Why I Hate Animal Lovers

I like animals. I like people who like animals. I hate people who love animals to the point they lose their sense of reason. I'm talking the "my computer wallpaper is my dog," "I hang a Christmas stocking for my cat" crowd.

I was reminded of my disdain for this bunch during the Ellen DeGeneres/Iggy the Euro-mutt saga that's "so insane" (those are Ellen's words) that I'm not going to bother detailing it. It's linked here, but I'm guessing your local news gave the story more coverage than Turkey's parliament authorizing military action into northern Iraq.

Anyway...

I like Ellen. Ellen's funny. So it's not that I have anything against Ellen falling apart on camera over the plight of Iggy (though, I don't recall her equally turning into a bowl of Jell-O over, say, any of our fallen soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq). It's not that I got my ire up just 'cause Ellen's so stressed by the Iggy deal she had to shut her show down for a long weekend (a word for you, Ellen: Petco). I guess I'm put out by the animal-loving crowd that loves animals so much some of them have made death threats against the woman who runs the shelter that gave Iggy a second shot at life in the first place. Death threats for having the audacity to follow her shelter's guidelines. I guess there's some sort of twisted logic in threatening violence against a human over a dog.

If you value animals over humans.

I like animals, as said. However, I don't value them over beings that walk upright, have opposable thumbs and can one-click their music over iTunes.

But animal lovers -- the "when I die I'll bury you right next to me, Mr. Sunggle-Wuggles, yes I wiiill!" hard-core ones -- have always had a misguided sense of proportion.

Like with Michael Vick. For his involvement in the doggie death matches he was sponsoring, Vick's facing charges from the feds and the state of Virginia. And good for it. But it makes me wonder why there's been less media attention -- and less public haranguing -- directed at a genuine thug like Adam "Pacman" Jones. Jones, as some will recall, was the football player who allegedly slammed a dancer's head into a stage at a Vegas strip joint. And shot a bouncer. And bit his ankle.

Allegedly.

Not that Jones is getting a total pass. He's facing criminal charges accusing him of inciting a melee and a civil lawsuit. And he was suspended from the NFL for at least 10 games.

But, then, Vick's been suspended indefinitely and without pay.

Clearly to a lot of people in the NFL, the media and the gen pop, cruelty to animals is more heinous than cruelty to people.

Maybe people are making a bigger deal out of Vick because Vick's more famous than Jones. But Jones' victims were more human than Vick's.

Human enough they deserve some on-set squalling from Ellen. But apparently that kind of emotion's reserved for those who drink from toilets.

Comments

[RPLinNYC]

What manicsuperstar said!
Way more thoughtful than Ridley's post.

[EspressoAtNoon]

If you don't understand the deep love that humans can have for animals then you obviously haven't ever bonded in such a way with an animal. I've had many pets over my life and I've bonded with two of them in a way that almost is like a parent/child bond.

Animals in many respects are like babies that never grow up. They are vulnerable and need your care and attention. They love you back unconditionally. They show affection and compassion to the owners they bond with.

Losing a pet whom you've bonded with is very much like losing a child. And once you've had this kind of bond you view begin to view all animals differently. It's like you've experienced that they have as much of a soul as humans do.

The experience has led me to a live of vegetarianism and a sensitivity to all living things. I'm sorry you haven't experienced what I have, or you'd surely understand.

[rubicon101]

hey Ridley,
you sure hit a bone of contention with this post..better luck next time.

[AlButerol]

I don"t hate people or animals. I hate people that love animals. They are so irrational. Am I the only one that sees the irony in this?

[Tiberon]

Thanks for writing this, Mr. Ridley. Many of the responses here indicate just how much guts it takes to go up against the anthropomorphists, who infuse their use of animals to meet emotional and affectional needs with a barely concealed sense moral superiority.

[KoolBreez]

Most animal lovers eat animals, too.

[KindAndThoughtful]

Mr. Ridley,

I consider myself an animal lover. We could all learn from them. We are all creatures of this planet and are all connected.

[AlButerol]

Let's see if HuffPo censors my post because it points out the irony of HuffPo providing a national podium for Ridley to write about his irrational hatred towards a group of people who he considers to be irrational and who have never affected his life in the least. My previous post which stated that was dropped. I'm baaack.

[WhackaTroll]

You may object to a dog drinking from your toilet but that dog sees you as someone who pees in their water dish.

[PhilB]

Pro-Life.
All of it.
Except for mosquitoes.
Only form of life I hate.
Wait, there's that rabbit that eats all my veggies.
Do republicans qualify as life forms?

[shaggles]

"Do republicans qualify as life forms?"

HA! No. They don't.

[iswearington]

if only the iraqis and afghans had been pitbulls. no one would dare bomb them willy-nilly or expose them to depleted uranium.if only our soldiers were dogs. bush would catch hell for using them for cannon fodder.the complete destruction of michael vick...is nothing more than a modern day coonhunt. having lost the civil war and the right to lynch...murder...and conduct week-end coonhunts...and lynch and burn black men at will...white racist now employ the criminal justice system to achieve the same ends.if the nazis can no longer arrest, try, and persecute jews...then whites and particularly in the south...should no longer be able to arrest, try, or persecute blacks.just because the confederate south was not tried at nurnburg like the germans were..makes no difference.that is the problem with white america. their genocides, pograms, and murders are OK...but when the stalins'...mao tse tungs...or pol pots of the world do it...its not OK.

[dadw5boys]

Every time I see a dog walked on a school play ground or places like the V.A. Medical Center here I get angery.
If you choose to own a dog them buy enough land to walk the dog and keep their crap away from other people.
Kids get Ring Worm or Pin Worms from dog crap.
The patients at the V.A. Hospital have a hard time finding a place to sit outside and enjoy the freash air because of the smell of dog manure around the sidewalks were the benchs are located.
BUY SOME LAND TO KEEP YOUR ANIMALS ON!
THE PUBLIC LANDS ARE NOT YOUR PRIVATE MANURE DISPOSAL AREAS!

[PhillyQuaker]

Responsible pet owners clean up after their pets, this is a disgrace.

[overtheedge]

All I can say is this:

A) I have desktop wallpaper of my dog;

B) I never called in (or condoned) death threats to the woman who removed Iggy.

Easy lesson: you should never assume that A=B.

[Jello]

A misguided sense of proportion? Yeah; we rape, brutalize, murder, and steal from each other and yet these acts rarely cause anyone to be labled as antihuman - that's most often a term used for "animals lovers." I believe all work that strives to promote nonviolence and compassion is valuable; find your passion and act on it. The problem isn't with those who are actually doing something. The problem is with those who don't do anything. And about those "beings" who walk upright, have opposable thumbs and can one-click their music over iTunes - they're animals.

[catnapping]

I save my disdain for people who think human life is more important than any other life on the planet.

[iswearington]

in the "matrix" human beings were described as being "viruses" and rightly so.