If you read today's news you will be enlightened to see that a dog, a laborador retriever, was credited by three mountain climbers on Mount Hood for saving their live while they waited for technology devices to locate them. If they had instead depended on animal fur, such as hair of the dog, they likely would have perished.

Live dogs are better than dead ones.

I agree on the rights point. It is ridiculous to speak of animal rights, but there we go again anthropomorphizing.

As to human morality, there is a strong case for fostering appreciation of the dog species. Dogs get it, reason or no reason. A good human is one to be loved. A dog has no silly ego which tells flawed thinking men that they have rights above others, the others being classified as lesser humans or lower animals. Dogs on the other hand treat all good humans as one and the same. Thinking or not, dogs would have never caused the holocaust, a thousand ugly wars, slavery, child abuse or a million incidents of race baiting.

Dogs would gladly give you the fur off their back but what thinking human needs it anyway. Goose down is a much more effective insulator and mink is preferred by 99 percent of women as a fur of choice. Dogs, live ones, just give warmth and service and return the love of a decent master. A dog will go with you anywhere, even to the top of Mount Hood in a blizzard. Who knows what stupid humans were doing up there in a blizzard, but the laborador willingly followed.

Meanwhile PETA and this board and other misguided humans were sitting on their thumbs debating animal rights.

In a blizzard give me a live dog any day.