Written by Charles Murdock | 03 July 2010

Honestly, can we all just agree, at least for a couple of years, to give the money to humans? Don’t get me wrong, I love animals, don’t want to see them abused, hurt, or hungry, but right now people are dying. I saw two commercials in a row yesterday. The first one spoke of a goat who did not have the proper care to live. They asked for a donation of an unspecified amount to help these types of animal secure a better life. Yes this is a good cause, and I’m certainly not anti-goat. The second ad was regarding a woman in Peru who was accepted to a top university there, but the single mother could not afford the $700 tuition. They asked for $25 to help create student loan funds for developing nations. Education is the key to human growth and it is not a coincidence, places that lack educational opportunities also lack economic growth. Giving this woman an education will give her and her country a way to better themselves. Long term, this means less donations are needed because these countries will have a way to help themselves. All I’m saying is that if you had set aside $25 dollars to donate this month, regardless of your love for animals, how could you possibly defend giving to one over the other?

Hurricane Katrina was a horrible disaster that affected nearly everything in its path. Four days after the rains had subsided I was watching a news report on rescue efforts. The first report had shown people on bridges and rooftops screaming for help. It discussed the deplorable conditions in the Super Dome and the possibility of theft and rapes occurring there. People were still starving, had no water, were terrified, being abused and more importantly dying. The second report had a news helicopter filming a animal rights helicopter save drowning dogs from the wreckage. While I agree that dogs should not drown, two helicopters were out saving dogs, one of them wasn’t even saving dogs, they were just filming. That made me sick. Are people this whacked in the head they that are passing dying people to save a dog, or worse to film someone doing it!?

I am really not trying to rag on animal rights activists. I do believe in their work, and am glad they do it, but at this time of world crisis, their efforts may seem misguided at the moment. I’m sure detractors will say that there is always world crisis, and we need to help these animals, and to an extent they are right, but what I ask now is that for a moment, can we focus on human struggle instead of the animal kingdom.