Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Do Animals Have Rights? Can Your Dog or Cat Sue You?

Recently, I saw a disturbing commercial airing on Hulu with kids promoting Animal Rights. I love animals as much as the next guy. In fact, as I write this, one of my two rescued dogs, Ellie (a Jack Russell-Rat Terrier mix) is resting on my lap. My two dogs are completely spoiled, and they are showered with love and affection every day. But having said that, I am opposed to Animal Rights, because it is antithetical to the Biblical account in Genesis. More on that in my next post.

Here's a sample animal rights' video targeting children and probably being shown in our public schools:

Flawed logic of the Animal Rights' movement
Animal Rights activists believe that you are no more special than a rat, or a cat, or a dog, or a chicken. They don't believe in a dominant species, and their argument is the same that was used for racism, one which I heard in my college Black History class years ago. It goes like this: If you believe as the Bible says that man is the head of the woman, and that the woman descended from the man, then you believe that the woman is inferior to the man; consequently, you must also believe that one race is superior and others are inferior,  therefore you are a racist because you believe in the superiority of the white race. Now, they've taken that one step further: You must also believe that one species is dominant over another and that man should be the dominant species in the world. There is no dominant species, and man is no better than any other species. 

That's how the reasoning goes, and logically, it's flawed from the start. First off, just because I believe that man is the head of the woman, and that according to Genesis the woman descended from man, that is no way means that she is inferior. She is created in the image of God and has a different role but it is not one that where she is any less of an equal to the man. The new definition of equality which has gained a foothold in our society thanks to feminism says that to be "equal", you have to be the same and be able to do the same things. In other words, a woman is not equal to a man until she can sign-up for the Navy Seals, or quarterback an NFL team. Once again, flawed logic. Equality means that we are equal in the eyes of God but we don't necessarily have the same function. My children do not make the house payment or pay the property taxes, yet they are equal in the eyes of God. Again, I'll discuss this a bit more in my next post.

Animal Rights activists have their own law schools, their own law review, etc. Does that mean that my two dogs can now sue me? Does it mean that my dogs can take me to court if they don't get their daily treats or their daily walk? Can my dogs divorce me as their master? What's up with that?

Here's what I believe about animal rights. Animals ONLY have rights that we as human beings confer on them. My dogs can't confer rights on anything, except by peeing and marking their territory. Other than that, they don't seem to want to confer any right to our cat, Vive, so she can sleep in our bed at night. What's up with that?  Maybe Vive needs a cat lawyer?

When I hear people talking about animal rights, I realize how far we have fallen as a nation and a people. We have too much time on our hands to concern ourselves with such trivial matters when there are people in places like North Korea who are being starved and tortured. These same people have NO concern whatsoever over the thousands of unborn babies that are killed and aborted every year. They won't lose any sleep over one single unborn child that is aborted; however, they will expend incredible amounts of energy and resources to save some chickens or rats or spotted owls or abused pigs. Am I condoning the abuse of animals--NO. But I also believe that as a society we have misplaced priorities. Because we've turned our back on God, we no longer value those who are created in the image of God, other human beings. More on that in my next post.

If you want to become an Animal Rights' Lawyer, here's a listing of resources where you can begin your education:
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                                                   UCLA Animal Law Program

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