[nayr]

Well, here goes fo me:

I believe God made man higher than the animals. However, I do not believe that gives man the right to abuse and misuse animals. Quite the contrary, I think man bears a big responsibility to look after God's creation, including the environment and animals. I'm the type who will pull over to help a turtle across the road before he gets smushed. I also get enraged when I hear of all the experiments done on animals for stupid things like make-up and so forth.

But, I do draw a line when it comes to an issue of man vs. animal. If protecting an animal, whether it be an individual or an entire species, means the loss of human life, human life must come first. I'm sorry, but if an endangered tiger comes into my tent and threatens my baby, the tiger dies - tough break. I was enraged by the recent story of firefighters dying in a forest blaze because the nearby lake had endangered fish in it and could not be drawn from. That's plain ridiculous.

I do not believe we need a law or set of laws to extend protective rights to all animals. I think that's just asking for trouble (all it will do is make a bunch of lawyers rich, anyway). I think these cases are better handled on an issue-by-issue basis. Sometimes, the endangered species has the right to be left alone - other times, it's just a tough break. I don't think you can make a "one size fits all" law in this area.

OK - there's my opening statement. Anyone care to return volley?

[ September 05, 2001: Message edited by: nayr ]