Normally I don't follow celebrity stories, but the one on the trustees disbursing Leona Helmsley's estate disturbed me for two reasons. Leaving the dogs out of it, I was dumbfounded that "trustees" could disburse money against the deceased's wishes. After reading the New York Times article, I learned she had a statement that left some of the disbursement to her trustees. But it wasn't intended to be the vast majority, I'm sure. And by all accounts, Ms. Helmsley did not even like people.
How strange is it that there were death threats against her dog because it inherited $12 million (a judge reduced to $2 million). The judge then gave her grandchildren $6 million although they were "explicitly" left out of the will.
So dog charities were given $1 million of $136 million disbursed. What this says to me is the lack of regard people have for "poor, dumb animals" (my wording) compared to people. I don't dispute the value of medical research (which probably is using dogs as lab animals), but I think Ms. Helmsley's wishes were ignored. The bottom line is, make your will crystal clear. And I personally hope Ms. Helmsley is haunting her brother, grandsons, lawyer, and friend. What a difference that money could have made in the millions of homeless animals killed each year because they are inconvenient to humans. (Photo of Maltese like Trouble, Helmsley's dog, from pets911.com.)
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
--Mahatma Gandhi
Happy Earth Day!
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