Vehement comments

Reflection after the shooting of a black bear in London.

I know that some of the most vicious and vehement comments I’ve received during the past (and most likely the future) related to stories involving animals. The most recent example were comments sent to me by the London-raised actress Megan Park (who stars in the ABC TV series The Secret Life of the American Teenager), who in response to a column about a local beaver trapper, wrote that, “I would like to see you trap yourself and find out how it feels to have your vertebrae crushed slowly and painfully while you slip into an irreversible state of unconsciousness.”

Why do animals provoke such intense feelings with certain people?