This story in one of Lavone's email messages caught my eye. I read on a conservative blog, one blogger described Michael Coren as a "professional idiot." His website is http://michaelcoren.com and his email address is mcoren@sympatico.ca

Edmonton Sun
August 18, 2007
Doggone fools: Sometimes we forget people matter more than animals
By MICHAEL COREN

OK, the evidence is in.

People who are obsessed with the welfare of animals and become hysterical when they hear about a dog or cat being abused are mentally ill.

No need here for compromise or silliness. Animal rights types are mentally ill.

Which was shown once again this week when 50 protesters assembled outside the offices of the Humane Society in Toronto after an officer was
suspended for not doing his job properly.

What the man actually did was handcuff to a car door a twit who had left his rottweiler in the vehicle on a particularly hot day.

The handcuffed dog-abuser was then attacked by some locals and given a few slaps around the head. He could, of course, have been knifed, beaten to death or hit by another car. The Humane Society zealot had a duty to both save the dog and guarantee the safety of the accused.

But rather than see the obvious and realize that even people who are cruel to doggies have basic human rights, the usual suspects from neurotics anonymous staged a demonstration in support of their new hero.

Good God, get a grip! People matter more than animals. Even bad people matter more than animals. Even very bad people matter more than animals.

No relativism please, no soppy arguments about cute puppies compared to mass murderers.

The human spirit and soul is unique and deserves respect, dignity and reverence.

FOR US TO USE

Animals, on the other hand, are there to be used. Not abused, but used. So we can eat them, wear their skins, experiment on them if we can
thus improve the human condition.

A million kittens do not one human life make. So if by testing medication on a million kittens we can find a cure for cancer, we should have
not a second's pause.

Animals have no rights, but we have responsibilities. To treat them properly.

Farmers do this best because they treat them precisely as animals. Keep them fed and warm, show them affection and care, make them better when sick, but kill them if need be.

The lunacy in Toronto is repeated every day all over Canada and all over the Western world.

Less so, however, in countries where there is mass poverty and people work the fields. In those places there is far more balance and an
understanding of nature not tainted by Hollywood sentimentality.

Nor should we accept the argument that people who care passionately about animals also care passionately about people. Some might, but most
don't.

If you doubt me, ask an animal nut if they would kill a beast to save a child. Notice the pause, the ambivalence, the pain. We've become so confused in our understanding of humanity that we adore anything that seems to be cute or vulnerable.

The broken, bleeding human may spit in your face, may scream at you, may be a pain in the rear.

But not little Rover or cuddly Whiskers. Because they are dumb they must be special and because they give us pleasure they must be kind.
Nonsense. Animals can be cruel, are invariably selfish and exist for us and not us for them.

At its most basic it's little different from weeping over a Princess Diana you never knew or teenagers hugging in front of the television
cameras when a tragedy occurs at school. We lost our sense some time ago.

Tragedy is, we hardly notice.