Heather Leughmyer animal rightsRat
By Heather Leughmyer
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

All of God's creatures have rights, a fact that most people don't seem to recognize. This includes both human and non-human animals, but not all of them can speak for themselves.

Rat
By Heather Leughmyer

Vilified by Hollywood
Blamed for a disease
That dark, consuming shadow crept
Not from you, but from your fleas
You suffer undefended
At the mercy of men in white
Drugged, deprived, shocked, and sliced
Yet rarely do you bite.
Expendably inexpensive
To those easily seduced
By carnivorous constrictors
You're recklessly reproduced
Provisions for ball pythons
Uncomplicated prey
Confined inside four walls of glass
Victim of the day.

Your bodies are broken
With the sharp snap of steel
You writhe with convulsions
From a poisoned meal
Slow death by starvation
Immobilized in glue
A living being so despised
Just because you're you.

Your willowy whiskers vibrate
Teeth grinding like a purr
Your eyes contented little slits
As I caress your fur
Overflowing with affection
This guiltless little creature
To some may seem a curse
But to others, is a teacher.

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