THE EMOTIONAL VIEW

'The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man'. (Darwin)

'Gone Fishin' is a song written by Nick and Charles Kenny and recorded by Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong in 1951. It portrays fishing as a peaceful and relaxed occupation that benefits a human being doing the fishing; but it has no mention of what this involves for the fish pierced in the mouth by a barbed hook, or for a worm that might be impailed on the hook as bait.

Then there is the old English song: 'Do ye ken John Peel'. It celebrates the fox hunting exploits of John Peel, an English huntsman who died in 1854. It praises fox hunting and makes it sound like fun; except for the fox.

Do I need to go further? Hunting, catching, trapping, emprisoning, or ensnaring; they can make us shudder with fear because it is easy to see ourselves as the hunted, the caught, the trapped, the emprisoned, or the ensnared. Such emotions can then lead us into assuming a role as the protectors of animals, as their friends, or even as their brothers and sisters.

The ultimate assumption of this line of belief is that animals have the same rights as humans. But there are other views . . .

This is fun !!!

Not for me !!!