I walked into the voting station this morning, greeting my neighbors, Claude, Judith, Shari, Marlene. I sat down at the tiny table with my pen and voting form and began neatly filling in box after box. I reached the section labeled "Constitutional Amendment" and read:
“The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity.”
The citizens have the personal right to hunt and fish, I thought? Our state is guaranteeing me the right to harm another creature?
This is absurd, plain and simple, I thought. First, the ability to hunt and fish was never in danger. Amending the constitution to affirm it as a right serves no purpose but to solidify our government's place in history as one that never quite overcame the cruelty and insensitivity of previous, more ignorant decades. As we begin, at last, to offer full rights as citizens and human beings to persons of every gender, race, and sexual preference, this sort of legislation shows that despite our progress, we continue to define ourselves by what we hate. Reaching for a class to subjugate, and having come up short after generations of efforts to spread rights and freedoms to all people, our government has alighted upon animals.
A living, breathing animal has a right that overrules any amendment: the right to a fair and equitable life. No state government can take that away.
I scribbled over the box marked "No" until I nearly broke through the page, and came home to start the below petition. It ought to be the government's role to promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - in that order, for all within its realm.
Please sign if you believe animals have the right to be protected from murder and injury for sport - and pass it on to your friends!.
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