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“A balm for the soul”
  review on Goodreads
GOOD PEOPLE Book
upworthy

Danielle Bacher

In the midst of racial equality protests following the murder of George Floyd, a recent photo of college students with drawn-on swastikas on their shoulders surfaced—bringing me to tears.

It's hard to imagine Ryann Milligan, a Penn State student, who has been identified in a change.org petition, stands with her friends smiling proud, showing off their swastikas and anti-Semitism. All over the country, people are angry and hurting. These egregious acts tear us further apart.


The photo reminds me of the first time I saw a swastika tattoo. It was 2007, and I had just turned 21 years old, entering into my junior year at Temple University. I was moving into a new apartment in Philadelphia, bright-eyed and hopeful to be a journalist and graduate soon. My roommate at the time was dating a sweet guy, someone I had met through social circles and lived down the hall from me on campus the year before. He invited his friend, someone I had never met, to help us move all the heavy furniture. It was a sweltering day in Center City, temperatures nearing 100 degrees, pearlescent sweat mustaches dotted our upper lips and perspired our faces. The friend I never met before, peeled off his shirt, leaving his white chest exposed. There it was—the hooked cross swastika tattoo of oppression and symbol of hatred— right in front of me.

I stood there, alone with him, looking at this large swastika near his right shoulder. It was an immediate gut punch. I wondered if he knew I was Jewish? If he found out, would he harm me? Does he hate black people too? I thought about all the times I read about people like him. All the racism, prejudice, xenophobia and white supremacy that's continued to grow across the globe. I remembered my recent trip to Israel and the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. What about my great grandmother—she was 13 years old when she escaped Nazi Germany on a boat after her entire family was slaughtered in a concentration camp. I thought about all the Jews who have been discriminated against for centuries.

I was silent for a few minutes, but those minutes felt like hours. A phone went off. I ignored it. I stared at him a little longer. "You going to answer it?" he asked me. I gripped the cell phone to my chest. "You know I'm Jewish," I blurted out. He looked perplexed. I pointed to the swastika. "Oh, that," he said. "I got dared to get that one night. I was really drunk. It doesn't mean anything to me." I don't know what offended and enraged me more—that he dismissed it or that he didn't understand why it was a big deal.

He clearly knew very little about the history of Nazism. I felt like it was my responsibility to strengthen his understanding of what it meant. Knowledge was my way of responding to the hate and anti-Semitism. I told him how horrible it made me feel. I explained how Jewish people and black people take that symbol as a sucker punch in the face. To my surprise, he listened and then apologized. He told me he would get it covered up immediately. I hope he did.

Things like this continue to happen in our country. Let's not forget, less than three years ago, hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched the streets of Charlottesville, Va., in the "Unite the Right" rally, protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. They brandished weapons and lit tiki torches, performing Nazi salutes and chanting "Jews will not replace us."

The rally turned violent when white supremacist James Field Jr. steered his Dodge Challenger into a peaceful crowed of counterprotesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others. There was also the off-the-rails press conference with President Trump and his infamous quote: "You had some very fine people on both sides." It's difficult for things to actually change when the leader of our country doesn't fully condemn racism.

Seeing that picture of those young women really brought me back to that day in 2007. That was twelve years ago, but what has really changed? According to the NY Times, the Anti-Defamation League statistics reveal that anti-Semitism has more than doubled in the United States in 2018 over 2015. The question begs why would these young college girls do this? What were they thinking? It could be that they don't know better. Maybe they were raised like this. Maybe it was supposed to be a joke. Who knows.

The University responded to the image in a tweet stating, "We are disgusted by the behavior portrayed, which does not reflect our values. It is deeply troubling that as a society, we today are still facing racism." They also mentioned that they will continue to speak out against hateful speech, but they don't have the power to expel students over it, even if it is reprehensible. "But the University does have the power to condemn racism and address those who violate our values." However, theChange.org petition is asking for Milligan's removal at the college, which has garnered over 120,000 signatures so far.

In a time when our country is in turmoil, strife and demanding change, this can be a learning experience. When the women wash away the black ink swastikas on their skin, I hope they think about the visceral impact it's caused others. I can promise you that pain won't wash away as fast. Maybe they'll think about their actions—let's hope it's tattooed inside their brain. At least, this time, the ink wasn't permanent.

The Veterinary Care Group's Westbury location in Long Island had their first case of the coronavirus a week after two New York house cats had tested positive for Covid-19 on April 22 — the first pets in the U.S. to have the virus.

It was a fearful day, as one of the workers at the veterinary hospital tested positive— although it wasn't from caring for an infected animal. "It's not confirmed that dogs or cats can spread the virus to humans. There's no evidence of that," says Medical Director Mario Costa of the Oyster Bay and Westbury locations.



"But I would warn the absence of evidence is not necessarily the evidence of absence," he added. "That means just because we haven't shown that dogs and cats can spread the infection to humans doesn't mean they can't. The safest thing to do if someone in your household tests positive for the coronavirus is stay clear of the animal if you can or have someone who is not infected take care of it."

Once the worker with coronavirus was isolated, the entire Westbury facility was shut down for a few days. Everyone else was tested and the facility was deep cleaned. "It's definitely been trying times," says Dr. Costa. "The real positive aspect is that we have seen how people really come together and do the right thing in these situations and help each other out. Everyone has been stepping up. We are understaffed because of everything going on and everyone is helping in these trying times."


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Like most vet hospitals, they are mandated to emergency surgery, sick appointments and essential surgeries such as vaccines and neutering. No clients are allowed in the building and everything is operated curbside. They bring their own leashes, careful not to let any materials from the outside infect their workers. They all wear masks and gloves. There has been some backlash to the new policy and procedures. Some want to be with their pet. Others get angry that grooming isn't essential anymore. "We are taking serious precautions," says Dr. Costa. "We're trying to protect ourselves and others. There is a risk of coming in contact with pets and people and getting the virus, but we are doing everything we can to avoid it."

As far as Dr. Costa's seen, coronavirus in animals is nowhere near the pandemic that's been happening with their owners. Several labs have developed a SARS-CoV-2 test for pets, but none have broadly administered it. Although the test is costly and not covered by insurance, it will only be administered if the pet shows respiratory signs and the more common causes for infections are ruled out. Their clinics haven't encountered any positive cases so far.

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When the pandemic first began, Dr. Costa saw respiratory cases in cats far more than he usually does. But, he claims, during the winter months, that's usually the case. "We're still learning a ton about what this virus does to animals, specifically dogs and cats. A lot of it really unknown at this point," he says. "It's possible that cats and dogs are getting infected, but not showing clinical signs. It's most likely there are a lot of positive cases out there, especially if they are getting exposed to the virus if someone in the household is infected, but we are not catching it because we aren't testing a wide percentage of the animal population."

If an animal tests positive, Dr. Costa says that it's mostly sneezing and upper respiratory signs, but it's not analogous to the human infection. "As far as what we've seen, animals haven't required real intense treatment. Whether it's nebulization to reduce the amount of nasal discharge they are having or an antibiotic to prevent second bacterial infection, we let the virus take its course. Just like the common cold for adults. We haven't really seen widespread life threatening consequences."

Dr. Costa says people are less fearful now. He says a lot of it stems from the fact that most pets are only in contact with their household. The chances of contracting the virus from humans are way greater than getting it from your pets. He says: "In fact, pets are more likely to get it from their owner because they are the ones out and about."

He believes right now it's important not to let your animal mingle with others outside the home. The virus can live on fomites, which means things like leashes, collars and clothes can carry it and the virus could be transferred to you or your pet. The safest thing to do, he says, is social distance yourself and your pets. Dr. Costa mentioned a few studies that have shown that pets can duplicate the virus. One in China found that dogs, cats and ferrets could replicate the virus inside of them and potentially spread it to other animals. "But there is definitely no clear-cut evidence," he says. "We're taking the pulse of the scientific community and trying to figure out a scientific consensus and that takes quite a bit of time with replication of multiple studies. There just hasn't been enough evidence yet to make broad conclusions."


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One positive aspect is that since people are home from work and have a lot more time now—there has been a large influx of people adopting and caring for animals. "I've been seeing a lot more pets now that everyone is home. People are noticing more about their pets that they wouldn't otherwise have noticed because they are spending way more time with them. People have time to train properly while they're home. It's great and interesting so many more people are adopting animals."

For the vet community, it's still essential to see the animals and examine them. But it's sometimes difficult to tell what's essential protocol. Dr. Costa believes it's still a grey area that they are figuring out as time goes on. "People are saying the world is never going to be the same in how we do business. But it's not feasible to operate only by video, phone calls or pictures. We have to physically examine a pet," he says. "There is definitely a general concern over the situation we are facing—it's natural during these times. I have personally seen the value of having the clients there with you. But we are all trying are best in this pandemic we're facing right now."