JIMMY AKIN.ORG: Force-Feeding Dolphins: "(Michelle Arnold)
In case you ever wondered whether our society treats animals better than it does human beings, wonder no more:
You see, 'force-feeding' humans via feeding tubes who never legally directed that they be deprived of food and water is a Bad Thing. In some cases, even when written directives are left that allow for 'force-feeding,' it is a Good Thing to deprive humans of feeding tubes anyway. But what happens if Flipper cannot swallow? Do we do the 'humane' thing and deprive him of nutrition? Of course not! Dolphins require much better treatment than what we currently consider to be good enough for humans:
'In early March an estimated 80 rough-toothed dolphins stranded themselves in the shallows off Marathon in the Florida Keys.
'Rescue workers and volunteers worked nonstop to help as many as they could to return to deep water. Some dolphins made it. About two dozen died.
'For 26 that clung to life there was only one chance for survival -- transfer to the Marine Mammal Conservancy rehabilitation facility on Key Largo, farther up the Keys from Marathon.
[...]
'In the pool [where the recuperating dolphins were kept], volunteers hold the dolphins and keep their blowholes out of the water so they can breathe.
'A veterinarian injects the mammals with vitamin E to help with muscle cramping. Unable to eat on their own, they are fitted with a feeding tube to get them the needed nutrition.'
And so, roughly around the same period that Terri Schiavo was being dehydrated and starved to death by a Florida state judge's fiat, the great state of Florida was inserting feeding tubes into dolphins.
God have pity on us. "