UNNECESSARY EVIL

Of all the desperate displays of mister-macho insecurity in our rich, rich culture, rodeos have got to be the most pathetic. "Look at me... I can beat up a defenseless calf!" So it's not surprising that according to Orange County Weekly, they routinely, illegally use cattle prods to shock (and infuriate) horses, and then lie about it. Ho ho, I have a joy buzzer and the animal doesn't. Rodeo clowns is right.

And in what may seem an unrelated story, "well-known names in San Diego medicine" say UC San Diego's killing of healthy dogs in physiology and pharmacology courses doesn't teach students anything new, and is a "waste of money" at $576 a each dog.

Whatever. The fact is, schools are eliminating lab dog courses, and the more of 'em do it, the more of 'em realize it's just plain damn unethical and stop. "If the great majority of schools can teach these subjects without killing dogs, it cannot be necessary for UCSD to treat dogs this way. Once necessity is removed from a necessary evil, all that remains is the evil. We should dispense with that."

Exactly.

Exactly.