Ugly Shrubbery

Instead of doing the reading I intended to do on freedom of speech, I went down a rabbit hole during the past week. Despite my affection for animals, I’ve always ignored animal advocacy groups and animal welfare groups. Mainly, it stems from my tendency to back away from people who are too fervent about anything. PeTA puts up an ad with a naked woman, feminists start screaming and, despite liking animals and despite considering myself a feminist, I think to myself, “Didn’t you want to read In Search of Lost Time in French? Yes, you did.”

So it was surprising to me to learn that there’s an entire world of Pit Bull advocates, some of whom are dogfighters, animal hoarders posing as animal rescue groups, and a very large animal rights organization that was founded by a cult which insists that it’s not Satanic because Satan was only one of four deities they worshiped. You can’t make this up.

I’ve also started following a course through Coursera.

Oh, yeah, there’s actually a “Nigerian Puppy Scam.”