Why I kinda support the Animal Liberation Front

Trying to practise what I'm preaching...

I was always going to be the kind of bleeding-heart liberal that disapproves of the fox hunting set, and supports those people at PETA who spray paint on fur-wearing supermodels. I never managed to grow up to become Jane Goodall or a veterinarian - nor even join Greenpeace - but my heart's right there.

In my opinion it's pretty arrogant of mankind to think of animals as things to be used and abused. In my world view, if creature can feel pain then we should try to avoid causing them pain (this idea doesn't run to cockroaches - I hate 'em).

I eat meat of course - it's in my Cantonese upbringing - but there's a line I draw between having an animal killed because we want to eat it, and killing an animal for fun. It's immoral. It's just as repugnant to kill an animal for food, then discard the flesh simply because you couldn't be bothered cooking and eating it before it went off. (And that is the real reason I hate throwing out food).

There's a real problem with vivisection though, because I've benefited from many medications in my life; drugs which probably wouldn't be available if they couldn't be tested on animals. And this is where my animal rights stance really falls over.

I could give up eating meat, with a little persuasion (or a trip to India). I could give up wearing leather if vinyl could be made "cooler". But the question of medicines is a tough one.