By Lori Bredemeyer, Student Reporter

Pretty soon your dog may have the same rights as you.

Animal liberation is becoming a new moral issue troubling society. Several European countries are changing the wording of their laws to include animals as well as humans, according to an article in the New York Times.

The story said that Germany has changed the terminology in a law to “respect and protect the dignity of human beings and animals.” Also, in Switzerland, laws have been changed from calling animals things to calling them beings.

What’s wrong with these nations? I’m all for protecting animals from cruelty and inhumane treatment, but aren’t these laws taking fairness to animals to an extreme? What’s next-plant liberation?

Animals were created to be ruled over by humans. God didn’t make man and animal equal.

“In Genesis 1:28, God created man to “rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

This includes Lassie, Mr. Ed, and the Taco Bell dog, no matter how much they think they are human.

Animal liberation is the last thing animals need. Domesticated animals require humans to feed, water, love and take care of them in order to survive-they don’t need freedom from humans. These animals would have a shorter life expectancy out on their own in the wild than in a home or on a farm, no matter how cruel their conditions are in captivity.

This new wave of animal rights has not yet had a significant impact on the U.S. Laws have been passed here to make animal cruelty a crime, which is a good thing. And several restaurants and other such companies have begun to amend the way they process animals, which is also a good thing. But I’m glad we haven’t gone to the extent Europe has.

When countries begin to set laws to give my goldfish the same rights as me, something is definitely wrong.