Ahigh school football coach has been cited on charges of animal cruelty in the demise of a ring-tailed pheasant during a game between American Fork and Viewmont high schools. This should never have become an issue for the courts.

Officials report that two teenagers released the bird onto the field as a prank. The bird wound up beneath the foot of Richard Layton of Bountiful, an assistant coach at Viewmont. Police accuse Layton of stomping on the bird. He said he was trying to stop the bird with his foot and lost his balance. The bird, barely breathing, was finally put out of its misery.

Layton said he didn't mean to harm the pheasant, but animal lovers expressed outrage. "That bird didn't want to be on the football field any more than the players wanted it to be there," said Gene Baierschmidt, the executive director of the Humane Society of Utah. "Many students who witnessed the stomping may not remember what they learned in school that week, and they may not even remember much about the game itself. But this memory of this cruel act will undoubtably remain."

We deplore cruelty to animals. Many people were disgusted when NFL quarterback Michael Vick was linked to the vicious and degrading "sport" of dogfighting. But it's fair to ask whether the sad end of a pheasant is parallel.

How far should society go in protecting animalsfi

Some assert that animals have inalienable rights. "We believe that every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and suffering," says People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

A right to be free from pain and sufferingfi How is that right to be enforcedfi Will PETA protect birds flying south from fatigue and coldfi Protect zebras from lionsfi

Human beings suffer, too. We feel pain, both physical and psychological. Maybe PETA will immunize us against auto accidents or poverty. Or perhaps a law could be passed forbidding toothaches, or sore knees that can hamper our golf game. We could demand PETA protect us from, say financial reversals, rejection by a loved one, disease or even death.

No, PETA isn't talking about rights; it is talking about prerogatives that no earthly being can claim.

"All animals have the ability to suffer in the same way and to the same degree that humans do," the group claims. But of course they don't. Fowl seem especially ill-equipped to feel anguish. By all indications, they operate mostly on autopilot, without the volition of a higher creature such as a dog or a pig. It's hard to see how they can suffer as much as people do. Do pheasants worry about the future of pheasantkindfi Do they agonize over petty slights from other birdsfi Do they look back with regret on wrong turns in their livesfi Do they dread the inevitable shuffling off of this mortal coilfi

Doubtful.

Actually, as far as we can tell, pheasants and their fellow fowl strut through life looking for grain and seeds to eat, treating the cold and heat alike. As for the dread of the earthly end, which hangs over human consciousness, they don't seem to anticipate it. If pheasants are philosophers, then our laws should be tailored appropriately. But until evidence to that effect comes along, we are forced to conclude that they suffer less than other creatures facing their doom.

Animal rights leads to an ethical morass, as many have pointed out. If animals have rights, do they have responsibilitiesfi Perhaps we should call them for jury duty and make them pay taxes. Or we should prosecute cats for slaying mice, dogs for assaulting cats, or people for treading on worms in the lawn.

Moreover, it seems unfair to single out one person for an action society widely tolerates -- the killing of an animal. The very same issue of the Daily Herald that first told of the pheasant incident also reported that by Tuesday 16,000 hunters will fan out across Utah to gun down pheasants. That's not even counting the deer, elk and other critters that bite the dust as part of a legally sanctioned activity -- sanctioned even though many a shot to a deer results in wounds, not instant death.

Then there are the turkeys who will give us their all on Thanksgiving, not to mention countless cattle, hogs and chickens that will eventually feed us. Do these creatures experience fear as they make their way to the knife or hatchet, horrified as they observe the fate of companions unfortunate enough to be a farther ahead in linefi

Heaven forbid!

Clearly, it is preposterous to single out one coach for the death of one bird, and it's absurd to make an unfortunate incident a crime. People should try to treat animals humanely, mainly because of what it says about themselves.

Do you agree?