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No, Animal Rights have not gone nearly far enough. For anyone who thinks that they have, remember that we human beings are a species of animal.

When I consider our 2 and 4 legged friends; our winged ones, etc., I consider that they too, do have feelings. It's clear in the way that they care for their own, teach their young survival skills, grooming, etc.

Children and animals have a lot in common. For one thing, they both have the ability

to see Joy in the smallest of things. Something that so many of us adults seem to lose sight of as we mature. Anyone who has been around a lot of children and animals, I think, will agree.

Anyone who has ever had a pet, had the love of a pet or lived with someone else's pet knows clearly the warmth and love it emits. I think we should invite responses to this debate especially from those who have had their pets to save their lives. Helped them heal; predicted their seizures or other emergencies before they happened.

I have a 5 year old calico Manx. She saved my life and that of my family at least twice when we had gas leaks in the house. Her unceasing yowling and wandering from room to room and pouncing on the beds to awaken us was the only thing that kept us alive. I certainly can't thank our Carbon Monoxide detector which didn't pick up anything even with a new battery.

This cat gets frantic, pacing and meowing; eventually yowling as if in pain if we don't awaken whenever there are odors in the house or suspicious sounds or activity. If one of us yells out in our sleep; either she or the other one are right there to see what is wrong; right in the bed with us, pawing or licking us to help us to awake. I shudder at the thought that anyone would think that these cats don't deserve to be treated with the same love and respect they have given to my family.

There are countless stories of people who have pets just like mine. Stories of people who have met animals in the wild that never hurt them and animals in parks and rehabilitation centers all over the world that helped them in many ways. No one will ever convince me that other species of animals don't have as much if not more compassion than we human species.

I have witnessed the terror on my cat's eyes when my late Father, her best buddy, was wheeled out of the house by EMT's; she so wanted to defend him as I held her tightly
to keep her from going after them. She shook almost like a frightened chihuahua. In a way, they were taking her "Daddy" too. But, she didn't understand why.

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