this is a toughy. I like animals...well...most animals. I see a lot of stuff around the web. that we should treat animal abusers like pedophiles and stuff like that. and while it sounds like a good idea and people get fired up about it there is tiny aspect that is missing. I'll get to that in a bit.
Michael Vick, illegal puppy mills, hell even cops, pick your poison of who should get the severest consequences for there actions. it gets me worked up too. makes you ask questions like how can people who do these things to something living get off so easy. that animal is a living thing and possibly part of a family.
Well the one thing that gets forgotten in our world of laws and rules....animals are property and not people. let that sink in for a second. you are probably looking at your own animal and saying "my pet is NOT property" its probably more of a person than half the people that visit you.
to do anything else would mess with the status quo. If somehow pets were elevated from property then they would have to be given rights. Now obviously the first response is they have a right to exist or right to not be tortured and all that. of course, living things have the right to exist...im not so sure about spiders though....
So to state the obvious i'll say you cant murder property.
I think about what might happen if we gave animals some more rights. I think about some of the good it might do when I see dog fighting or cops shooting a dog because he is on a power trip and then nothing happens because he is a pig. I think about some of the justice it might bring to some of the families that have had that animal for 5, 10, or even 15 years.
but then.....
I think about the other end of the spectrum. the stupid side. let your mind wander and think of the most ridiculous things someone might try and pull off. perhaps a lawsuit because my non-service bull mastiff dog is a person now and should be able to accompany me into Olive Garden.
What about something a bit more humane. If its not property now when the vet says its time to put the dog down you cant. the dog now has rights. now you must continue to spend money to keep it alive. this is the one aspect of an animal being property that I consider arguably the most valuable. it allows me the owner to make the best and most informed and humane decision to spare my beloved animal more pain and suffering. we aren't allowed to do this to people, even when that's what they want....and they have rights.
you cant put a cat on the stand for a cross examination in an effort to have a fair trial for the accused either.
quite the conundrum....one with no real middle ground in between the sides
but at the end of the day the problem is people.
it always is....
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