14 DAY TRIAL // Just recently, republican Steve King shocked animal rights activists worldwide when arguing that the federal legislation aimed at putting a leash on the practice of making dogs fight each other for the sake of human entertainment interferes with the rights of American citizens.
To put it bluntly, as far as he is concerned, dog fighting should be a legal industry.
Apparently, Steve King's opinion on this topic is based on the fact that, as long as humans are legally allowed to fight each other in various sporting competitions, it is somehow unnatural not to allow dogs do the same.
He claims that making dog fighting illegal, while at the same time allowing and even supporting people to engage in such practices, basically translates into valuing the wellbeing of animals much more than that of humans.
Although it is true that, from this point of view at least, Steve King's argument makes some sense, what the republican fails to understand is that human beings pretty much choose to fight each other, whereas dogs are made to do so by their breeders.
Thus, whereas people who get into fights have a say in this matter and can change their mind at any time, dogs are compelled to be violent by various individuals and, seeing how they lack the cognitive abilities humans have, cannot really opt out of a fight they feel might endanger their life.
As well as this, whereas those participating in various sporting competitions are presented with some ground rules they must abide by, virtually anything is allowed when animals are made to fight each other.
Think Progress presents us with Steve King's statement in its entirety: “When the legislation that passed in the farm bill that says that it’s a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to watch an animal fight but it’s not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting, there’s something wrong with the priorities of people that think like that.”
Down below you can watch a video showing the republican making this statement.
