Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down! So LNP ran a letter to the editor in which the writer referred to the two men who shot eighty dogs as "savages"! Ya know, what they did was brutish. But I think savages is more than a little over the line! There are shades of grey in this issue. Our dietary habits require the slaughter of animals and Americans embrace and idolize the use of cars for transportation which is responsible for the maiming and killing of countless animals. Who among us is going to give up their cars for the sake of protecting animals? By the way, more than a few of those animals getting run over by cars are someones pet!
It's not like they choose to randomly kill animals for their own perverse enjoyment. Would LNP run a letter that referred to the soldiers who carried out this mission as savages? I don't think they would, but like I said before, when it comes to the Amish it just fucking doesn't matter!
I don't in any way condone what they did. I do think the greater wrong for them personally is that they were well aware of how callous their actions were and they did it anyway, in spite of how it would play out in the larger culture. Their defiance is a hideous assault on what there faith asks of them.
The last thing they should be engaging in is a defiant critique of the larger society, but I do wonder whether they aren't right, (if as I'm suggesting, their actions were the equivalent of "fuck off! and don't tell us how to live our lives") however boorish and inappropriate their behavior was, our behavior may in fact not leave us with a leg to stand on when it comes to criticizing theirs.
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I will start out by saying that I have a soft spot for cute furry animals, but I think the outcry over these dogs is actually a misdirected expression of public sentiment against the whole puppy mill industry. These two men simply unplugged the dam.
The facts of the industry are that dogs are over-bread and in-bread in substandard conditions. People have protested and felt powerless about the abuses for years. Now, finally, two guys did something that has just the right mix of fuel and air to explode... and to give voice to the voiceless.
What can come of this?
Should the two men be punished? Yeah, but before yielding to emotion, put things into perspective. Visit your local SPCA and look closely at the wall of cages full of beautiful cats and dogs, scared and hoping for a new home. Then ask the attendant to explain the kill schedule.
So maybe the focus should be societal instead of on these two guys.
First, I think these events can be leveraged to put pressure on the industry as a whole. That would be good.
Maybe this is also a call to reflect upon the excesses of our own lives. As Elam points out, not many people prioritize the neighbors dog over riding a car to work. But I want to take this even further. Maybe, we should consider the broad impact of other actions. Think of all the pets that have been torn to shreds by US bombs. The same bombs that are being dropped to ensure American access to fossil fuels.
Or we can take it closer to home. Got Milk? Visit a farm during calving season. To get milk, the cows must be kept pregnant. So each year there are tons of big brown eyed calves that just might rival a caviler king charles spaniel in cuteness. Then ask the farmer to explain what happens to all but about 3% of them.
So what is my opinion? Killing the dogs was really mean. But it is easy to focus on because it is someone else's fault.
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