Not All Cockroaches Are Pests

Sometimes this world bewilders me, and one bewildering thing at the moment is an electronic backpack for cockroaches which allows the insect’s movements to be controlled by a mobile phone app. It’s about to go on sale in America, and is ostensibly intended to get more youngsters interested in neuroscience. Unfortunately, in order to attach the backpack, the cockroach has to be placed in icy water to subdue it before sandpaper is used to remove the waxy coating on the shell of its head; an electrode connector and electrodes are then glued on to the insect's body and a needle is used to poke a hole in its thorax in order to insert a wire; its antennae are then cut and electrodes are inserted; a circuit is attached to its back, and signals are received through the mobile phone app allowing users to control the cockroach’s movements to the left and to the right. How on Earth did this make it on to the market?! This is clearly cruel! I find all animal cruelty abhorrent, but I accept that there will always be some psychopaths in the world; what I don’t accept is animal cruelty being promoted (and seemingly accepted by retailers!) under the veil of education! I hope there is some sort of backlash against the company producing these insect backpacks (a company I’m not going to dignify by naming), and that the products are taken off sale as soon as possible.

Grand Cruelty

Yesterday was the annual Grand National horse race. Two horses were killed during the event. It is time for a change. Some courses (e.g. Newbury) are flat races - therefore, horses can race to their heart’s content without the fear of death! I understand that horse racing (with jumps) is a long-standing tradition, but that doesn’t condone animal cruelty. A horse with a broken leg is a horse that gets put down! Society continually changes and modernises, meaning that human beings must sometimes change with it. When animals are unnecessarily being harmed, it is time to accept our responsibility as compassionate people and stop this cruel sport, even if it has been around for centuries. Flat races are fine, just like with greyhounds (where the dogs don’t get constantly injured to a fatal extent). So, even though I thankfully didn’t bet on this year’s race, rest assured that I will never again be betting on the Grand National, or any other horse race where jumps are in effect.