If there ever was any location I’ve previously overlooked when traveling, it’d have to be the cemeteries. It’s not exactly the type of place that would make a brochure anyway.

Upon doing my homework on some pretty notable cemeteries, I’ve come across 5 that are really worth looking into. Though Halloween’s still a couple of months off, these would be some nice considerations for those traveling around that time.

Rookwood Necropolis – Is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, which is located in Sydney, Australia. It’s just a bit ways off from the business district, and is accessible via the nearby railway station. The interesting thing about this cemetery is that, it’s so big, it’s actually divided into several different cemeteries. There’s a Catholic, Independent, Muslim and Anglican section, with a completely different set of staff and offices for each. They also hold several tours, with one set as the “ghost” tour, which is the Tales of the 21st Century tour.

Zentralfriedhof – Located in Vienna, this is the largest and most well-known of the country’s nearly 50 cemeteries. It was opened in 1874, and in over the last 122 years, approximately 2,500,000 people have been buried here. What’s interesting about this cemetery is they have a section called the Ehrengräber, the final resting place for composers, writers, artists and politicians.

Great Pyramid of Giza – The oldest and the largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis, it is also the last remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. What’s interesting about this is, that this was built over a 20 year period, but was meant to be a final resting place for the pharaoh Khufu. It simply means that, while he was alive, the labor of his being pharaoh would be his final tomb, nonetheless. It still flips my head over how the ancient Egyptians’ thought process worked, as they were able to build something so ornate and sophisticated.

Catacombs of Paris – A solution to the overpopulated cemeteries of old Paris, thousands of corpses were transferred into the abandoned tunnels and quarries directly underneath the city. What’s eerie is that they arranged the various bones of the corpses to line the walls, creating what can only be described as “cemeteries in the wall.”

Cemetery of the Heroes – In the Philippines, it is the fitting resting place for the country’s heroes. Buried here are military personnel, from privates to generals, and even heroes and martyrs. Only the President of the Philippines can grant permission for individuals to be buried in the national cemetery. Written on the cemeteries’ front gates are, “I do not know the dignity of his birth, but I know the glory of his death.”

For a fact: animals are more afraid of humans than we are of them. You might’ve heard of bear attacks, but that’s an act of self-preservation. Humans can be even more horrible.

Don’t believe me? Just this month, (and we’re less than half-way through) several horrifying cases of animal abuse. Be warned, some of these stories of animal abuse might make you think less of the human animal.

Getting a puppy high is a crime.

A Plainfield man who stole a puppy from a west suburban pet store was charged with theft, but not animal abuse.

Emanual Lopez dashed out of the Petland store barely 4 months ago with a 2-pound pure-bred Pomeranian puppy that is apparently worth $1,500 — and then drove around with his friends, all the while blowing cannabis smoke in the puppy’s face until it passed out.

Three days later the pup was returned to the store, and is now in the care of the Naperville family. Police reports detail that Lopez agreed to the theft of the pup, only to sell it to Karlie Pellock and Anais Marquez. All three of them have, at one point, worked for the Petland store.

Lopez pleaded guilty and only received a year of court supervision and 50 hours of community service. But what of the actual animal abuse? Doesn’t he get spanked for that?

Putnam man tried to drown puppy.

Witnesses were appalled when they witnessed a Putnam county-man, Sabeno Martinez-Perez throwing a dog into the water, retrieving it, and then throwing it back, aiming for a pole to break the dog’s neck.

Even as the deputy arrived, the man would not stop holding the dog by the neck, and then repeatedly throwing it in the lake. Instead, the animal abuse-committing man would simply shout back, saying that it “was his puppy.”

The puppy, estimated to be 10 – 12 months old, was of mixed breed, and was making gurgling sounds, as if its lungs contained water. It is now doing much better in the care of the Putnam County Animal Control.

Martinez-Perez has been charged with cruelty against animals, and, as authorities later found out, he is an illegal immigrant, federal authorities have been contacted to have the animal abuser deported.

Cat on fire, as neighbors watched.

They don’t teach animal abuse in schools, so how could you explain the boys that poured lighter fluid on a kitten, only to set him on fire?

Lisa Mills, the witnesses, was shocked to discover something moving in her yard, while it was on fire. The cat looked for refuge in a tree, only to set parts of it on fire, leading up to some utility wires, creating a spark.

What shocked Mills more so than the age group to which the suspects belonged to, was the indifference of her surrounding neighbors, as they watched the fire-lit kitten struggling to it’s last breath, like it was entertainment.

Apparently these neighborhood boys are treating the whole area as their backyard, doing what they want, without fear of consequences. What kind of person would they grow up to be, being animal abusers in youth?

[Edit: Story added, July 11]

For as long as I can remember … I’ve always loved dolphins. Here are three endangered dolphins that need our utmost attention.

Sadly, as Hayden Pannetiere put in our collective attention late last year, thousands and thousands of the species are slaughtered for their meat or oil. The video spreading out last year wasn’t pretty either. It was like watching a snuff film — where the blood of the victim was force-fed to the family. (That last scene, where the blood was dumped right back into the ocean?) As brutal as that was, it showed that, while the world may agree on a lot of things, endangering a whole species doesn’t seem to be that big of an issue.

Human threats are the number one cause for the extinction of a species of dolphins. Several river dolphin species are now facing a horrible fate by being on the endangered species list. As of 2006, a survey was conducted and not one sample of the Yangtze River Dolphin could be obtained, leading protection groups to believe that the species is now extinct.

While changing now doesn’t bring a whole species back, and I may be just another one of those voices protesting — the only way I could help, I guess, is by putting forth what we, as a species can look forward to help.

Irrawaddy Dolphin – While this dolphin doesn’t look necessarily like the common types of dolphins we see on tv, mugs, rings, stuffed toys and pillows — it is part of the dolphin family, and is still worth saving. It is easily recognizable from its rounded, rather than elongated head. Its dorsal fin is shorter than average and is triangular in shape. It reaches a length of about 2.3 m and weighs over 280 pounds in maturity. As a fun bit of trivia, during the 1970s, Burmese fishermen used to call on to the dolphins by tapping the sides of their boats to goad the dolphin to swim around it. Doing so attracts fishes, and when the fishermen have the fish trapped in a net, they share their catch with the dolphin.

Australian Snubfin Dolphin – This looks a bit like the Irrwaddy Dolphin, and for good reason — the two are related. Both are river dolphins and are most commonly found around the coast of Australia. The first clue to their difference is the color — while the Irrawaddy Dolphin comes in an almost uniformly-grey-to-white belly color, the Australian Snubfin comes in a copper-ish-top-to-light-brown-sides-to-a-full-white belly. The resemblance may be one of the core reasons why this dolphin is considered a new “new” discovery — only being scientifically described in 2005.

Bolivian River Dolphin – This, too, is another new “new” discovery. It has been acknowledged as a separate species of dolphins than the more widely-known Amazon River Dolphin. The Bolivian species feature a smaller size, a lighter grey color and has more teeth. Different from most dolphins, they feature a flexible neck, able to turn their heads from side to side, useful for weaving between the branches of flooded forests during the wet season.

Hopefully I brought these species of dolphins to your attention, and may you spread the word along for the helpless beautiful creatures.