Tuesday, August 28, 2007
GOING TO THE DOGS
After this appears, the Militant Moderate will no doubt have more redneck types aligned as enemies, joined by nice people who love dogs and other animals. It is not that I don’t like dogs, in their place, or anything like that. Nor do I suborn the mistreatment of animals. It’s just that I don’t get carried away with that issue.
The Moderate had two dogs as a child. Both of them hurt him terribly by doing dumb things and getting themselves killed. When MM was 8 years old our dog Spot began chasing the few cars who passed by our rural farm house. Then the mail carrier ran over him, much to his chagrin and our grief.
Our dog Shag, very important to the MM at age 10, took to running around the countryside in search of females and adventures, and we found him dead by the side of the railroad track. This ended my emotional attachment to dogs.
The MM became negative after being attacked by a pit bull on a chain while walking down a public sidewalk close to a house. The dog tore open my pants and a part of my leg, which still bears the scar. The occupants of the home became angry because of insistence that they remove the dog to some place where children and others would not be attacked while passing by.
We have been bombarded by news stories and TV coverage with sordid pictures of animal neglect over and over again. The announcers warn that these pictures may be disturbing, and it is darn sure disturbing and irritating that they cover such stuff visually. We’ve seen starving horses, cats running all over filthy homes, dogs penned up in the heat, and now – dog fights – over and over. Enough is enough.
As a child, the Militant Moderate saw horses beaten with whips and dogs kicked and beaten with sticks. Those experiences were quite disconcerting. As a young adult, he observed a farmer across the way at a distance lashing his two boys with a horsewhip in his back yard. The police responded, but said they had no authority across the road and out of the city limits. But it stopped.
Outright cruelty to children, starving children, and children going without medical care are much more disturbing to the Militant Moderate than stories of animal mistreatment.
It seems that the world would certainly be better off without the pit bulls some treasure. Those are vicious animals. We wonder about people who value animal owners’ rights over safety of children.
While the practice of dog fighting is abhorrent, the Militant Moderate finds it difficult to get so worked up over that as to attack Michael Vick personally or others for those dastardly deeds. In fact, we’d like to see him play football again. There is talk of “making an example out of Vick.” As a celebrity, he would receive harsher punishment as an object lesson for others.
It is hard to justify the fairness of celebrity justice when it is either unduly harsh or more lenient. I suspect that dog fighting, training, or breeding are rarely prosecuted. If punishment is either harsh or lenient, then it is unfair and wrong. Every person should be equal before the law, whether he/she is a football star, a Hollywood icon, a congressman, or a minority kid from the wrong side of town.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
The Moderate had two dogs as a child. Both of them hurt him terribly by doing dumb things and getting themselves killed. When MM was 8 years old our dog Spot began chasing the few cars who passed by our rural farm house. Then the mail carrier ran over him, much to his chagrin and our grief.
Our dog Shag, very important to the MM at age 10, took to running around the countryside in search of females and adventures, and we found him dead by the side of the railroad track. This ended my emotional attachment to dogs.
The MM became negative after being attacked by a pit bull on a chain while walking down a public sidewalk close to a house. The dog tore open my pants and a part of my leg, which still bears the scar. The occupants of the home became angry because of insistence that they remove the dog to some place where children and others would not be attacked while passing by.
We have been bombarded by news stories and TV coverage with sordid pictures of animal neglect over and over again. The announcers warn that these pictures may be disturbing, and it is darn sure disturbing and irritating that they cover such stuff visually. We’ve seen starving horses, cats running all over filthy homes, dogs penned up in the heat, and now – dog fights – over and over. Enough is enough.
As a child, the Militant Moderate saw horses beaten with whips and dogs kicked and beaten with sticks. Those experiences were quite disconcerting. As a young adult, he observed a farmer across the way at a distance lashing his two boys with a horsewhip in his back yard. The police responded, but said they had no authority across the road and out of the city limits. But it stopped.
Outright cruelty to children, starving children, and children going without medical care are much more disturbing to the Militant Moderate than stories of animal mistreatment.
It seems that the world would certainly be better off without the pit bulls some treasure. Those are vicious animals. We wonder about people who value animal owners’ rights over safety of children.
While the practice of dog fighting is abhorrent, the Militant Moderate finds it difficult to get so worked up over that as to attack Michael Vick personally or others for those dastardly deeds. In fact, we’d like to see him play football again. There is talk of “making an example out of Vick.” As a celebrity, he would receive harsher punishment as an object lesson for others.
It is hard to justify the fairness of celebrity justice when it is either unduly harsh or more lenient. I suspect that dog fighting, training, or breeding are rarely prosecuted. If punishment is either harsh or lenient, then it is unfair and wrong. Every person should be equal before the law, whether he/she is a football star, a Hollywood icon, a congressman, or a minority kid from the wrong side of town.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
