The world has gone 'Animal Rights' mad. Naked protests? Throwing blood at workers of fast food restaurants? It is completely ridiculous. But, these are simply laughable events where narrow-minded individuals have not seen the bigger picture, or ever experienced the black side of animal rights protesters. There are several happenings in my life that have left me wondering whether the protesters are actually interested in the rights of animals or if they are simply looking for fifteen minutes of fame.
Hunting with hounds was banned in 2004 here in Great Britain, which is fine (although I do actually agree with hunting to a certain extent), but we are still allowed to hunt using a gun or bird of prey so I don't really know what the point of the ban is. However, this has led to an outburst of 'Animal Rights' legislation that is not only ridiculous, but down-right dangerous.
We are not allowed to deter foxes from entering our gardens, we can only inform DEFRA and the RSPCA of a nearby fox den. I have lost 2 guinea-pigs to foxes just recently, and when I contacted the appropriate authorities I mentioned that I have young children. I am concerned that the foxes are inquisitive and unafraid of humans, and do come into the garden during the day. I was told that a fox has more rights than my children, and that it would take a fox to kill a child before legislation is changed.
Is that proof that 'Animal Rights' have gone too far?
Maybe I should tell you the story of before hunting was banned... a nearby yard suffered a massive loss of hounds and horses when protesters placed poisoned meat in the kennels, and slashed the horses' throats as a way of stopping a hunt.
How about that? Is that a good way of protesting 'Animal Rights'?
Hunting is only one aspect of 'Animal Rights' that is regularly protested against in the UK. They also protest about animal testing, horse and greyhound racing, the use of battery chickens and even fishing.
Whilst I do agree that animals should have rights, I also believe that we have to look at why the animals are being treated the way they are. With hunting, we need a way of culling the amount of foxes, deer and mink in the wild as they do destroy the environment and kill livestock, causing not only human suffering but also other animal suffering. Foxes will kill for fun, not just for food. Deer will destroy whole forests, affecting the rest of the environment, and stags will attack innocent animals and people during the mating season. Mink are endangering the number of native riverbank animals we have.
When it comes to animal testing, until more people are willing to subject themselves to medical trials we have no option but to use animals to improve our health system and prolong the lives of people. Medical trials are also used to help our own veterinary industry too. Without testing on animals, we would have no way of treating the animals who become sick or injured.
Protesters have found a number of ways of arguing the cases against these two vital industries. Using poison and murder is only one extreme. Many laboratories in the UK have been attacked using terrorist methods of explosives, endangering not only the lives of the workers but also the animals as well. They even risk their own lives by running out in front of racing animals, or traffic entering and exiting properties they consider to be abusing animals. Dangerous animals have been released from zoos, circuses and laboratories, causing accidents and death amongst the innocent public.
If killing animals and people is not 'Animal Rights' gone too far, then I really do not know what is.