ProWomanProLife

I have always said that if I could be an animal, I’d choose a dolphin. Really, the similarities are quite obvious: my love of swimming, my chatty, personable nature, my sleek, grey skin. Ok, maybe not that last one.

Anyways, naturally it is very good news that if I were a dolphin, some people would be campaigning for my rights as a person. Comforting, that.

(People for the Ethical Treatment of People. Feel free to buy a shirt.)

I believe with this story about giving Mother Earth the same rights as humans that she is getting a raw deal. Really, since humans don’t have the right to life across the board, what confidence can “Mother Earth” possibly have?

I’m almost prepared to say that any guy who voluntarily signs up for this should indeed not reproduce:

Animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is offering up a free vasectomy to a man who recently had his pet neutered. Calling the contest a “two-fer,” the group is offering up one vasectomy – a reimbursement of up to $500 once the procedure is confirmed – so “one lucky man be reproduction free, free of charge, just like his pooch or feline friend.” …The men must also answer the question, “Why should PETA neuter you?” and tell the judges “how his sterilization will most benefit both humans and animals.”

 

“How his sterilization will most benefit humans and animals?” It would be uncharitable to go into all the reasons.

I’m certainly concerned that this teen is very ill-adjusted:

Monique Smith, 19, of Brooklyn was arguing with a family member in June when she reached for the hamster, choked it and threw it outside the house, police said.

I actually think grabbing an animal and killing it just because you can is horrifying and is a sign of something desperately wrong. I also think taking yourself off to a clinic to kill your unborn child is a sign that something is desperately wrong. It’s just that we are more concerned about hamsters in our current cultural milieu. There’s no other way to put it.

Oh sorry. Did I just give away the punchline?

You may have read the story of the 100 healthy sled dogs that were destroyed in British Columbia for business reasons. People are shocked, of course. Why, killing healthy dogs just like that, imagine!

So of course along came a scholar with the idea of conferring some kind of status on our pets, so as to prevent humans from treating them like vulgar property and disposing of them pretty much at will.

I think it’s a brilliant idea, except I’d start with making sure all human beings are covered before moving on to pets.

Re Andrea’s post from yesterday. Just heard on the radio something about a contest to kill coyotes that didn’t sit well with the authorities because it offers a prize for the best kill (here’s a news story about it, in case you’re curious). The news reader explained that you can’t benefit from killing an animal, even if it’s a pest.

Wish they had a rule like that for killing humans…

p.s. coyotes really are a pest.

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Deborah adds: Tell that to the folks at the University of Victoria. Even the hippies there are okay with a rabbit cull.

When your cause is animal rights, apparently all you have to do is mention displeasure and bingo-bango-bongo things change! (No more pigs killed for use in training medical students.) It’s that easy.

People? Not so much.

Apparently, 33 per cent of women and 18 per cent of men confide in their pets. But wait, there’s more. Canadians are using their dogs as “confidants, matchmakers and possibly even therapists.” Hmmm. I’m not disparaging this, I’m just wondering what kind of commentary these men and women receive in return for unburdening themselves of confidential matters. Woof.

“Up, up with people, you meet ‘em wherever you go”…That was a song we used to sing at summer camp. (“If more people were for people then people everywhere, there’d be a lot less people to worry about and a lot more people who care!” Wow. The things you learn when you are young really do stay with you. I digress.)

Why am I thinking this today? Because I quite enjoyed seeing Mine Your Own Business this afternoon. And the focus of that documentary was…people. People who need jobs, and the environmentalists who hinder that. The director Phelim McAleer said in the question time afterwards that the two most dangerous words he knows are “sustainable development” because what it typically means is sustainable poverty. Bam! You never hear that in Canada.

So I went to shake his hand after to say I enjoyed the film. (By the way, he and his wife also did Not Evil, Just Wrong, another great documentary.) I also mentioned I’m pro-life, and perhaps he could do a film about the population control side of the environmental movement. He jumped in to point out that they want to get rid of certain people–the brown and black people who are poor. That’s when he pointed out that he cares for people, not the environment.

This reminded me of our t-shirts, People for the Ethical Treatment of People, because you really wouldn’t treat a dog like this. Sadly, with people, it’s all fair game. Pun intended.

I don’t follow figure skating and the name “Johnny Weir” means nothing to me. But I like how he handles annoying critics. Go Johnny!

p.s. think we should send him a t-shirt?

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Andrea’s favourite part of what this figure skater says:

There are humans dying everyday. There are thousands if not millions of homeless people in New York City. Look at what just happened in Haiti. I tend to focus my energy, if there is a cause, on humans. While that may be callous and bad of me, it’s my choice.”

He concludes by saying:

Every skater is wearing skates made out of cow,” Weir said. “Maybe I’m wearing a cute little fox while everyone else is wearing cow, but we’re all still wearing animals.”