Animal Rights Trio Jailed

I’d love to say the animal rights trio that was jailed was caught attempting to liberate heroin-addicted primates held captive in a study on heroin withdrawal (not that I’m an ALF member, see here).

But alas, these three were jailed for attacking a grandmother, her daughter, and her grandson, while in a traffic jam in Richmond, Surrey (in the UK). The article, in Tuesday’s Life Style Extra, explains that the attack, which consisted of name calling, spitting, trying to drag the grandson from the car, and striking the 75-year old woman was all because . . .

The family had a pro-hunting sticker on the rear window of their car that read: "Two working dogs, working people, work in hunting."

And here is the Gray Matter: How many times have I wanted to drag someone from their pickup because of a bumper sticker or because their poor dog is frying on the hot metal of the bed of the truck, under the scorching South Florida sun? More than I can count.

But did I? No.

Why?

Because when you antagonize people with whom you don’t agree, that only makes them angry, and when they get angry, they take it out on more animals. In fact, they probably see your face in the face of the next animal they mistreat or hunt.

These particular defendants have ties to Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC), which I don’t think helped their case. SHAC does some difficult, but much-needed activist work, and I suggest checking them out.

We know that the media wants to cover stories like this rather than what’s really going on in labs, slaughterhouses, and government testing facilities. Let’s stop giving them more material, and concentrate on productive means of changing the system, and the culture, and decreasing suffering.