Source:www.jimippolito.com

On December 14th the latest remake of "King Kong"
opens in theatres in America.

So far the movie has been well received in the limited foreign markets where it has already been released.

I always look forward to horror, sci-fi, and monster movies in general, even the remakes, because I never grew up, and have no intention of doing so anytime soon.

This King Kong movie has attracted the attention of the animal rights people, who are happy that this ape movie, is ape-free, which sounds a bit weird.

It seems that a determination has been made that ape animal actors are unhappy being made to perform "unnatural, un-ape" acts.

Well, I don't know about the accuracy of these allegations, but I am an animal lover, so it's probably for the best.

It did cause me to think about this notion of animals being made to perform un-animal acts however.

My wife and I have owned, oops, that's probably not politically correct, let's say, cohabitated, with a fair number of cats and canines over the years. We have derived a lot of enjoyment from their companionship and antics, which led me to wonder about just what constitutes proper and improper domestic animal behavior.

Sissy, the Char-Pei planting a wet one on Dolores, must have been an early animal right's activist because her idea of playing was eating, sitting or sleeping. No un-dog behavior from her.

Our other Shar-Pei, Sugarbear, was always ready to fetch anything one could heave, and even had her own tennis ball that she guarded more carefully than are England's Crown Jewels.

So I leave it to you to decide if fetching sticks and chewing on squeaky toys represents animal abuse.

In Vegas, as soon as the temperature dips below 70 the owners of those tiny dogs that are 90% fur put tight, colorful, sweaters on them. So I ask: Is this inappropriate and abusive to dogs? You decide.

What about Guinea pigs or gerbils or other rat like creatures that are kept caged and running perpetually inside a plastic wheel. Are they being subjected to un-animal, cruel behavior, or are they doing it because it represents some sort of normal rodent behavior. You figure it out.

Cats seem to like acting erratically by chasing just about anything that moves, especially after a good dose of catnip. I suppose they're just emulating the hunting instinct.



I wanted to get to the bottom of the matter so I attempted to secure an interview regarding animal rights and behavior with a local wild burro. An aggressive paparazzi snapped a photo after the burro turned me down.

The burro told me to contact his agent to negotiate terms. Oh, by the way, these guys now prefer to be referred to as Independent Asses, they feel it's more Hollywood-like.

Here's an interesting and comprehensive site about all things Kong: "KongisKing.net" have fun.