National Post/August 9/07 A3
Allison Hanes

"Take my wife, please"

"...in her job selling medical equipment, she used to demonstrate a surgical stapler on dogs who were later put to death."

Not long ago it would not have occured to any but a few sneered-at "animal activists" that there was anything even interesting about this revelation. And now it may be part of the failure of a "star" politician to become the president of the United States.

It seems that sneered-at and harassed animal activists are in the ascendency everywhere, as was inevitable. A civil, compassionate society does not use other sentient beings to experiment or demonstrate on, much less kill them when the demostration is over.

Animal activists have had to endure centuries of harassment, litigation, threats, and vilification to get to the point where using animals this way is a "death sentence" for the user.

Heartening also is that National Post writer, Allison Hanes, did not use the fake term "euthanasia" that the pet-user industry uses to soft-pedal all the killing it does. She told the truth by using the honest words, "put to death".

Words matter -- a great deal. The powerful use dishonest words to obscure what they do to the weak, and activists for the cause of the weak use honest words to expose the powerful -- as the Students For a Free Tibet just did.

Freedom of speech is the heart and soul and centre of all our freedoms. Millions of people have lost everything, been imprisoned, and died for freedom of speech.

The freedom to use honest words is vital to the cause of animal welfare. Real animal welfarists won't use dishonest words, even when there is a price to pay.

Please thank Allison Hanes for her honest article: ahanes@nationalpost.com