Animal Rights

Here is an essay by Wesley J. Smith.

From Today's New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Locavore, Get Your Gun,” by Steven Rinella (Op-Ed, Dec. 14):

To the animals being slaughtered, it does not matter whether their killers are local or whether they will be eaten or displayed on a wall. Their suffering is the same.

Hunting is cruel and cowardly, and any attempt to rationalize or gain acceptance for it as a sport does not eradicate this fact. There are no “lofty pedestals” for those without compassion or empathy for other creatures.

It’s time to stop pandering to hunters and the gun lobby and turn to humane measures to control the deer population and outlaw this barbaric pastime.

Rebecca Sunshine
Hartsdale, N.Y., Dec. 16, 2007

Collisions

Here is a New York Times story about the growing problem of vehicle-animal collisions.

Animal Rights and Animal Responsibilities

Should animals be doing more for the animal-rights movement? See here for the surprising answer.

From the Mailbag

The horrific practice in China of skinning cats and dogs alive for their fur must go down as one of the worst cases of sustained mass cruelty to animals in human history. Every year, more than 2,000,000 cats and dogs are skinned alive in China for their fur. They are left to die slowly in shock and excruciating agony and their bodies fed to the other animals being reared for the slaughter. The horror must be stopped.

The Animal Saviors Awareness Campaign is taking the fight to the Chinese government. Please help. Visit http://animalsaviors.org/ and decide for yourself. Every day another 5,479 plus defenseless animals die in terror and unspeakable pain. Now is the time for action.

Sentiment + Action = Results

Peter Steele
Campaign Director
Animal Saviors Awareness Campaign

From Today's New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “An 8-Second Ride Lures Sponsors Beyond the Rodeo” (Advertising column, Dec. 11):

So bull riding could represent the next big thing in corporate sports sponsorship. Even private equity is getting in on the action, with one manager believing this could be the next Nascar.

This is music to the ears of advertisers. But bulls are not cars, but rather living beings that experience pain and suffering.

If there were transparency to the public spectacle of bull riding, it would be clear that this is a frantically scared animal desperately trying to escape. Bull riding events in rodeos are notorious for using spurs, flank straps and electric prods to promote bucking and to control the bull.

The use of animals in entertainment when animal cruelty is involved is deplorable, whether it is dog fighting or bull riding. Corporations should reject the notion that this is a sport worthy of their ad dollars.

Brad Goldberg
President, Animal Welfare Trust
Mamaroneck, N.Y., Dec. 11, 2007

Culling the Herd

The National Park Service has announced a plan to cull the Rocky Mountain National Park elk herd with sharpshooters.

The Politics of Meat

Here is a Wall Street Journal column about foie gras.

Canis Familiaris

Here is a New York Times story about man's best friend.

Twenty Years Ago

12-8-87 . . . There was a senseless killing last night. Someone entered the premises of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, cut the lock on the bighorn sheep exhibit, and shot the male bighorn to death. Then—and here's the grisly part—the assailant cut the sheep's head off. It has not been found. Police officers speculate that the killing was cult related. Tucson, like other communities in the southwest, has satanistic, witch, and other occult groups. There was a full moon Saturday night, which may have had something to do with it. Whatever the circumstances, I can't help but think of the killing as a murder. It was obviously premeditated, the sheep was defenseless against a high-powered rifle, and the assailant mutilated the body. Needless to say, animal-rights and other groups are up in arms. If apprehended, the suspect should be tried and convicted of murder. He or she is an evil person.