Three Interesting Questions

I received this comment on my "Michael Vick vs. Rover" post:

I always wondered how animal protection services came to be an organized institution before children's protective services came about. We think it's okay to put all sorts of sports above general education in our schools, it's okay for two men to get into a ring and cause brain damage to each other, it's okay to exploit little girls by dressing them up in makeup and small versions of women's clothing when they're two but today we take exception to a sport that has gone on for ages. I hate dog fighting; I'll make that clear up front--I hate everything to do with fights between animals, not to mention humans. When you breed anything for a specific purpose and it goes bad, its not economical to keep it living. Don't we more or less do the same thing with race horses? My dad use to breed, train, and fight pitbulls, so I know just how big of a racket it is. So much inbreeding goes on with a fighter that if he can't fight he isn't much use for anything--a "good" fighting pit bull will not make a good pet; they're crazed and attack everything. Until we all can agree on the barbaric nature of all contact sports, then I'm sure we'll all keep hearing these kinds of stories.

This evokes three different discussions: 1) Why we protect children and animals. 2) Why we let adults do stupid thinks that might kill them. 3) Why it's wrong to genetically engineer an animal in order to enhance a specific trait, to the detriment of the species' evolutionary fitness.

But I just woke up after my long shift yesterday, I'm still working on my first cup of coffee, and right now I have to get in the shower and get ready for my long shift today. I'll be back to later, though, to kick these topics around.

In the meantime, feel free to contribute opinions on any of these subjects.