| | Animal rights. Huh...
You know what that sounds like to me? It sounds like people who have decided to make decisions for animals. Which, were animals not animals, would probably piss off a whole lot of them.
My eldest daughter is a college nursing student, and works full time as a vet assistant. Her office happens to have a mobile rescue unit, and the staff has a rather high technical prowess in general.
Anyway, she has a very deep respect for life in general, especially for a 19 year old. She definitely doesn't like it when things happen that people (or animals) really don't deserve. She and some others volunteered to go down to the Gulf last week to help process the lost and hurt pets. So, she went down there, and worked her ass off in very primitive and risky conditions, microchipping, triage, rescue, and so on.
In other words, she had the means, time, and opportunity to do some actual volunteerism (as in working). Was she acting in her best interests? Of course she was- this kid is about as far from an altruist as you'll ever find. What she doesn't do is run around half-cocked like a freak, harrassing people about things that she doesn't have all the facts on. Is she an animal rights activist? I don't think so. I think she is someone that will, if possible, do what she can to alleviate pain in people and animals. Surely, she does not put the animals in front of the people. And, she puts the rubber on the road. I'm proud of her for not just talking principles, but living them.
Do people do stupid, cruel, and pointless things to animals, far outside of what needs done? Yup. That is wrong, and they are ignorant, or callous, just into it, or all of the above. These people should be watched for and looked at and dealt with. Animals do feel pain, on the whole. Animals are living creatures, and we should be respectful of that fact as we go about doing things. But creating "rights" for them is, I think, about something else, something else that I probably don't care for. The hardcore activists fall into the category of "extremist", and I never get along with extremists, because they are very selective about reality.
This article deals with how perception can be manipulated by people who probably aren't together enough to properly manipulate themselves, and used to screw up someone else's shit.
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