Legal fleas

The Telegraph ^ | 11/07/2004 | Staff

[ijcr]

Here is some heartening news for invertebrates: under new Government proposals, creatures such as insects, worms and slugs will be protected from mistreatment if it can be proved that they suffer pain and distress.

This will pose a legal dilemma for gardeners, who have a number of ingenious ways of disposing of the plant-guzzling invaders. Some cut the offenders in two; others employ saucers of beer, in which drunken slugs drown. A spokesman for Peta, the animal welfare group, has welcomed the proposals, saying: "Compassion must be extended to all living beings. Stamping on a slug sets an example to children that 'might makes right'."

Yet while stamping is a clear case of malign intent, other pest-control strategies will keep the lawyers busy. Is the gardener who puts out beer, for example, to blame for a slug's propensity to drink itself to death? And what of the attacking mosquito: if we squash it, does that not count as self-defence?

If insects and molluscs are to be afforded the law's protection, there will be little argument for excluding bivalves. How prophetic were the words of the philosopher Bertrand Russell, who so long ago warned that: "Animal rights, taken to their logical conclusion, mean votes for oysters."

[ijcr]

British government employees have way too much time on their hands and free access to hallucinatory medications.

[Fiddlstix]

Ping

[GeronL]

It did not say it was the british government, it might be the EU government for all we know. =o)

Humbug!!! (is that slander?)

[Cheetah1]

insert rolling eyes here

[goldstategop]

This is satire from The Onion right? I can't imagine they'd be that stupid in the U.K.

[rock58seg]

It is fitting and correct that peta and it's supporters should want to extend these "humanitarian rights" to other members of their family groups. How can you be so cruel as too disallow them free discourse and association with their ilk.

This is the type of legislation for which "sunshine laws" were enacted. The proponents should be placed under a magnifying lens, in order to discern their true intent. Yes! Let the light shine upon them.

And if? They find a saucer of beer to slake their thirst, perhaps a little shaker of salt will add a tang to their squirming.

[ijcr]

In a follow up article at The Telegraph it states "Legislation to be announced by the Government this week will give courts the power to impose fines of up to £20,000 and 12 months in jail on people found guilty of mistreating animals. Anyone under the age of 16 will be banned from owning a pet and goldfish will no longer be allowed to be given as prizes at fairgrounds.

The legislation could lead to gardeners being fined for killing insects, worms, caterpillars, slugs and snails, if scientific evidence proves they have suffered pain and distress. Ministers say the law, which updates existing legislation, is needed to protect animals from abuse. Horticulturalists rejected the idea that they could be guilty of cruelty."

The Catch-22 question is how can scientists prove insects suffer pain and distress without violating the law?

[KangarooJacqui]

Have the surviving members of the Monty Python team executed a coup d'etat over there or something?

No, they can't have. This is way beyond silly.

[TYVets]

"The Catch-22 question is how can scientists prove insects suffer pain and distress without violating the law?"

We might ask the worm after a fish tries to eat him on my fish hook?

[FormerACLUmember]

The legislation could lead to gardeners being fined for killing insects, worms, caterpillars, slugs and snails, if scientific evidence proves they have suffered pain and distress. Ministers say the law, which updates existing legislation, is needed to protect animals from abuse. Horticulturalists rejected the idea that they could be guilty of cruelty." The Catch-22 question is how can scientists prove insects suffer pain and distress without violating the law?

These are the same liberal vermin (in the US as well as the UK) who deny that babies have any sense of pain or distress in the uterus. This despite the astonishing recent developments in "four dimensional" sonography with clear demostrations of pre-born babies smiling, running, reacting to discomfort, etc.

[CharlotteVRWC]

Then surely this would apply to a fetus...

[The Scourge of Yazid]

What gives?

Is the snail-darter suddenly unimportant to these courageous legal beagles?

When will this ceaseless assault on our beleaguered arthropods end?

(Rolling eyes duly inserted.)

[Grut]

A spokesman for Peta... has welcomed the proposals, saying: "Compassion must be extended to all living beings. Stamping on a slug sets an example to children that 'might makes right'."

There they go again, imanentizing the eschaton....

[GeronL]

and they feed the pygmies in New Guineau

[garylmoore]

This liberal crap is becoming way to crazy.

[Free Trapper]

Please straighten me out if I don't understand your post correctly.

Do you mean that if a person has something like a peach tree,he can't use his own seed to grow another tree or give the seed to someone else?

[MarkL]

If insects and molluscs are to be afforded the law's protection, there will be little argument for excluding bivalves. How prophetic were the words of the philosopher Bertrand Russell, who so long ago warned that: "Animal rights, taken to their logical conclusion, mean votes for oysters."

Of course those rights must be extended to bivalves! After all, when you shuck an oyster, you're breaking into its home to eat it! How's that for a personal rights violation!

Mark

[Free Trapper]

Freshly caught,live oysters.

I love how they scream on their way down to oyster heaven. ;)

[Free Trapper]

Ping to a fleafight slugfest.

Couldn't let you miss this after the bullfight thread. :)