Diary Of A Mad Voter: Jessica Peck Corry

Animal Cruelty: Are We All Guilty?

By Jessica Peck Corry, 12-13-07

Michael Vick, the former NFL star-turned-convict was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison this week for his role in a dog-fighting scheme.

He did a bad thing.  Dogs suffered.  Children cried. But does he really deserve prison? And if he does, how many of us should be joining him there?

After all, each and every one of us is just a little cruel to animals every day of our lives. It’s nearly impossible not to be, unless you’re a college student with plenty of time and an endless commitment to living a vegan lifestyle. 

But even then, your dietary habits, the car you drive, the cotton you wear or the shampoo you use have inflicted pain on some indigenous species in some far away endangered forest.

Most of the rest of us eat beef, pork, and chicken. If cows, pigs, and chickens could talk, would they be somehow grateful that they were being killed to be eaten between two slices of bread, some lettuce, and topped with ketchup?  Is this a more noble death than being thrown into some ring and forced to fight their friend Bessie until death? Hardly. As a society, we’ve decided that eating animals is O.K. while watching them fight to the death is not.

But we’ve also decided that some animals should not be eaten.  Take horses for instance.  Under various state laws and pending federal legislation, it is illegal to slaughter them domestically for the purpose of selling their meat for human consumption. While most Americans consider eating such meat vulgar, it’s quite the hit in other nations, including France, Italy and Belgium. The American horse gets a free pass but the cow he shares the farm with does not.

America’s commitment to animals has always been just a little bit questionable.  It was, after all, illegal to beat your cow before it was illegal to beat your child.

And today, while it is perfectly legal to destroy a human fetus through abortion, it is a crime to destroy the egg of any endangered species (see 16 U.S. Code section 1532).  At times it seems we love animals more than our children.

Every year, when I attend the National Western Rodeo — which I do proudly as the granddaughter of a cowboy — complete with my poser-urban cowgirl boots, I’m reminded of how our commitment to animals is riddled with hypocrisy.

Outside the arena, attendees are greeted by the inevitable group of committed animal rights activists who annually congregate to remind us all that bull riding is mean.  It’s as if one of us is going to say, “Oh yes, you’re right.  I never thought of it this way.” Instead, we walk past them, politely taking their flyers, and mocking them for their leather shoes. 

Again, if you’re Bessie — don’t you want to live life in the ring fighting the good fight — with spectators cheering as you knock cowboy after cowboy off your back?  Or is it somehow more humane that you’re slaughtered to be worn on the feet of the activists seeking to protect you?

Rodeos are also home to stock shows, where the truly saddest sight is watching a young 4-H kid win the livestock competition.  She stands tall upon the stage, giant blue ribbon in one hand, and her prize-winning check in the other.  The smile often fades, however, as she realizes the truth — that this animal that she worked so hard to rear and to care for will now be slaughtered.  This is life on the ranch.

I was raised in a household where animals were to be treated with respect and responsibility.  We ate them.  We wore them.  We owned them as pets.  When they got sick, we took them to the veterinarian for elaborate medical tests.  When one cat got hit by a car, he had extensive surgeries to keep him alive. When the 16-year-old family dog died, we made him a coffin and held a somber funeral.

I love animals, but I know that they were put on this earth for us to enjoy.  I don’t attend dog fighting events and wouldn’t even know how to find one. They are a little strange and a lot vulgar.  But before we throw stones at those like Vick who take part, we need to take a long look in the mirror. It’s not exactly like we’re pure in the eyes of Bessie.  And as Vick now heads to prison, one thing is certain.  He’ll be offered lots of animals to eat while he spends nearly all of the next two years behind bars for his animal-cruelty convictions.

Editor’s note: Jessica Peck Corry’s weekly blogs are part of NewWest.Net/Politics’ “Diary of a Mad Voter” feature, a group blog, published in partnership with the Denver Post’s Politics West intended give a glimpse into the hearts and minds of several independent-minded voters and thinkers in the Rocky Mountain West in the ‘08 election cycle. For more columns check in with www.newwest.net/madvoter. And for more information on each of the bloggers, click here.

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