Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Living / Animal rites

Animal rites

10/20/2008 by backofthebook.ca Leave a Comment

By Bev Schellenberg

Zobmondo is a wonderfully bizarre book crammed with handy conversation starters for parties or family gatherings, as is the board game. Let’s play. The idea is to choose from one of two, weird alternatives, for example: “Would you rather have to kill Winnie the Pooh or Bambi?” Or here’s a question that it probably wouldn’t be wise to ask at an animal activists’ convention: “Would you rather bite the head off a live gopher or thoroughly lick a cat’s butt?”

Having fun yet? Try other questions here.

Granted, these are unlikely scenarios. So here’s a real-life one: would you rather have the right to kill and skin a cat 200 or more meters from your home or have the right to put your goldfish in a fully transparent tank? Under Switzerland’s new animal rights legislation, the correct choice is mandated. The Swiss can kill and skin a cat as long as it’s far enough from one’s property, and sell the pelt. A Swiss goldfish, on the other hand, must have some privacy; therefore, it can’t be kept in an entirely see-through tank.

The Swiss have gone even further to protect their scaly friends: by 2009, fish must be snuffed in a humane fashion. That means immediately after capture (except for the ones destined for that fish tank, I guess) and with a blunt instrument. As well, hooks and live bait can only be used in certain situations, and anglers must take a course in the art of humane fishing.

Sounds to me like there are a lot more fish-huggers than cat fanciers being heard in Switzerland at the moment.

This raises a host of questions. Will the Swiss also have to kill their cats humanely? Would a cat killing a goldfish be humane, or would the cat owner be charged? One couldn’t blame a Swiss cat for reaching out and snuffing the life of a juicy goldfish that swam contentedly around its partially private fish bowl, especially if the cat’s impetus was frustration at the inequality of the animal rights system. Switzerland is the only European country that still permits the sale of cat pelts, although the Economy Minister has promised to end that soon.

Canada appears to be strangely silent about fish-killing practices and acceptable standards, although people the world over know our standards on seal-clubbing. If clubbing a fish is deemed humane in Switzerland, perhaps we can assume that’s the kindest way to end all animal and aquatic life. Too bad we can’t ask the seals.

On the other hand, Canadians don’t have the right to skin and wear bothersome cats. Further, we actually get upset when a cat is tortured or killed, as demonstrated by the case of four Camrose, Alberta teenaged boys who broke into a home in December 2007. As the other teens likely stood and watched, two of the boys microwaved the family cat. The two 16-year olds were recently sentenced to 100 hours of community service each. They also have to get rid of their family dog, can’t play video games, and have a strict curfew. There was no mention of being denied further access to microwaves.

So . . . let’s play Zobmondo again: Would you rather microwave a live goldfish or stop killing other living creatures altogether and not have to worry about humane death methods?

Note: no cats or fish were harmed in the writing of this article.

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: animals, Canada, death, recreation, sports

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in