Not news as such but an interesting morsel no less

[rasputin]

"Credit for this weird and somewhat depraved cultural phenomenon must go equally to the Animal Liberation movement, which has managed to seize the moral high ground in spite of sentiments that are neither entirely heartwarming nor logically consistent (Clive D. L.Wynne's 'Do Animals Think?' offers a witty rejoinder to many of the movement's more pious arguments) and to a prevailing Marie Antoinette spirit of consumerism. Together these two forces have produced a climate that has allowed the anthropomorphic fallacy -- in which we confuse our very human desires with an animal's best interests, sometimes to the detriment of the animal -- to run riot. A recent instance of this involved the more than seven years of international effort and $20 million spent on trying to return Keiko, the sociable killer whale and star of the movie 'Free Willy,' to the Icelandic wilds. Keiko, who never seemed to feel the call to freedom quite as keenly on his own behalf as his human protectors did, ended up dying two years ago, 'seeking human consolation,' as one writer put it."

Daphne Merkin. "Let the Fur Fly," The New York Times Magazine (May 1, 2005).