Tuesday, August 28, 2007

On Dog Fighting

I have mice in my apartment. I’m thinking of capturing several of them and starting a mice-fighting den in my landlord's basement. I’m going to starve them, hang them with little bits of string, and expose them to intense stimuli to encourage aggressive behavior. Then I’m going to invite some friends over, get some beer, and have a good ol’ night of mice-fighting action.

If the authorities find out, what do you think I’ll get? One or two years in jail? What if I did it with fish? Maybe Siamese fighting fish. How much then?

To be honest, I could really give a shit about the Michael Vick dog fighting case. I don’t advocate cruelty to animals, and I think it should be discouraged. Do I think a man should go to jail and lose millions over it? No, I don’t.

At the end of the day, Michael Vick will probably get one or two years of jail time and some hefty fines. That’s OK by me, although I probably would have been more lenient. What is absolutely crazy is the uproar that the case is causing, egged on by the national media. It is the definition of absurdity that hanging and drowning pit bulls causes half the nation to foam at the mouth, while human fetuses are burned to death by solutions of salt water or dismembered by vacuum suction and nobody raises an eyebrow. I say it again, it is the definition of absurdity.

What makes life valuable? Why do these dogs cause us to shed a tear? Don’t get me wrong; I have a dog. Annabelle’s great. But I have no trouble confusing the value of her life with the value of a human life. I’m not so sure about the rest of my compatriots.

Sometimes I walk around thinking, “Am I crazy?” Things like this make me realize that I’m not the crazy one. It’s the other 349,999,999 fucking people in this country.

2 comments:

The Other Liberal said...

Michael Vick should absolutely be shamed at a national level, and punished as the law allows. Vick and his depraved friends, who are apparently subhumans that enjoy watching house pets rip each other apart, are not likely to have reasonable levels of sensitivity when it comes to human beings and their treatment of each other. Allowing a celebrity to walk away from this sort of behavior would send a message that this type of violence is ultimately OK - which I feel can 'trickle up' to the idea that violence between people is somehow OK.

It shouldn't make a difference upon whom (or what) a despicable act is being perpetrated. What about football players who slap their wives and girlfriends around? Basketball players who rape women in their spare time? Soldiers returning from an endless war, missing extremities or faculties?

People are overwhelmed with media today - sometimes they need to be hit over the head with a certain story to attract attention. In this case, it's violent cruelty dispensed by a well-known athlete.

In any case - you really should do something about the mice.

This Liberal said...

I have no problem with Vick going to jail, as I said. I also think that all of the examples of bad behavior that you cite are very bad, indeed. That is except for the "soldiers returning from an endless war".

However, I don't think it is true that it "shouldn't make a difference upon whom (or what) a despicable act is being perpetrated". I don't really think you believe this either.

First, most people other than PETA activists will concede that inflicting suffering upon humans is more despicable than inflicting it upon animals. I would hope (and I think I would be right) that you would be more horrified if Mr. Vick was kidnapping homeless people and holding gladiator matches in his basement.

Second, not all human suffering is equal. The human race has long recognized that suffering inflicted upon two classes of people to be worse than other types of human suffering. Those classes are the innocent and those incapable of their own defense. This is why it is so horrible for soldiers in a war to victimize civilians. A human fetus is really the ultimate member of both categories. It is both completely innocent and completely defenseless.

Third, I am doing something about the mice. I have several hanging from string in my closet right now, suspended right next to my stereo, which is playing Metallica.