I'm a radio air talent, I work at a pop music station, and it was bitter winter weather that day. This woman calls and urges me to remind the listeners to take care of their animals...don't leave them outside when it's like this, etc. Actually she had an entire laundry list of how to protect Fido, Fluffy, etc from the ravages of Mother Nature, most of which was just common sense. But what got me was her claim that here in Illinois it is actually *illegal* not to provide shelter from the elements to an animal in one's possession. You can be prosecuted for not bringing in the cat, but it's fine to leave people out on the street.
It's not an unusual thing I see in middleclass folks these days...they value pet animals over certain classes of human beings, truth be told. I find it kinda creepy. I had a housemate for a few years who, while she wasn't as extreme as say PETA (her animals' rights only extended as far as the convenience for her), had a definite preference for the company of pets over people. Animals are much less complex to deal with, and there's no question who's boss in the relationship. These days lots of Americans seem to really enjoy that kind of interaction.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2001 8:12 PM Subject: Re: Tasteless site
> > > Why should cruelty to animals and its representations be legal
> >> affairs? To increase jobs for cops, lawyers, forensic psychiatrists,
> >> etc.?
> >
> >Now you're arguing a seperate aspect of the law. Should cruelty to
animals
> >be illegal? You can meditate on it while you're trying to stuff
> >puss'n'boots into the mason jar.
>
> It seems to me that many Americans care more about non-human animals
> than human animals. Why not prohibit the standing army & weapons of
> mass destruction before prohibiting "cruelty to animals"? Are humans
> not animals also?
>
> Yoshie
>