Respect for animals not a foolish notion

[Guest guest]

Here is an editorial from

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-foolish-notion

Make your own judgement.

With regards

Dev

 

Friday, November 07, 2008 Respect for animals not a foolish notion

 

The issue: The Swiss have put into force the world’s most extensive

animal-rights legislation.

 

Our opinion: Although easily viewed as comical and excessive, the legislation

nonetheless is laudable.

 

Have you heard the one about the goldfish having the right to privacy? How about

the pigs with a right to a shower? How about making dog owners take a class in

pet care? Or, here’s the knee-slapper: Anglers must take classes in the humane

treatment of fish.

 

The stipulations in the Swiss animal-rights legislation that took effect in

September certainly sound like good fodder for a stand-up comedian: " All right,

Mr. Trout. You have the right to be filleted and dipped in batter. You have the

right to be broiled or deep-fried. You have a right to have a professional chef

present when cooked. "

 

Have the Swiss — those staid people of practicality, precision, finance and

civilized discourse — lost their collective, well-ordered minds? We say, no;

they are simply a step ahead of other societies on the evolutionary scale of

compassion and responsibility.

 

After all, Pennsylvania just passed legislation that set rigorous standards for

the dog breeders, in hope of putting an end to the puppy mills that made the

state infamous. The law mandates humane conditions such as solid flooring in all

dog cages, larger cages in commercial kennels, exercise areas, temperature

controls, ventilation, veterinary inspections and more.

 

The Swiss simply extended such compassion for canines, which makes sense when

one sees a dog penned up or in a yard alone all day, barking out of boredom and

frustration, a neighborhood nuisance — or even a hazard — rather than a

companion to its owner.

 

Though not as extreme as beating, such abandonment still constitutes cruelty,

because dogs are social animals that crave companionship, whether canine or

human. Presumably, an educated human being will be less likely to inflict such

subtle cruelty.

 

Some of us still may chuckle at the Swiss requirement that fish be treated

humanely. After all, fish are so very different from us: They have minimal

intelligence, are cold-blooded, live in the water and show no expression. We are

a higher life form, after all.

 

But we must remember that the notion of higher vs. lower is a human construct,

and it does not absolve us from responsibility. Even the oft-quoted biblical

injunction, from Genesis, that humans have dominion over the fish of the sea,

and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the

Earth, does not endow us, either explicitly or implicitly, with the right to be

cavalier or cruel to other species. Nowhere does it say that might alone makes

right.

 

So even those fishermen who jokingly say they release the fish they catch into

Lake Canola bear some responsibility for dispatching their catch humanely, with

a minimum of suffering.

 

Of course, some people — whether because of religious or secular beliefs — hold

that any use of an animal constitutes abuse. Jainism, an East Indian religion

almost 3,000 years old, goes beyond vegetarianism to enjoin its adherents

against abusing even plants, while modern vegans shun use of animals for any

purpose.

 

But most people rely heavily on animal products for food, clothing, furniture,

decoration, pillow stuffing and more. To those ends, we breed, raise, slaughter

and consume untold billions of creatures every year, and we harvest billions

more from land and water. We depend on those creatures, and we should respect

them if only because we share the gift of life with them. We are, after all,

made from the same dust.

 

We still can thank the comedian for the chuckle, and Chuck Shepherd for putting

the notice about the Swiss laws in a recent " News of the Weird, " but seriously,

folks, life may be good and filled with laughter, but respect for it is not a

laughing matter.

 

Sent by:

 

Dr.Sandeep K.Jain