I started out originally having some sympathy with animal rights people. Unfortunately, the more I read about them, the less I like the way they think. They’re just loony.
Of course, I’ve recently been reading some very interesting and thoughtful writings by hunters in defense of hunting.
I just don’t see how these people can justify these kinds of actions. I just Do. Not. Get. It.
Birds of a feather!
A comparison, the birds surely won’t want to have any connection nor reference to.
PORCE, mon frere, you perhaps overlooked the fact that his is attributing this logic to them, not himself. You can tell by the last sentence: “Precisely why is also kind of unclear; apparently we simply should because we can.” He’s not stating his own opinion here; if he was, he wouldn’t have to use the qualifier “apparently.”
But welcome to the Boards! Be assured that we do supply this type of quality clarification twenty-four hours a day for your posting pleasure! With nitpicking at no extra cost!
Hi, ever since I discovered the strate dope I have learned to live with nitpicking and I think it has helped me out tons. I even sined up for the free nitpick via email service. That way I can git corrected without leaving the howse.
It’s nice
Nitpicks! Getcher nitpicks heeeeeeere!!!
But seriously, folks – yes, I am capable of that – the animal rights types are doubly dangerous. Not only do they do real harm with their stunts like the mink release; they also make it harder for the animal welfare groups to rally public support for the very real good that they do.
I’m passionately for animal welfare, as my horses and cats can attest (when they’re not too busy eating). I think the animal rights fanatics have gone off the deep end into something that looks an awful lot like hatred for the human race.
Too bad they wouldn’t restrict their releases to critters like bison and rhinos. 
EddyTeddyFreddy, without wanting to condone in any way the goatfelchingly (hey, if humans just got their right to the privacy of their bedrooms confirmed by the SCOTUS, then goats should have that right, too 
) stupid, immoral and illegal tactics that these ass-munching mouth-breathers use, it could also be argued that they the extremists do serve a purpose in letting animal welfare organisations present themselves as the rational, level-headed, middle ground…
I’d argue that a lot of the recent progress that has been made (e.g. McDonalds’ animal welfare standards for suppliers) has been made in part in response to the ravings of the loony bin faction.
Hmmmmmmmmm… Ya know, Viking, a good friend of mine bonked me over the head with that argument, not too long ago. She also argued that the loonie fringe (ALF, PETA, etc.) do raise issues that the mainstream organizations don’t, or don’t strongly pursue. She made a good case for her POV, and I was forced to retreat somewhat from my position, all the while grumbling “Because it IS…”
Yes, I take your (and her) point. Methinks McDonald’s and others that have given ground on such issues fear the bad publicity, more than they’ve grown corporate consciences, but who cares so long as animals benefit thereby?
But I still cling obstinately to my conviction that the harm outweighs the good. 
I’m on your side in this EddyTeddyFreddy. I strongly support animal rights and environmental causes, but I fail to see the point behind actions that don’t do much besides alienate the majority of people. Not to mention that the means these loony fringe groups choose always seem to defeat the purpose - ALF “liberates” mink so they can get run over by cars, kill the local wildlife, etc, ELF burns SUVs to protest pollution, thereby releasing all sorts of pollutants into the atmosphere, and on and on.
I just think there are better ways of getting your point across.
I guess I’d better scratch mink off the menu tonight.
Yeah, I’ll take the argument I outlined in the above post to heart and roll my eyes when the loonie fringe is merely carrying McDeath posters or parading around Sears in the nude…
When they start destroying stuff, or releasing animals, or whatnot, I consider that terrorism and no argument can justify it in my books. Off to Guantamo with them wi’ a curse, says I
As a vegetarian and an environmentalist, I find the releasing of a great many minks at one place to be extremely irresponsible, particularly with regard to the impact they will have on the local environment. Such actions only make it all the more difficult for the mainstream to accept more eco-friendly lifestyles.
And if they held out a hat they might get come change from folks thinking that they are just really awful Christmas carolers.
Could somebody please bookmark this thread, so that the next time somebody claims that only ignorant conservative viewpoints get lambasted on this blatently liberal MB, somebody can give a proper example of a looney leftist viewpoint getting lambasted without stressing the hamsters with a search?
-lv
My cousin owns a mink ranch (he prefers “fur farm”) a quarter of a mile from me. Fortunately we’re usually upwind.
So I see a lot of mink. Generally in their cages, but occasionally (and quite infrequently, really) a few escape. When they do, they terrorize the local fauna, including feral cats, domesticated dogs, and children and adults of all ages. These suckers are mean!
I would use nearly any necessary means to stop anybody trying to release any mink at all in my neighborhood. I’d consider the perpetrator no better than someone who scatters broken glass, razor blades, and poisoned candy at a playground.
BTW, the local gals who work at the mink ranch during skinning season have the softest hands in the world, from all that mink oil they handle! They are very popular dates! But only if they bathe thorougly first! Mink stink.
You wouldn’t like it anyway, it’s tough, greasy meat, with a bitter, gamey aftertaste.
… What?
Some of us who were working on these issues 20 years ago believe the PETA hijack set things back a decade or so. That is was only AFTER people in the mainstream who don’t care much one way or the other learned that not all animal welfare is ELF-like did we start making strides again. This is, obviously, debatable.
Currently, thanks to the popularity of so-called “No-Kill” shelters, any nut-case who wants to get a few donations for the “rescue” organization consisting of 56 diseased and unfixed cats dying slowly in their basement can start screeching about the local SPCA and city and county shelters “murdering” animals. Not a good trend. Not at all. While the cats suffer, the legitimate, hard-working shelters lose funding (funding they’ll need when the animals are delivered to them after the “rescue” facility is raided follwing six months of neighbor complaints) while people who’d rather not face facts feel good about themselves for giving their money to a “no-kill” group.
Where are Daniel W. and CrazyCatLady - I’m sure they have up-to-date information on the hoarders in their towns.
I’m more than willing to share my environment with any of the natural predators here in Florida. Having grown up here I feel I can avoid any problems with the local critters. OTOH, some foreign weasel shows up in my yard and trys to eat my dogs, it’s 12 gauge blasting time. That’s not a good life for Carnivora Mustelidae. I’d suggest anyone would do the same thing in a similar situation. Maybe there are unintended consequences here, but they were very forseeable consequences.
As mentioned by other thoughtful posters, I think actions like this make the average person tune out reasonable environmental arguments. For example, the destruction of unique habitats all over Florida, the Florida Panther situation, the Everglades reclamation versus the sugar industry, etc. – there are dozens of legitimate concerns just in my state. It’s hard to get people to take it seriously when idiots are releasing crazed weasels by the thousands.