Ants are people too

One of the most effective, time-tested ways to tie an animal-rights zealot in knots is to follow his or her argument to its logical conclusion. If we should extend “rights” to cows and dogs, how about pigeons and frogs? Rats, cockroaches, dung beetles, bacteria… where does it end?

We’re apparently one step closer to knowing where the animal-rights buck stops, thanks to a Los Angeles Times story about the history of the ant farm. When Times reporter David Kelly called
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for an on-the-record comment, spokes-drone Stephanie Boyles gave him an earful.

“Ants are sentient beings, like we are,” Boyles insisted, “and have a right to life like we do, and they shouldn’t be shown the level of disrespect the producers of ant farms show them.”

Note to PETA: the next time you come down with a sinus infection, keep your hands off the antibiotics. We wouldn’t want to show “disrespect” to a friendly bacterium, now, would we?