Picture a scene which has occurred since the dawn of time. A vulnerable herbivore forages for various plants as a food source. Meanwhile, a hungry predator voraciously hunts for a meal nearby, and a vulnerable herbivore would make an easy target.
Cut to the present: A third party enters this world. Hunters arrive with bows and arrows, firearms, or other lethal weapons, or trappers set traps in the most inconspicuous areas. Now any unsuspecting creature might lose this game of survival.
Aspen, Colorado: Not too long ago, a mayor and animal-rights activist in Aspen proposed banning any further sale of fur coats in that region as a referendum on the next ballot. Well-to-do tourists often wear fur coats, and some probably buy their furs in shops near local ski lodges. If fur coats were banned in Aspen, there might have been a nationwide precedent set; but, unfortunately, the proposal was defeated. I understand that the ban may have been defeated because the rights of merchants and potential customers might have been infringed upon; but what about the rights of the fur-bearing animals?: the rights to live, breathe, eat and perhaps to procreate? (to be cont'd)
[The original version of this essay first appeared in Eastern Connecticut State University's Campus Lantern student newspaper in the early '90s and part of my unpublished manuscript "In Mediocrity We Trust... In Debt We Die" And Other Essays]
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