when will Ace be back???

I generally like animals more than people, since animals don't try to convince me that people are more important than animals...

Gee Tesh, I don't know. I guess you're, gasp, stuck with us guest bloggers for the time being.

How humane of you Cirby!

Actually, as a New Yorker, I will say that I supported the cause to put the hawk's nest back. This has become a natural habitat, hawks are creatures of habit, and their nest had been there for years. To take that away from them because the building managers had complaints from a few owners (it really was a small minority that opposed the hawks) is cruel.

But that mother is an idiot. The BASEMENT?!

My favorite commengting entrance line: NO ISSUE(S) ARE BLACK AND/OR WHITE......Animal Rights included.

My animals are extremely important to me--they fill a "companionship" void in me" just as if I had the compansionship of a woman.

It is my responsibility to look after their well being.

An interesting question: Would I die for them? NO (forgive me, guys)...........

Man has an edge over animals when it comes to rights but each case has to be judged on its own merits.

I love cats and dogs but it pisses me off when people say they can't afford to nueter their animals, but yet will put up the ordeal every 6 months or so with kittens and/or pups.

Wild animals?

It breaks my heart to see a dead deer along side of the road
(and we see many around here!) but this is an evolutionary
natural process (cool term!).

I use to hunt and I can remember the thrill of the kill--whether it be a bullet in a bird or a hook in a sting ray........

About 15 years ago my taste for hunting and fishing STOPPED.

....but I still eat fish, poultry (I have 2 dozen chickens),
elk, buffalo................

Again, people rights versus animals rights is not BLACK OR WHITE......common sense must prevail...........

Thanks for your input OCM. I believe we should treat animals as humanely as possible. But that doesn't take away one bit from the fact that the well being and quality of life of people comes first in my view.

On the other hand, I don't believe in hunting animals for sport. If other people enjoy hunting, then so be it. But it's not for me. Nor would I ever, EVER eat an animal that was not yet dead. Regardless of what religion you are, that is part of the ancient Noahide laws.

The problem is that supposed "animal lovers" don't treat the animals like animals -- they treat them like people. Like the leopard guy. A leopard is a *wild animal*. It's not a house cat. It will kill you for food, because that's what it does. Don't lock it in an apartment; let it be wild. To do anything else is abuse.

Same with the pit bulls. Dogs aren't people, no matter how much we (and I'm guilty of this too) want to think of them as our children. They're dogs, and treating them like dogs is all they understand. If the female is in season and the male is in rut -- which they were -- put them outside, in a fenced kennel, until it's over. *Of course* the male is going to assert his dominance. He's a dog, and that's what dogs do. And the mother *knew* he would, despite her weak post hoc protestations, because she tried to hide her kid in the first place. Protect the dogs from themselves, and your children from them.

Also, small correction: The child was in the basement and the dogs were left upstairs, presumably to hump in peace. The kid went upstairs, and that's when he got mauled. Not defending the plan -- the Scooby Doo gang could have concocted something better -- just clarifying the mother's story.

With the exception of the hawk deal, I don't think any of those people are commiting these behaviors because they think animals are their equals. I think they're just crappy parents.
A few years ago a toddler in Georgia picked up a cockroach and put it her mouth. Her mom saw her do it. The little girl choked to death. The mom said, "She was just playing with it."
They're just regular sorry-ass parents, not super animal lovers.

Hawks hacking up mouse pellets and crapping all over the place under a nest are creating a health hazard. Nothing wrong with relocating them.

In my little central Texas hometown, state and local laws forbade the owners of a shopping mall from doing anything to force off thousands of grackles (big ugly nasty black birds) that infested the trees outside the mall. They were more white than tree colored, buried in bird crap. You parked under a tree if you were new to town.

The mall's solution? Cut down all the trees.

Come to think of it, it would be fun to put the bird protectors and the tree-huggers in the same room to let em duke it out.

Oh, and that woman was an idiot.

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