*Scroll for an Update*
Jerry Large’s column today in the Seattle Times speaks of man’s relationships and perspectives of animals. I guess what prompted his topic was a story of a man riding his bicycle through Banner Forest Heritage Park, I assume somewhere near Seattle. The man was attacked by a bear. I don’t know the details of the attack nor does Large share them with us. What he does do is make some comments of which I would like to take notice of.
I assume a bear would be acting on instinct, not out of malice. And I like bears, or the idea of them anyway. I value their rights. That makes me feel good.
But I do have to remind myself that bears aren’t inherently good. They’re just bears.
The reason I am giving this some time is because I believe it is important to better understand how people, not just hunters, think of animals, whether wild or domestic.
Large hits the nail on the head in his honesty when he says that he values a bear’s rights. He also readily admits that by doing so, it makes him feel good.
Large wants to get his readers to think that “sometimes a bear is just a bear” but never lets a bear just be a bear by assigning it some rights. The only rights a bear has are those we humans attach to it in a manner that will make us “feel good”. An animal has no rights. What we have is a case of us humans who don’t have a right to abuse animals but we can’t even get that right because of our obsession with them.
I find it interesting, conflicting and confusing that the columnist would begin by stating that a bear is just a bear, then assign it some rights in order that he feel good and then immediately follow that with a statement that says that “bears aren’t inherently good”.
We’re an odd lot when it comes to animals. I’ve believed for a long time that not only do pet owners have them for companionship but so that they can treat their animals in their own way without fear of any disagreements from the pet. Sounds odd I know but I do believe that.
Much of what we do in life we do because it makes us feel good. Giving animals rights is really no different but we do carry it too far, far too often. Here’s one in a long line of weird and disturbing things that our animal-obsessed society has done.
*Edit out by request*
If we at all believe that sometimes a bear is just a bear, why can’t we also believe that a dog is just a dog? That’s simple really. We no longer see a dog as just a dog. We see it as an equal, with rights. This same mentality is sweeping through our society as it attempts to put all animals, even wild bears, on an even plain and in some cases a higher one, mostly because it makes us feel good and hides much of the guilt we carry inside us about our inability to love a human.
A bear is always a bear, so far. A dog is not a dog and hasn’t been for quite some time.
*Update*
To reinforce the fact that a bear is always a bear, read about Yellowstone National Park safety manager, Ken Meyer, getting attacked and mauled by a grizzly while out hunting black bear.
Tom Remington
