Humans > Animals - Serious Rant

If you live in the United Kingdom, you've probably heard the terrible news of a teenager being killed by four dogs in the Greater Manchester area. Sadly enough, this tragic scenario plays out far too often, with people, primarily young children, being killed by dangerous and viscous dogs. This may sound ridiculous, but why are we letting these dogs remain in our society when they've been known to attack people on a very, very regular basis?

This has brought up an issue that I have held close to my heart for a long time now. Ever since I've been earning money, I have donated to several different charities. The charities I deem most worthy of my hard earned money are Cancer Research, NSPCC and Amnesty International. Every now and again, however, I am approached in the street by a charity worker who is representing an animal charity, such as the RSPCA or WWF. I'm never rude to these people, but I can tell you now that these people will never see one penny of my money. Why you ask? Because I feel that while we still have humans, our own species, being killed, trafficked into sex industries, starving and dying of curable illnesses, then our attentions have to stay focussed on what is important, preserving human life. 

People who donate to animal charities always come up with the same line every time. "The animals can't protect themselves". Variants of this phrase have been used in the official RSPCA advert drives during the Christmas holidays. This line of argument has always irritated me. Leaving aside the whole evolution side of things which, as an argument against a charity is pretty dickish in itself, this argument assumes that all humans can protect themselves from their circumstances. Bullshit. Do you think that a baby in a war-torn part of Africa who is born into illness and suffering can dictate that he does not deserve this treatment? Do you think a young girl who is abused by her parents every day, physically and mentally, can just open her mouth and make it all stop? Yes, it's sad that animals can't tell you when they're being mistreated, but it's unacceptable when human beings are put in that same position, without a voice and in constant pain. You can say that animal cruelty is always caused by humans and that's why we have to protect them. Well guess what? human cruelty is also caused by humans, and I care much more for a week and helpless child being abused than a puppy. Call me an evil man, but I can't sit idly by while I see people like myself living in such poor circumstances just because they happen to have been born in a different country. That's just wrong. 

So I get back to the original point of this piece. while researching, I have found that, since 2005, eight children and five adults have been killed in dog attacks, with hundreds more being injured in that same time period. That's outrageous. Many of the attacks can be narrowed down to a certain number of dog breeds. For example, in the most recent fatality of a fourteen year old girl, it's been suggested that the dogs involved were Mastiffs and Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Two dogs which have been known for violent attacks for year, and even bred to be attack dogs. I know it's unfair to say an entire dog breed is inherently bad because of its breeding, but these dogs are no longer needed for their bred purposes and are now dangerous to have in modern society. The reason there isn't a more stringent set of Dog Ownership Laws in this country? The animal lobby is too powerful and will not allow it. MPs are scared to vote on such bills as they would lose voters. In my opinion, you would either need to bring in dog licences, if not just for these dangerous dogs then all dogs, or just remove dangerous dogs from this country to stop any more attacks on children and adults alike. My dad was attacked by a dog several times, each time getting progressively worse until it became apparent that this dog was unsafe to have in the community any more. On the last attack, the dog threw him over a car bonnet and pounced on him afterwards. If it wasn't for a neighbour in his community which helped lure the dog away, that dog could have serious injured, even killed my father as a child. He followed legal proceedings with his parents after that to have the dog put down for being a threat to people, in which he was successful. You have the right to say he was cruel for that, but my father feared for his life whenever he walked down his street knowing that dog was there. That's not a life anyone wants to lead. Living in constant fear. Nothing should make you feel that way in your life, be it another person or animal.