Americans are odd animals. Case in point: When movie writers wants their audience to really hate the bad guy, they include a dog for him to maim. It’s bizarre, but I feel more empathy for an injured dog than an injured child on screen. However, things change when it comes to real life. Unfortunately, there are some among us who live in a fictional world where animals take precedent over human beings, even off the big screen.

Recently, 401 animals were “freed” (quoted from the unbiased KCRG Channel 9 News) from their captivity in research labs at the University of Iowa. These were placed into a “loving home” and the labs were destroyed. This was done all in the name of freeing animals from suffering.

Who could argue against saving animals from suffering? Why, they’re such cute cuddly little rats.

Actually, when you really think about it, there is a tremendous amount of animal suffering out there, what with the whole survival of the fittest thing and all. One wonders how the Animal Liberation Front is going to change the fundamental laws of nature that demand many to suffer so a few can survive.

It’s simple really — it isn’t. There will be no end to deer watching wolves rip open their guts and pull out their entrails or bears pulling the heads of salmon apart before throwing the carcasses back in the water because they’re full.

No, those at the Animal Liberation Front are just going to end the suffering of animals in labs. They’re just going to stop the suffering of animals at the hands of people. What do those people matter, anyway, right? They’re making a living based on the suffering of our friends from the forest floor. God knows, no one else does.

So they’re coming to save those animals and using “ax, drill or crowbar” to get through the doors. Hmmm, where did those axes come from? Well, the wood shaft probably came from a tree that was once the home of a cute little squirrel. The iron blade was probably forged in a plant where there used to be a beautiful prairie that had bluebirds chirping and rabbits sniffing sunflowers.

Wait a minute, just think about all the animals that are displaced and killed just so we can make it through our daily lives. It’s staggering. It seems that we’re all guilty, even those of the Animal Liberation Front. Just think about the communiqu‚ ALF sent out via e-mail. Well, that seems harmless. No animals die because of the passing of e-mail, right? But just think about the moles that were killed when fiber optics were laid down across the country. And think about the coal that was taken from a strip mine to power the computer that sent out the e-mail. There really is no escape from causing animals to suffer.

Oh well, that’s the way things go. Although, there is a good side to things. We get heated homes, rapid transportation, food, an education and even medical treatment on the backs of dead squirrels and rats. We can be grateful, but we don’t need to feel guilty.

That’s the way things go. In fact, the research at the University of Iowa’s labs may help find a cure for depression or addiction. If you condemn those researchers, you condemn humanity. Indeed, you’re a traitor to humanity.

If ALF wants to be consistent with its logic, its members should be running naked in the forests. If we were lucky, they would die of exposure. Unfortunately, there will be no consistency from these people or any of the other animal rights wackos.