How we treat animals reveals much about ourselves
by Tracy Rose in Vol. 6 / Iss. 38 on 05/03/2000
"Last June, James M. Sandlin shot a stray dog four times and nearly hacked its head off with an ax.
The killing outraged animal lovers and prompted the Buncombe County district attorney's office to prosecute the Fairview man on a charge of felony cruelty to animals. After the case ended in a mistrial last month, Sandlin was retried on April 4 and was convicted of the felony charge.
But had the animal in question been wild, it's unlikely that Sandlin would have been charged with cruelty to animals, legal experts say.
"If it had been a deer in hunting season, it would not have been animal cruelty," explains Ben Loeb, a professor at the Institute of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, who's studied the state's animal laws. "If you're unlucky enough to be a deer, you haven't got much protection."
So why does the law treat some animals differently than others? On a fundamental level, the answer seems to lie in the way our society views the animal world. Humans have developed a complex -- and sometimes contradictory -- relationship with animals. And like many human relationships, this one smacks of possession, loyalty, love, fear and power"
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