If our society condones breeding animals for the sole purpose of killing them for entertainment then we have effectively put the “human” in inhumane.

But that is exactly what the Ohio-based American Game Fowl Society has proposed. The organization has filed a suit in federal court in Columbus to legalize animal fighting saying the by seeking to overturn the Animal Welfare Act is unconstitutional. A move that essentially would legalize dog and cockfighting.

It is embarrassing and a sad reflection on our culture that this would even be considered.

We hope the judge stands up to this group and stands firm.

Americans must hold themselves to the highest possible standard and that means valuing all life.

While our society must raise animals for food in order to survive that shouldn’t be considered a license for inhumane treatment or careless disregard for life.

Supporters of this lawsuit will counter that the state allows hunting and shouldn’t treat animal fighting any differently.

That argument doesn’t hold water because many hunters do so for food and others that do it for sport help maintain the natural order and keep the population manageable.

Simply raising animals for no other reason than to pit then against one another for entertainment has no place in a civilized culture.

If we were to allow this cruel treatment, where would our society draw the line? Would gladiatorial death matches be next?

Would we then start raising human beings to satisfy our bloodthirstiness?

Barbaric neglect for any life will only undermine the values that our nation must keep as our foundation if we want to be considered a world leader.