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In A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy, Wesley Smith explains how, over the past thirty years, the concept of "animal rights" has undergone literal and extreme interpretations in Western culture. Although there are activists who seek better treatment of animals through welfare work, there are also those who see "animal rights" as a belief system, an ideology, and for some even a quasi-religion that both implicitly and explicitly seeks to create a moral equivalency between the value of human lives and those of animals. Smith explains how animal rights ideologues embrace their beliefs with a fervency that is remarkably intense and sustained, to the point that some dedicate their entire lives to "speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves." Some believe their cause to be so righteous that they engage in vandalism, harassment, or even terrorism at the expense of medical research, the clothing and food industries, and others accused of "animal abuse." For those of us who respect and appreciate animals, but who also understand that our obligation to humanity matters more, A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy is an important case against an increasingly radical dogma.