I think we need to look at some consistent, well-written, state or federal common-sense laws on animal cruelty, that would set a floor for care standards so humane officers can act on cases and yet not overstep their mandates. And since corporate agriculture isn’t going to clean up its own act on humane treatment of food animals, we probably need to deal with that through laws and regulations instead.

And don’t get me started on food safety. Does anyone TRULY believe the “free market” will keep salmonella and melamine out of your food? Greed tops all.

But laws shouldn’t keep good, sensible people from pursuing good, sensible lives. And they certainly shouldn’t be written and pushed by groups with not-so-hidden agendas that most of us don’t agree with, such as the end of domesticated animals.

In a general sense, I think laws/regulations should not prevent innovation and protect well-heeled special interests. Which is pretty much what I think they do now, in large part. But, once again, some floor needs to be set to protect us all (and animals, the environment) from people who have no concept of or interest in “the common good.”

When you start from a position of freedom, there is only one direction to go when more laws are written.

And don’t make me laugh with the hyperbole and nanny state dismissals. We wouldn’t have BREED SPECIFIC LEGISLATION if it weren’t for the growing trend for governments to take on more and more power over every aspect of our lives.

If you could please tell me what good dog laws have been passed here in my state (or your state) that would in any way counterbalance the abuse of power that has been brought about by Denver’s Bully ban and subsequent enforcement?

Here in Denver, thousands of dogs have been taken from their owners and killed simply because of what they looked like. And not 3 months ago a former military officer had her suspicious looking dog taken from her at gunpoint by police.

And try googling “Sandra Reynolds” and see if I’m being unreasonable. The state seized her animals on a hunch, killed a few in the process, and didn’t even return them all after she was cleared of all charges.

And that’s with our very well defined property laws. Just wait and see what happens when the state gets to appoint a guardian or social worker to sue you on behalf of your pets. That is the consequence of having “animal dependents.”

Since your animals can’t represent themselves in court, the state gets to appoint some wahoo to do it for them. And that wahoo is not you.

So please, tell me right now who is more qualified to make decisions about your animals than you.

And I am sure we’ll have more this year.

The whole idea that you need to pass individual laws like no dogs on owners laps, no texting while driving, and so forth.

I like Gina’s idea. “No driving while distracted” period, cover everything with common sense. Is that allowed? :-)

I thought the example of mice to be particularly interesting, in that how they can be treated and what the human legal consequences for mistreatment are, differs greatly on where the mouse finds itself.

So, a person could be (and should be) prosecuted for cruelty if they burned off the tail of a mouse or otherwise tortured it. The same person can legally poison a non-pet mouse who ate their cheese, causing it to die an agonizing death. Using mice in medical research and causing them pain is legal.

If you think one or more of these is ok, for whatever reason, but that another is not, then we are just “haggling over the price” and I can very well make the case that causing any animals pain for human gain is not acceptable.

I suspect that, realistically, there will eventually be a legal standard of care for companion animal dependents (howzat sound?), that msy not reach the threshold of that which is required for the proper care of human children, but will be informed by that standard. And I have no problem with that. Bring it on.

Makes me madder than the hatter, and crazy to boot.

If you want to see how bad it can get, just look at the mess that is our child welfare system. One anonymous phone call to a bureaucrat and you can ruin a parent’s life.

Your neighbor doesn’t like your dogs, one call and you can have supervised visits with your dog once a month, while you pay the government hundreds of dollars a day in fees, and you’ll be lucky if they don’t kill your dog first and compensate you later if they were wrong.

This is already happening in nanny states like Pennsylvania. Let’s make it national.

More laws assumes that there’s something wrong __that government needs to fix__ and really, government rarely (if ever) fixes anything.