Stories from the Edge - Volunteer Now

continuum. The other end is the ugly physical cruelty so often inflicted on dumb animals by humans who should knowbetter. He is quick to draw a parallel between child and animals abusers. He denies that he is 'over the top.' He emphasisesthat when serial murders were children they began their dance of death killing animals. However he accepts that childrenwho mistreat animals don't always turn out to be serial killers or just plain ordinary killers of any sort.He wants all his animals rehoused in good homes. At the moment there are lots of cats and dogs, but in the past therehave been donkeys and horses. It annoys him that people use Bright Eyes as a dumping ground for unwanted pets. Incontrast Pat has lots of praise for a local firm of vets, "They seem to know instinctively how they should and should notdeal with animals, unlike some other vets I have known."Money problems are always lurking just below the surface. He shows a derelict caravan that was once donated. It is nowconverted into a cats home. "Those two are a bit wild," he says pointing to two particularly hairy feline specimens. Unlikethe dogs, the cats are definitely one size depending on their age. Four perfectly white cats of the same size and presumablythe same age leap onto the old couch and walk back and forward pressing against the window pane. They aren't wild butvery much domesticated. Pat Nolan is clearly fond of them and utters an approving moan. The white brothers and sistersare joined by a beautiful grey tabby with large bright green eyes. The sanctuary could have been named after Tabby. Pat,this time, runs his finger along the glass pane, "He's auld fashioned," he says.The cats are for a good home if anyone wishedto call at the Bright Eyes Sanctuary but adoption must go through certain preliminaries. Pat Nolan doesn't give his belovedcats and dogs away to any Tom, Dick or Sheila. He is careful to check would be pet owners and will quickly veto anyonehe is suspicious off. "What is the point of getting an animal neutered, made healthy, given the necessary injections only tobe sent away to a bad home?" he asks.Pat Nolan's philosophy is simple and has parallels within human society. But he is unapologetic. "A people and a nationcan be judged by the way it treats it’s animal population. "He is determined also to lead by example and proudly proclaimshe is a vegan so he does not eat a product that is made from animals and that includes diary products. The only food thatpasses his lips are grain, nuts vegetables and fruit. He is dismissive of the standard arguments that if we are all animalswhy should we not have a place in the pecking order. He falls back on the old Aristotelian argument that what separatesus from the animal kingdom is reason. In other words, Pat says, we should know better. Humans are nature aware of itself.Awareness is the key to not treating animals as if they were unfeeling and unthinking machines. Children should be taughtto treat animals with respect just as they should be taught to treat fellow human beings with respect. This is Pat Nolan'sdoctrine of life in a few short phrases. It is this that he has devoted his life to and that's why he is a volunteer.