There’s a possibility, maybe even a probability, that more people than usual will be stirred up a little by today’s column. I don’t know. I could be wrong (but I seldom am, ha ha).

I know there’s a lot of different opinions relative to animals. So that fact makes me feel a little bit like I’m on thin ice.

Just for the record, I like most animals. Take dogs, for example. I’ve been married for 46 years as of the day before yesterday. The non-dog times of our marriage are few and far between.

When we were first married, we very seriously (so I thought) agreed that we’d hold off on getting a dog for a while. This, despite my brother’s advice to us that we learn to deal with a dog together before we tried out our parenting skills on a real child. (I’ll mention that brother again here in a minute.)

One Saturday, soon after our agreement, Diane went “North” to do some shopping. When she arrived home, I was soaking in the bathtub after doing yard work.

I heard the front door open and then heard the skittering of claws on the hard kitchen floor. The next thing I knew a thirsty dog had paws over the edge of the tub and was lapping up water.

That dog, Ginger, from the Humane Society, was with us for quite a few years. Her mother was a Vizsla Hound and her father was “an expert fence climber.”

She slept on the bed with us much of that time. She died the night the movie “All Dogs Go to Heaven” opened.

Some years later, I got Diane back with the adoption of an animal. During one of the summers she was working on her master’s degree in Vermont, the kids and I took in a stray, young cat. When Diane got home, she insisted that Gypsy become a declawed house cat. She slept on the bed with us for about 18 years before her “All Cats Go to Heaven” time arrived.

Of course, I grew up in a farm family and animals were part of life. I like animals. Although, my “like” didn’t go as far as one of my brother’s “likes” went. For example, for a time, he had a pet skunk in a rabbit pen, not to mention a smallish rattlesnake in a parakeet cage.

I tell you all of this to establish that I have feelings for animals. I don’t like seeing or hearing of them being mistreated. It seems like there’s constantly a story in the news about some incident of animal cruelty.

I personally was glad last month to hear the news that Utah’s “Lagoon” amusement park is in the process of closing its little zoo. I’m sure many of you have been on the “Wild Kingdom Train” exhibit at the park. The conditions there for the animals, from my perspective (along with others), seemed depressing.

People and groups have been asking for changes there for a long time. I’m sure my message to Lagoon in December was the pivotal factor that motivated the closure decision (just kidding).

Interestingly, the Lagoon spokesperson made a statement, true or not, which I believe would have been best unspoken. He made a point of saying that the decision to close the zoo and relocate the animals to other facilities was not related to protests or petitions. The reason given for the closure was expansion plans.

Now consider the case of “Happy the Elephant.” I check up on Happy once in a while on the internet. Happy is an Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo in New York. In the early 1970s, seven calf elephants were brought to the USA from Thailand. They were named after the Seven Dwarves from the Snow White story. Two of those young elephants, Grumpy and Happy, ended up at the Bronx Zoo in 1977.

Long story short, Grumpy was injured by other elephants and didn’t recover. She had to be “put down.” Happy had other unsuccessful attempts at socialization with other elephants. Happy has been living a mostly elephant-free life since 2006.

Animal rights groups have been putting pressure on the zoo for years attempting to free Happy into an elephant sanctuary. Zoo officials believe that a transfer would be risky for Happy.

Here’s where I think things get just a bit strange and controversial. There has been a legal battle going on involving a writ of habeas corpus. The Nonhuman Rights Project filed a lawsuit putting forth that Happy is being detained by the zoo illegally and due to her “personhood” should be released.

The Project has tried in the past to have chimpanzees declared “legal persons.” Happy’s case hit the end of the trail a couple of years ago with an appeals court denying the case going further.

In the meantime, I think some of our dogs over the years have been kept in captivity against their will. We went through a couple of beloved Boxers who if they found a door open, would make a break for it.

Archer, the geriatric, wonder Sheltie who is “incarcerated” with us now, has become “institutionalized.” He doesn’t even seek “parole.” He’s happy to be imprisoned – as long as he can socialize a little with the “guards.”

I believe that most Sanpete animals are cared for well. Pets are mostly pampered by their caretakers to the extent that I’m able to observe. Some dogs and cats I know of are taken care of better than some kids around Sanpete.

I think the farm animals are well cared for as well. Unlike pets, some of them wind up on my plate when I eat steak. Some are on the table at Thanksgiving and other occasions. I hope that the designation of “personhood” for animals doesn’t become law for beef cattle and turkeys. I’d hate to be guilty of cannibalism. — Merrill