s some positive change right there.
Murals of George Floyd going up in countries around the world. Even Iran put up a George Floyd mural. The world is tired of America’s police brutality towards black people. Americans are also tired of police brutality towards African Americans.
We all need the police. Nobody’s disputing that. But, we also know that the only thing worse than a thug, is a thug with a badge. We the people, are policing the police with our smartphones.
The US has an opportunity here to make it right. George Floyd did not die in vain. Black Lives DO Matter.
No lives will go in vain. No pain will go unnoticed. Amen.
Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin suffocated George Floyd to death with his knew
Have you ever seen an actual murder in real time on video? – Well friends, the suspense is over. 46 year old African American, George Floyd was suffocated to death for 9 straight minutes by Officer Derek Chauvins’ knee. Yes, his knee.
4 Minneapolis police offers responded to a call about a man forging a check to buy groceries at Cup Foods in South Chicago. Once the officers located Floyd, they asked him to step out of his car. The officers said he resisted, but they still managed to swiftly put him in handcuffs and bring him to the floor.
The officers noticed he was in medical distress and called for an ambulance. But that wasn’t good enough for Officer Derek Chauvin. He kept his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck like there was no tomorrow. Look at Derek’s hands by his upper thighs. Do you know why he keeps them there? – By keeping his hands almost to his waist level, it puts the full amount of his weight into Floyd’s neck.
Mr. Floyd was totally subdued on the ground. Zero threat to the police at that point. He had no weapons on him either.
If you watch the video you can hear Floyd say “I can’t breathe. Please I can’t breathe.” – You can also hear bystanders say that his nose was bleeding and he was becoming non-responsive. But that still wasn’t good enough for Officer Chauvin. He kept digging his knee forcefully into Floyd’s neck.
You might be asking why would the officer keep his knee lodged into Floyd’s neck while waiting for an ambulance? Great question. Clearly the officers knew he was sick as they were the ones who called the ambulance.
But Officer Chauvin enjoyed inflicting the pain on Floyd. That’s why he didn’t stop for 9 straight minutes. Chauvin even would arch his back at times to instill even more force into Floyd’s neck.
George Floyd was not only murdered, he was tortured and tormented to death for 9 whole minutes. That’s a long time while you’re choking to death.
The 4 police officers on the scene, including the murderer, Chauvin were immediately fired upon watching the video. I believe they are still getting paid. So, that’s kind of another bull_hit “Leave of Absence.”
Minnesota has not had the death penalty since 1911. It’s time for them to bring it back and execute Officer, Derek Chauvin.
In observance of Memorial Day, we pay our respects to those that sacrificed their lives defending our freedom.
Although many have come to consider Memorial Day Weekend as the official kick off to summer, it’s meaning is much deeper and it’s roots are dated back to the end of the Civil War in May of 1865.
Memorial day is about being grateful for those that gave us the very freedom we enjoy with family and friends on this extended weekend. Remember, on Memorial Day, the American flag should be hung at half-staff until noon, and then raised to the top of the staff.
DriveWithCompassion wishes for a time where we show our respect to those in uniform by Not sending them into frivolous wars in the first place.
We want to thank retired armyman, Emmanuel Enrique Dextre for having The United States Army make this uniform for Sammy here in the picture. It’s not a costume. This was made for Sammy by the United States Army.
Sincerely, Scott Smith Founder of DriveWithCompassion
What do you do when love someone more than the word “love” itself? – That’s an easy one. You put a tattoo of that someone on your body.
This is a future birthday present to myself. I had planned on having it done already, but the pandemic lock-downs obviously complicated that.
In the spirit of remaining consistent with living out-loud, this was another horrible year. Losing Sammy was another life changing event. The kind of event where your life can never be the same.
The only joyful moment I had this past year was when I got my big dogs back from Puerto Rico. My 50 year was two thumbs down. That comes on the heals of my 49th year, which was two thumbs down as well.
I wish I could size it up differently, but that would be disingenuous because it’s not true.
Karen Kirkman Hanckel and friends that reached out, I really appreciate it. You’ve all stuck with me from the very beginning. It’s been about 10 years now. Although I am ungrateful in my life at this time, I am grateful towards your friendship.
We’ll see what happens from here, but I am very displeased with the last 2+ years. Keeping it real.
Sincerely, Scott Smith, Sammy and Patrick’s Father, and General to the greatest Wolfpack in the history of the world. Wolfpack 8 to be precise.
Factory Farming – A 21st Century Holocaust for Animals. Pic credit: Sentient Media
As if the meat industry wasn’t cruel enough, the meat producers have ramped up their death tactics amidst the coronaviurs.
The world’s meat supply and demand chain has been through off kilter like never before as a result of the pandemic. f the As such, farms and slaughterhouses are way overcrowded. So overcrowded that the meat producers are inflicting unspeakable atrocities on these innocent animals.
Here’s a couple of their tactics: 1. Gassing them to death 2. Digging holes and burying them alive to suffocate. 3. Burning them alive if they are sick and contagious 4. Shooting them and Etc.
Barry Smith, my father used to tell me stories about the Holocaust and Auschwitz when I was growing up. I’d like all of you to know that what I wrote above about factory farming and the coronavirus, is not just reminiscent of Auschwitz, IT IS Auschwitz.
Don’t ever forget some of the culprits/companies below:
All of these animals’ lives meant something to many of us. But now they’ll just be written off as a loss against taxable income the way anyone of us would write off a loss.
Going vegan or vegetarian is imperative. But, equally important is for companies to stop putting profits before lives. Just because there is a demand for something, doesn’t mean it should be supplied. It’s supposed to be “Lives before Profits.”
No lives will go in vain. No pain will go unnoticed. Amen.
Sincerely, Scott Smith, Sammy and Patrick’s Father and General to greatest Wolfpack in the history of the world. Wolfpack 8 to be precise.
– You were my Mother and Father since 1984. – You made sure I finished high school in 1987 – You made sure I finished college at NYU in 1993. – You helped get me my first job on Wall Street.
– I moved in with you at 40 years old when you had open heart surgery on April 21st, 2008. I then supported you and 3 other family household’s through the banking crisis.
– You destroyed 3 different lawyers that tried to take Sammy from me from 2012 through 2015. That was a 4 year battle.
– In 2014 you were targeted in one of the worst landlord/tenant cases in NY State history by the coop board of 11 Wooleys Lane in Great Neck, NY. They targeted you because you lived with your granddaughter who looks black and has an Afro. I annihilated the 11 Wooleys Lane Coop board and their lawyers while I was living in Puerto Rico. We kicked their asses and won the case.
– You came to Puerto Rico in May of 2018 for 6 weeks when I was the target of a scandal involving an animal rescue incident. We had no water or power the whole time.
– You came back to Puerto Rico in August of 2018 when Patrick was killed for another 6 weeks. We had no kitchen or A/C the whole time.
– You took in Sammy, Henry and BabyLady in Florida while I was preparing to leave Puerto Rico after 4.5 years.
– You made sure that I had a home within 6 months so I could bring Lucky, Rocky and Polar Bear to Florida and restore my family.
– I just took down Philip Capolongo of Fortius Holdings, the man who defrauded you out of $20K right in the middle of coronavirus. I wiped his business out in one email.
– My mother and I have Not had a happy life together. But, we’ve gone to war for each other when it counted.
– We have one more war to fight together. That war is JusticeForPatrick. That story is upon us and will be added to this list next Mother’s Day.
Happy Mother’s Day Mom. You’re truly are a warrior in every sense of the word. And as your son, I am a gladiator like never seen before.
Sincerely, Scott Smith, Sammy and Patrick’s Father, and General to the greatest WolfPack in the history of the world. Wolfpack 8 to be precise.
It was the Summer of 2013. Sammy and I spent the day together in Times Square, NYC. We were just a couple of kids kicking together. Young, wild and free. And in a blink of an eye, 7 years passed and he’s gone.
The only thing I can say is that when you’re standing inside of a moment, you’re standing inside of a future memory. Now, that happens to be logistically true. But it also pays me no solace in Sammy’s absence. I’d prefer no logic in order to have him back.
It’s like Forest Gump’s Mom used to say, “Death is just a part of life.” But, it’s like Forest used to say about that, “I sure wish it wasn’t.” – I agree with Forest Gump. I wish it wasn’t part of life either.
Well, whether you from Generation X, Y or Z, we’re all part of Generation Mask now.
I walked into Publix without a mask on today and they almost tasered me. It’s been difficult to get masks in Miami to be honest. But, leave it to the Dollar Store to have masks in stock. Guess what price the mask was? – Yep. One dollar.
Loneliness is in full throttle across the the world right now. Sheltered animals are very lonely too. And they’re not getting the visits like they normally do. If at all. This is the BEST time to rescue an animal. You save their life and make both of your lives better. Win Win. –
Please visit your local shelter’s website. Your best friend is waiting for you.
All images in this story are property of the American Animal Hospital Association. Also known as (AAHA).
Sign of the Times –
Two years ago I produced, published and co-wrote ‘AAHA – The League of Champions‘ for ConsumersAdvocate(dot).org. I co-wrote it with renowned managing editor, Jim Trumm. The Coronavirus got me thinking about this article and the American Animal Hospitable Association again. Over the past 10 years, I’ve written over 25,000 social media posts and dozens of feature stories. But, this feature story is one of my favorites. Firstly, because it’s about an animal association that raised the bar for animal medicine. Secondly, the association was formed during one of America’s most trying times 90 + years ago. It poses the question: what other organizations and/or associations will be formed during the Coronaivirus times? —
Scott Smith – Founder of DriveWithCompassion
Feature Story Begins –
In 1933, the United States was reeling. It was the fourth year of the Great Depression. Unemployment stood at 25%. A new and untested president had recently moved into the White House. It was a turbulent and uncertain time.
But amazingly, during America’s darkest hours, seven leaders of the veterinary profession came together to form one of the country’s greatest organizations: the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). It was and remains the only institution that accredits companion veterinary hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. It was built on the premise that pets deserve nothing less than the very best veterinary care.
Fast-forward to 2018. In 85 years, the country has changed in ways that were unimaginable in 1933. But AAHA has endured. Thrived. And today it is the most esteemed veterinary association in the country.
As Dr. Heather Loenser, AAHA’s Senior Veterinary Officer, put it recently, “Veterinary medicine is always evolving and improving. And AAHA has to remain flexible, ready to challenge previous protocols and upgrade them to the latest recommendations.”
It is that flexibility that has maintained AAHA as the standard of veterinary excellence in a rapidly-changing world.
The best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what is the matter–he’s got to just know.”
We know this because human hospitals have their own accreditation standards. For example, if a human hospital is not accredited by a CMS-approved program, they can’t offer Medicare. Being AAHA accredited is not about prestige. Yes, that comes with it. Being accredited is actually about operating at a higher level. And when it comes to health, that’s the only level to play on. The process of accreditation is challenging and rigorous. It is also voluntary and not guaranteed. When a veterinary facility steps up to become accredited, it means they are making a proclamation they are committed to excellence.
This doesn’t mean non-accredited veterinary practices are bad. No. It does mean they’ve not been measured by AAHA’s roughly 900 accreditation standards. Some veterinary practices think good enough is good enough. And that’s fine. But as AAHA’s President-elect, Dr. Darren Taul says, “It also raises the question of how much more successful would they be if they truly reached for their full potential by obtaining accreditation.”
As in any profession, some want to take their skillset to the next level. They want to be champions. AAHA can take them there. Since 1933, AAHA has charted a course to accreditation for approximately 3,700 practices. Dr. Bo Williamson, owner of the Tennessee Avenue Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, the oldest continuously accredited American Animal Hospital Association hospital in the world says, “Accreditation is a way to force yourself to be the best you can be. Owners and employees of accredited hospitals constantly look to make things better.”
Currently, only 12 to 15 percent of animal hospitals are accredited. AAHA wants more practices to make the journey to accreditation. They invite you to take the accreditation challenge and go at your own pace. This allows prospective practices to know exactly what lies in front of them.
AAHA is considered, as their motto states, ‘a standard for veterinary excellence.’ It works to ensure excellence in companion animal veterinary care through accreditation, guidelines development, and education.”
At its core, accreditation has two functions. First, it recognizes and objectively certifies great veterinary practices. This is valuable to pet parents as they search for the best possible care for their nonhuman family members. Second, it helps good veterinary hospitals become great ones by coaching their personnel and helping practices live up to their potential. Many practices are poised to take the step from good to great, but need the counsel and guidance that AAHA provides to fully realize their latent qualities.
High Standards and Real Results
Those standards have very real life-and-death effects on animals and their human companions. Lori Seubert, an experienced cat rescuer from Toledo, Ohio is one of the many people who view AAHA accreditation as essential in choosing a veterinary facility. She recalls her capture of a rascally kitten who frequented a parking lot near a Rally’s restaurant and had evaded capture for almost two months.
Several weeks after she was finally trapped, Rally Sally began to pant and breathe rapidly. Ms. Seubert took her to Sylvania Veterinary Hospital, an AAHA-accredited facility, where Dr. Bob Esplin diagnosed her with community-acquired pneumonia. He prescribed a multiple-day stay in an oxygen chamber and other life-saving therapies. It was a grave situation, but Rally Sally made a full recovery and was later adopted by a wonderful couple. “I’ve gone to several different vets in my area seeking affordable medical care for the rescue cats I’ve fostered,” said Ms. Seubert, “but I knew this kitten was very sick and needed the best care possible. I took her to Sylvania Veterinary Hospital because I knew that she’d have the best chance at survival in a place that was accredited by the AAHA.”
Veterinarians appreciate the recognition that AAHA confers–and actually thrive on being held to AAHA’s exacting standards. Dr. Laurie Hess is the principal vet and founder of the Veterinary Center for Birds & Exotics in Bedford Hills, New York. “AAHA accreditation is important to me and my staff,” she says. “We operate the only accredited avian and exotic animal hospital in the State of New York. That means that we’re held to the highest standards in terms of the medical and surgical care that we provide to all the birds and exotic pets that we treat. We work hard to maintain this accreditation so that bird and exotic pet owners can rest assured that their pets are receiving the most up-to-date, highest quality care available. We take AAHA accreditation very seriously and are very proud to be among a select few hospitals awarded this recognition.”
Stacy Hamilton, a vet tech and practice manager at Loving Family Animal Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, AAHA’s 2017 Practice of the Year, has seen what accreditation means to her clients. “It tells them how much we really care about practicing high-quality medicine,” she remarked, “because we’re holding ourselves to the highest standard of care possible. Our clients know we will always provide them with the best options for their loved ones. As awareness in the community has grown about what AAHA is and does, many clients have come to realize that this is an optional accreditation that few hospitals hold. That really sets us apart.”
What Do Pet Parents Think About Accreditation? – Great Question
Trone Brand Energy did a study on just that back in 2016. The study found that pet owners are overwhelmingly attracted to animal hospitals that have the AAHA accreditation.
Some of the survey highlights are below:
85% of pet owners would choose an AAHA-accredited hospital over a non-accredited one;
58% are willing to pay more to use an accredited facility.
63% would drive farther to get treatment at an accredited practice.
We’re always eager to add more veterinarians and staff members to our AAHA community whether they work in a single doctor practice with a small staff or with a team of dozens of specialists and credential technicians.”
– Dr. Heather Loenser
Dr. Heather Loenser and her Border Collie, Calvin. Dr. Loenser is AAHA’s Senior Veterinary Officer. She’s passionate about strengthening the relationship between pet owners and their veterinarians. Through her TV appearances, videos, blog posts and monthly appearances with animal lover, Jenny Hutt on the SIRIUS XM STARS channel, Dr. Loenser shares all sorts of health & safety tips for companion animals and the people who love them.
The Path to Accreditation
Accreditation involves being measured against over 900 standards of veterinary care across 18 categories. Fifty are mandatory, and then a certain number of additional points must be accumulated across the 18 categories.
Here’s how the process works:
A practice calls the accreditation team at 800-252-2242 or emails them at practice.accreditation@aaha.org.
The practice spends three months corresponding with AAHA’s accreditation team in preparation for evaluation day.
On evaluation day, a consultant visits and conducts the accreditation evaluation on-site.
The AAHA Practice Consultant will make another on-site visit two years after the initial visit.
Being accredited by AAHA doesn’t mean that a veterinary practice is accredited for all time. Instead, accreditation is a continuing process. Accredited practices are re-evaluated every three years. That way, AAHA can continuously guide animal hospitals through the changes in veterinary practice and technology to ensure they can deliver state-of-the-art services.
The process is collaborative and provides feedback and improvement concepts and ideas. It allows an organization to benchmark against best practices. And as a premier organization, it allows us to be part of the formulation of those best practices and pushes the industry as a whole to higher and higher standards.”
Joy Hoover, MBA, Hospital Administrator, UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital
Doctor performing surgery
Why do some animal hospitals choose to walk this path? Dr. Mike Cavanaugh, the CEO of AAHA, believes that the journey to accreditation effects a significant change in the morale and cohesion of a veterinary facility’s personnel. According to Dr. Cavanaugh, accreditation “means they care enough to be their very best on behalf of their patients, their clients and their staff. I often hear about the wonderful outcome of a hospital team working together to achieve accreditation and the bonding and team-building that results when they successfully achieve their shared goal of accreditation.”
The current president of AAHA, Dr. Mark McConnell agrees and notes that there are other benefits to accreditation as well. “Some choose to become AAHA-accredited because they want the structure and assistance in running a practice. Others want the best for their patients and AAHA provides resources for the practice team to deliver the best medicine. Some want a recruitment tool to attract skilled and dedicated employees who want to practice with high standards.”
Dr. Bo Williamson of Tennessee Avenue Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio
Standards and Guidelines
AAHA has over 900 standards for accreditation of care. Those standards range from pain management and anesthesia, to medical records and surgery. The standards are the backbone of this organizations and are closely adhered to by over 3,700 practices.
Each standard is exhaustively researched and documented by a committee of experts in the field. The level of detail comes close to being granular, with specifications for what drugs a veterinary hospital must stock at all times, how different rooms in the facility are to be cleaned and disinfected, how clients are to be communicated with, how the practice should be run in an ecologically sound manner, what purpose-dedicated rooms the facility must have, and so on.
The standards that AAHA facilities must adhere to are grouped into 18 categories:
Anesthesia
Contagious Disease
Dentistry
Emergency and Critical Care
Pain Management
Patient Care
Surgery
Client Services
Continuing Education
Human Resources
Leadership
Referral Standards
Safety
Medical Records
Examination Facilities
House Keeping and Maintenance
Diagnostic Imaging
Laboratory and Pharmacy
It really demonstrates to the pet parent that this practice takes their role as an animal health care provider very seriously and they look to meet or exceed the best practices that have been developed overtime. It’s very much a ‘seal’ of approval and not easy to attain.”
Monitoring Anesthesia at Urban Vet Care in Denver, Colorado
In contrast to AAHA’s standards, which are mandatory for all accredited facilities, AAHA guidelines are akin to a set of best practices that veterinary practitioners may consider in light of their own experience and in the context of the needs of the individual patient, the available resources, and the limitations unique to the practice setting. Some of its key guidelines cover diabetes management, dental care, canine and feline oncology, and end-of-life care.
Pain management in action at VRCC in Englewood, Colorado
To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate?
That is the question… and to this day the debate remains heated. AAHA has developed guidelines that can serve as a conversation starter. For example, although it is well known that rabies is fatal and inoculation is required by law in all 50 states, other vaccines can be recommended or not recommended on a case by case basis. Things to take into consideration are the dog’s lifestyle, age, and health. Location is also important as some cities are more prone to certain diseases than others.
The core, or recommended, vaccines for all dogs are:
Rabies
The combined vaccine of distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus, and +/- parainfluenza.
Another facet of AAHA’s work involves research into the human-animal bond and the question of how it affects human health and well-being. In 2015, AAHA formally became a member of the steering committee of the Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI). With AAHA’s assistance, HABRI’s research focuses on how the relationship between animals and people can be a beneficial factor in human health outcomes.
According to the American Veterinary Association (AVMA), the Human-Animal Bond is defined as “a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals that is influenced by behaviors that are essential to the health and well-being of both.”
As Dr. Cavanaugh put it, “The practice teams at our AAHA-accredited hospitals celebrate the value of the human-animal bond each and every day. Ask any of them and they can rattle off a number of reasons why pets are good for their people. HABRI’s research is putting scientific evidence behind what many of us have been saying for years related to how animals affect a person’s well-being. With HABRI’s help, we’ll be able to say these things with strong evidence behind us and no longer have to make a leap of faith regarding what we know to be true.”
Among other things, HABRI is studying how companion animals contribute to psychological well-being in older adults, how interactions with animals may reduce children’s stress levels, how service dogs affect the mental health of war veterans with PTSD, and the long-term effects of pet dogs on children with autism.
The AAHA staff in Colorado
The Future of AAHA
Dr. Cavanaugh believes that in the coming years, AAHA will continue to focus on its core function: accreditation. The organization is looking at modernizing the processes of collecting and analyzing member-generated data. Additionally, the way AAHA runs its on-site visits is being reimagined.
AAHA also hopes to focus on developing healthy workplace cultures. Practice members experience all kinds of emotions in the course of serving patients with all kinds of ailments. While all practitioners feel depressed at times, coming into a positive work environment makes a big difference.
That kind of forward thinking has characterized AAHA since its inception. Though its goal has remained constant for 85 years, the ways of achieving excellence are constantly changing.
The Coronavirus has forced humanity to slow down and take a look at itself.
People from all over the world are putting aside their religion, nationality, gender, political ideologies, sexual orientation and education to come together and defeat a global threat traveling at light speed, the coronavirus.
Maybe tragedy was necessary to shine light on what’s been true all along. We’re all citizens of the same world. We all breathe the same oxygen. If you take away our ideological differences stripping us down to just our biological state, we’re all really the same. Aren’t we?
Today, I feel more like a citizen of the world than I do an American. My American oxygen is no different than the oxygen of countries and cultures that I have nothing in common with. And because of that realization, I actually have the most important thing in common with all of those countries and cultures, The Planet!!!
Oh yes friends, Humanity is on the Rise. Humanity is most definitely on the rise. I’m fired up.
