The Bambi myth

Too many city and suburban people today suffer from an overly-romanticized view of animals, which some call Bambiism. They may not actually think deer, rabbits, and other animals talk to each other, but they impute to them human awareness and human emotions. Some of them say, and some may actually believe, that the life of an animal is equal in value to the life of a human.

Don't get me wrong; I hate cruelty to animals. The practices of some factory farms are revolting. But that is a far cry from believing that a sheep, a cow, a pig, or a dog, are morally equal to a human being. As between the life or safety of a human being, however depraved, and the life or safety of an animal, however noble in appearance or rare, then there is no choice in my mind. May I point out that there is also no choice in the animal's mind; a mother wolf or bear will attack a human to protect its young. The only difference is that I will attack a wolf or bear who attacks a human being who is not related to me, and a wolf or bear would not.

Nor do I believe that a swift and painless slaughter of animals for food is cruel. Our dentition alone shows that humans are not purely herbivores. If you wish to be a vegetarian on grounds of health, religion, or any other reason, you can certainly do so. But do not pretend that eating meat is unnatural for humans.

Wild or uncontrolled dogs are actually more dangerous than wolves. Dogs do not have an instinctual fear of humans, as wolves do. A dog that will attack your pet in your yard will attack you, especially if that dog is in a group. Wolves, through generations of experience, have developed an instinct to flee humans.

I wrote this post as a result of reading and hearing about several dog attacks in the last few days. In one case, a dog uncontrolled by its owner came onto a person's property and attacked a family pet. The owner of the property and the pet came out and shot the dog. As this happened outside the town limits, the sheriff said the property owner was perfectly within his rights. Several acquaintances of mine were horrified that the cruel man shot the pretty dog. I wasn't. I was horrified that the owner allowed a dog to run free without restraint.