I read a letter to the editor a minute ago that caused a great amount of internal distress and something like anger.
Tori, and eighteen-year-old living in the same area as I do, was complaining about the "coyote problem" we're facing. By this, I assume she means the problem of hordes of humans ripping up desert land, chain-building houses on it, and over-populating this land with people. This land, of course, used to be home to coyotes, mountain lions, javelinas, bobcats, etc. and is a gorgeous place to live. People come here for the heat and beautiful landscape and are dumbfounded when a wild animal attacks and eats little Fido.
This is what Tori was complaining about. Her terrier-mix was killed by two coyotes who leapt her six-foot-high wall (athletic little canines, huh?) and attacked the dog. She mentioned how "barbaric" we supporters of wildlife are, because look! look! Wild animals KILL tiny dogs and cats!! Who could've seen THAT one coming?
She mentioned that a day before this "brutal attack", her eighteen-month-old neice was sitting in the same exact spot. The thing is, though, that coyotes do not attack humans. They're deathly (and intelligently so) affraid of humans. A baby's cry would send a coyote into panic, because where baby is, there too is Mom. And Protective Mom is a terryfying creature to any animal.
The truth of the matter is, we humans are WAY more important than animals. We should definitaly have more rights than an animal, of course. When it comes to the survival of a species, people get the upper hand and deserve more protection.
But this hillarious description of coyotes as "barbaric" is dead-on wrong. You can not hold animals to moral standards. When we destroy a wild (key word, "wild) animal's food-source and habitat, their survival depends on our tiny non-dogs and cats and chickens etc. They're not evil because they're hungry. Animals are not bound by moral laws.
If a person wants to live where wild animals are abundant, they best get used to the FACT that wild animals kill and eat domestic animals.
Wild immorallity
By satireMonkey - Posted on May 9th, 2008
Good post. Have you ever seen Over the Hedge? It's a kid movie, but it addresses this very issue. Not with coyotes, but with smaller "nuisance" animals. It is a hilariously accurate portrayal of suburban sprawl. If you haven't seen it, I think you'll LOVE it!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I love that movie. It was so in-your-face funny. Thanks for reading! :)
~"Happiness only real when shared".~
I agree. Obviously, animals are living, so they should have some kind of protection from extinction, but precedence over a human's rights - never!