Aug

23

Where is the Outrage?

by Keith Rothra | General |

“Michael Vick should be locked in a cage with a pack of angry Pit Bulls.” That was one conclusion offered to me the other day. There is a scream for justice. Some people are angry at the deal worked out by Vick’s lawyers even before we know the details of that deal.

Atlanta Falcons QB Michael VickWhat kind of person would put dogs against other dogs and make them fight to the death? And to do this for entertainment and, even more so, for profit is unthinkable. Even worse, who would slam a dog against the ground with such force as to kill it? Shooting the dog is bad enough, but beating or hanging a dog to death is unthinkable and deserves a public outrage.

My family raised Cocker Spaniels when I was a child. They were beautiful animals: gentle, docile, and pretty. These dogs were excellent house pets, but they were also hunters. Like the rest of the Spaniel breed, they were bird dogs that hunters used to track down partridges and pheasants; they also served as reasonable retrievers in duck hunting.

A Pit Bull is a different sort of dog. It is a breed that is bred for aggressiveness and trained for brutality. The more brutal animals are saved for further breeding. Its intended purpose is to kill its adversary, yet it is still a dog bred and born under the care of man.

Man has a responsibility to care for these animals. Man has rule over the animals and direction from God to be the caretaker of them. A steward is the keeper of someone else’s property and is charged with responsibility for the well-being of that property. The animals of earth are the property of God; man is God’s steward over them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28 (NIV)

A steward who destroys the property of the owner violates the relationship with the owner and with the property. I believe that this is the case of Michael Vick.

The demands of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) are well meaning and compassionate. Michael Vick must pay the price for his cruelty.

However, here is my question: why are we so outraged at the cruelty to animals at the hands of the owner yet remain undisturbed by the vicious dissection of a live human baby? Why are we willing to lock a man away for years for killing a dog and yet we call killing an innocent baby in the womb a “woman’s right?” Is the doctor not killing children for profit? How does he differ from Michael Vick?

Where is the logic? Where is the outrage?

Which do we value more: the life of an animal or the life of a human being? Is not the human baby at least as precious as that of a dog? Dogs are our responsibility: true. However, are not human babies something a bit more important?

Where is the outrage?