Wanton cruelty to animals is well known to be a precursor to cruelty to humans. So humaneness to animals is a quality that any civilized society should insist upon. I touch on this in my recent Federalist essay: “Iran’s War Against Dogs.”
Dogs are amazing creatures, and it’s no wonder that there is a strong bond between them and human beings. As companion animals they have a childlike innocence, a trust and loyalty that tends to melt our hearts. If we are in pain, they often sense that and will stay by our side to lend comfort. They are balm to loneliness.
The empathy and loyalty of dogs to their human companions runs deep. They are great protectors and morale boosters who bring us joy and laughter. Everybody benefits — including those who don’t particularly care for dogs — in a society that recognizes and cherishes the canine brand of companionship and unconditional love.
So what are we to think of people who have no qualms about the wanton killing and torture of dogs? (My essay includes a video of the killing of dogs by acid injection, something I did not post here.) Obviously, there is something sociopathic going on with them.
We ought to understand that that’s the type of mentality the Obama Administration is propping up as it lends hefty support to the authoritarian dictators of Iran. We all know that the mullahs there not only preach death constantly – to America, to Israel, to Jews, to Christians, to Muslims they deem apostate – but they are also in the process of building a nuclear weapons program.
Americans seem to have become desensitized to the gravity of that threat, and even to the beheadings in the Middle East. But the sanctioned barbarity visited upon helpless dogs in Iran is something that can at least direct attention to the nature of that regime.
This is not just a war on dogs, but a war on all personal relationships. The Iranian government would like all dogs completely banned as companion animals, especially now that more citizens there have dogs and the bond of love is growing. This is in keeping with any tyrant’s pattern of separating people from one another in order to control them. This pattern of isolating the controlled is a specialty of sociopaths like cult leaders and wife beaters too. The idea is to separate their victims from any source of happiness independent of the tyrant’s control.
Let’s just remember that all dictators have on their agenda the intent to control every aspect of every person’s life. In Iran this extends right down to the intent to forbid citizens to enjoy the companionship of dogs.
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