LETTER: Pit bull kills its elderly owner
In your Thursday article “‘Very out of character’: Witness saw pit bull dragging woman by neck in fatal mauling,” we discover that, according to the Review-Journal, non-humans have character.
The personification of non-humans is common in a society that fetishizes animal “companions.” That includes moral qualities such as character. So an animal may not behave according to its breed’s nature, as each individual animal chooses its own ethic. The reality that the 10-year-old boy inside me still fears animals — as I recall the vicious attack by two German shepherds — is treated not as a tragedy but as a personal slight to the animal causing me to cower in fear at the moment.
To suggest that it acted against its “chosen” character may be the norm inside the animal fetish community but need not be endorsed by journalistic standards.