Remember when we called ourselves...

..."hunters and gatherers?" All day long we'd chase after wild animals and forage for nuts and berries in the forest. Man, those were the good ol' days!

Then, all of a sudden, around 10,000 years ago (give or take a thousand) one of our ancestors pounded his fist on a tree stump and bellowed to all within earshot,

"I'M TIRED OF ALL THIS RELOCATING!

"First you have to find a new doctor, then the kids have to start a new school, and -- I swear! -- it takes at least two or three false starts before you settle on a good dry cleaner. This is bogus! I want to put down some roots, for cryin' out loud.

"From this day forward I renounce my status as 'Hunter and Gatherer.' From now on, I want to be known as -- THUNDER AND LIGHTNING! -- 'a Farmer of Grains, such as Rye, Barley and Oats; and a Raiser of Domesticated Animals such as Cows and Pigs (and Maybe a Few Sheep, Here and There, Who Knows?)' "

It wasn't as catchy, but everyone present nodded their heads in agreement.

And, thus, a New Era was born.

In the meantime, we've become so good at farming and ranching that most of us have reverted back to hunters and gatherers. Except that now we do most of our hunting and gathering at places like Dominick's or Jewel. And many of us think that the food we eat comes out of trucks that drive up to the back of the store. It does, of course, but before that it still comes from farms.

About ten years ago, my wife was one of the founding members of the 4-H Club at Wagner Farm in Glenview, Illinois. 4-H is a youth organization which seeks to develop citizenship, leadership, and life skills through mostly experiential learning programs, such as raising livestock. Suburban kids at the Wagner Farm club learn, for example, how to raise and care for farm animals. At the end of the summer, the kids show their animals at the Lake County Fair -- just as other 4-H kids have been doing for over a hundred years. The animals are bid on, purchased, and, yes, eventually slaughtered for food -- just as humans have been doing, in one form or another, for the past 10,000 years or so.

But there's also a group in town called "Eye on Wagner Farm," above, who are forever protesting the club. Their mission is to "to improve and save the lives of all animals associated in any capacity with ... Wagner Farm." They intend to "show respect and compassion for all living beings, and to encourage others to show the same."

All living beings, I guess, except for the people who work with the animals at Wagner Farm, like my wife, above, the Livestock Educator. This group is constantly harassing her and others for the high crime of running a 4-H club at the farm. Just the other day, for example, my wife was performing some routine care on one of the horses in the barn when one of the leaders of "Eye on Wagner Farm" barged in, unannounced, and snapped a picture. The flash upset the horse and he kicked my wife on the side of her face, leaving her bruised and unable to finish the procedure. Unfortunately, this behavior on the group's part is not an uncommon occurrence at Wagner Farm.

And my question is, when does "advocacy" cross the line into "harassment?"

Nobody loves animals more than my wife -- trust me. I've known her for over 26 years and she definitely missed her calling; she should have been a veterinarian.

But "animal rights" groups like "Eye on Wagner Farm" seem to think they have a corner on concern for animals. If they had their way, animals wouldn't be raised on farms, even for milking. I doubt if they even approve of "seeing-eye" dogs. Some of these groups have gone as far as vandalism at the expense of medical research, the clothing and food industries, and others accused of "animal abuse."

Now, I'm all for being kind to animals; who isn't? But these people take it a little far.