Scapegoating Animals

[SoDesuKa]

Animals are easy to scapegoat. They can't talk, and can't defend themselves when they get blamed for unfortunate events. The original scapegoat was an actual goat that was driven out into the wilderness as a sacrifice for the people's sins. It was far more of a sacrifice to the animal than it was to the people!

In the Middle Ages, cats were believed to be responsible for sorcery, especially black cats. Some vestige of that belief persists today, as black cats are considered to be unlucky. A more contemporary form of scapegoating exists in the killing of sea lions in the Pacific northwest, because they are said to be responsible for the dwindling number of salmon.



Overfishing is the real culprit here, just as it is for a number of other fish species that humans eat. If sea turtles could be blamed for the decline in swordfish, there'd be a bounty on them. But it's a lot easier to blame sea lions for what humans do. Therefore the purges continue.

Eventually somebody will figure out a way to blame global warming on polar bears, or the loss of habitat on the Great Plains to feral horses. While we're at it, shouldn't we be shooting wolves from helicopters?