When Animals Fight Back

Will 2011 be the year that animals fight back? Just to be clear, I’m no fan of those When Animals Attack! TV shows — they pretty much exist to play off people’s irrational fears of large animals. But there’s a big difference between those hyped-up scenarios … and Justice.

So far, January has already seen two notable stories hit the news:

Animal Justice #1 — Monkey Means Business: The UK Daily Mail reported that a guy in China’s Jiangxi Province was working the streets with his monkeys, who he’d whip if they didn’t perform. But this time, Curious George wasn’t taking it. First, he leapt up and pulled the guy’s hair. When the apparently-now-crying man threatened him with the whip, “the monkey grabbed hold of a stick and squared up to him.” Then the pissed off primate took a flying leap (a la Monkey in Kung Fu Panda) and started stick fighting with the guy.

As much as I’d like to think that the monkey beat some sense into the abusive, exploitative man, the reality is that he probably paid for the can of whup-ass later. Still, if all animals being abused for entertainment suddenly decided to turn the whips/bullhooks/electric prods around, people would start to realize there are better, more peaceful ways to make money. The photos are worth checking out.

Animal Justice #2 — Fantastic Mr. Fox: A guy in Belarus, near Poland, shot and wounded a fox. When he approached the animal, presumably to bash its head in with the butt of his rifle, the fox didn’t just squeeze his eyes shut and hope it was over quickly. He didn’t retreat either. Instead, mayhem ensued, and in the scuffle, the Fantastic Mr. Fox managed to get his paw on the rifle’s trigger. The hunter ended up in the hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg, and the fox escaped. I hope the critter’s wound was superficial enough that he’ll get to enjoy his well-earned freedom for a good, long time.

I think my favorite coverage of this story came from Gawker: “In fairness, hunting can be difficult! You have to locate and track the prey, stay silent, aim perfectly, and also, make sure that the animal doesn’t shoot you with your own goddamn gun.”

There’s just something to be said for the Karma Bus (tip of the hat to Michelle for that one).

So, if this is the year that animals fight back against people, how will you fare? Something to think about for anyone who dines on veal, poisons wildlife or uses shock collars on their dogs.

Death Kitten Credit: Icanhascheezburger