Thursday 5 September 2013

Save the beagles. But what about the humans?

Did you too find it just a little sickening last week when all those politicians, who give nary a thought to pushing around and impoverishing adult human beings, were emoting wherever they could be heard about their heroism in saving the beagles?

They didn’t even mind getting cheesy.  "It is the beginning of the end for this country sanctioning the torture of harmless, hapless little animals in the name of recreational drugs. I am very happy about this day," said a grandstanding John Banks. "I say to these to the little beagle puppies the Little River Band song: 'Hang on, help is on its way'."

"It's innate in us to know that it is wrong to have cruelty to animals for no good purpose,” said bill sponsor Trevor Mallard.  "This issue is going viral … and it is going viral because New Zealanders care.”

I’m sure they do. And I’m sure that’s laudable.

It’s not just that politicians generally adore speaking for the speechless. But why do they care so much more about beagles being badly treated by than they do about adult humans?

Why is is that empathy for battered animals often outweighs that for human adult victims?

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