Thoughts on the Dog Fighting Scandal

The brutes—meaning the people—involved in the dog fighting scandal should be punished to the fullest extent of the law and they should be shunned socially. Not only is the “sport” beyond cruel, but it involves training dogs to fight for purposes and in ways never seen in nature. Horrible.

The criminals engaged in this enterprise have not only besmirched the intrinsic worth of the animals involved, they have profoundly assaulted human exceptionalism by violating one of its major tenets: Our solemn duty to never treat animals cruelly or cause them harm for a gratuitous or frivolous reason.

I am also fascinated, as ever, by our reactions to the depiction of the fights that are running like looped tapes on the ever-voyeuristic cable news networks. Many seem more upset at seeing the dogs treated cruelly than they are by seeing people beaten or killed. I think that this reflects our greater empathy toward the innocent and the helpless. Thus, we react to cruelty against animals in much the same way that we do when children are abused.

We are the only species capable of that level of caring for those that are not “our own.” So, this story is steeped in human exceptionalism: both in its violation and in our outraged reaction to those who would so undermine their—and our shared—humanity by treating animals in such a vicious and despicable manner.