If you know me very well, you know that I am not a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) sympathizer. Some people say, "Meat is murder," or "Fur is murder." I think that is ridiculous. Meat is food. And fur is clothing.
I am, at the same time, an animal lover. I own two cats, a dog and two frogs. And if my wife would let me, I'd have more. She says I don't do enough to clean up the poop as it is and she's got a point.
One time, we were having trouble with mice in our kitchen so we put out that sticky paper to catch him. And then there he was, cute as button. But stuck from head to tail on the sticky trap. I had to do something with him. I could have just thrown him in the trash and he'd die eventually. But looking at him, I had pity. So I put him in a plastic bag and slammed the bag as hard as I could against the cement floor in my garage. Then I threw him away.
You see, I needed to get rid of that mouse. But I also didn't want it to suffer, even though it was just a mouse. So I bashed its brains in. Of course, my wife will tell you that I almost cried afterward. I said ALMOST!
Then today I read this bizarre story about the Texas man who found a mouse in his house and instead of killing it, he threw it into a pile of burning leaves in his backyard. And just as you would expect, the little critter didn't care for that one bit. So the flaming rodent zipped out of the fire and right back. . . you guessed it, into the man's house. No one was hurt (human, that is) but the man lost his house and all his possessions.
Now first, let me say that this was an inhumane way to kill a mouse. I despise the platform of these animal rights activists who equate the life of a dog or cow or chicken with that of a human being. But I also don't approve of cruelty to any of God's creatures.
I feel bad for the mouse. But I feel much worse for the poor 81 year-old man who lost his house and everything in it - even if what he did was kinda dumb.
Lesson: Don't light living animals on fire.
What is your opinion?
HT: Aardvark Alley.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Douse the Mouse Before It Runs to the House
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4 comments:
This is so Darwin Award material.
Unless, of course, it is a fox. Then lighting them on fire is a weapon.
I am 100% with you as far as how I feel about animals, and when I heard about this, I thought it was a horrible (and stupid)thing to do to the mouse, but I also felt sorry for this poor elderly man who lost everything in the fire.
What you said about killing the mouse caught on sticky paper reminded me of a time when I was working for a feed company. We had feral cats in the warehouse, and they had caught a female that obviously had just had kittens. The Humane Society came and took her away, but we couldn't find the kittens. I was working by myself one weekend a few days later and was recounting some inventory in the warehouse when I heard a kitten crying. I found all of them dead except for the one. I couldn't stand the idea of that one dying slowly like it's litter mates. I knew I'd never be able to take care of it, and it was already near death. So I got a shovel and bashed in its head. I've never quite gotten over that.
I'd be reluctant to say that he "got what he deserved" ... nobody deserves to have their home burn down. Yet, throwing a mouse into a fire seems terribly, pointlessly cruel. Maybe he did it more out of thoughtlessness than cruelty. Still, if I believed in "karma," I'd see this as proof.
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