Animals everywhere may feel justifiably offended after a Dorset Police officer reportedly told a man accused of racially abusing officers that “the only animal here is you.”
While the comment may have been intended as a sharp put-down in a tense situation, it raises an important question: why drag animals into it?
After all, animals do not spend their afternoons shouting racist abuse at strangers. Badgers do not harass police officers. Foxes do not post xenophobic comments online. Seagulls may steal your chips, but they generally refrain from making offensive remarks about your ethnicity before doing so.
The comparison is particularly unfair because animals operate according to instinct rather than prejudice. A dog may bark at someone, but not because it has developed a political ideology. A pigeon may be a nuisance, but it has never been accused of racially aggravated public order offences.
In truth, the animal kingdom has a far stronger claim to civility than many humans. Wolves cooperate. Elephants show empathy. Dolphins help injured members of their pod.
Perhaps the real insult is not to the man being arrested, but to the creatures with whom he was compared. If racism is a uniquely human failing, animals deserve to be left out of it altogether.
Here are some more appropriate terms for racists:
Racist
Bigot
Xenophobe
Ethnic chauvinist
White supremacist (where applicable)
Extremist
Hate-monger
Fanatic
Sectarian
Intolerant ideologue
Race-baiter
Demagogue
Prejudice peddler
Agitator
Provocateur
Discriminator
Ignoramus
Fool
Buffoon
Neanderthal-minded thinker (used figuratively)
Relic of the past
Merchant of hate
Professional victim-blamer
Divider
Toxic influence
I gave up at twenty five.
