The military style funeral for a K9 killed in the “line of duty” was disgusting, proving once again that America’s “over the top” love affair with pets has turned sickeningly perverse.

Yes, I know this dog was killed while performing its “duties” for the Oklahoma City Police Department and that, according to Sgt. Coy Gilbert, who gave the eulogy at the “funeral,” this dog allegedly saved the life of one of the officers.

I know police dogs are valuable assets to law enforcement.  They perform amazingly well in countless situations, are loyal, never complain about long hours or lousy pay, and don’t ask for much; at times they even save lives.

I understand all of this, but we must keep in focus what we are dealing with and not humanize something that can never be made human:  dogs—or cats, for that matter.  Or any other animal.  They are animals, always will be animals, and will never be anything more than animals.  They are not humans and never will be humans.

I find it sickening—perverse even—that this dog is being treated like a human, elevated up to the same level that is reserved only for human beings.  The video of this “funeral” is hard for me to watch:  a bagpipe player solemnly walking up the aisle to the church, followed by a line of “mourners” as they approach the flag-draped “coffin” of the dead dog.

A dead dog.  This is what we are dealing with, friends.  Let me write it again:  a dead dog.  Not a dead police officer, not a dead little girl, or a dead President of the United States, but a dead dog.

A dead dog treated as if it were a dead human being.  It is utterly inconceivable and boggles the mind that a dead dog, regardless of the great act of service it performed for mankind, is being honored as if it was a human being.

If someone might accuse me of being a “hater” of animals, you would be wrong.  When I was a child, I loved watching nature programs on television and dreamed of becoming a wildlife biologist.  At the University of Arizona, my initial major was “Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.”  I wanted to specialize in marine biology, studying dolphins.  I loved animals and all things associated with them.

Two of my heroes were Jacques Cousteau and James Herriot.  I can, without hesitation, affirm that I was one of those unusual individuals who believed animals were more valuable than humans; I wanted to dedicate my life to studying and helping them.

I was partial to animal rights activists and went to hear one of America’s first animals rights defenders, Cleveland Amory.  In my youth, if the opportunity would have presented itself, I could have seen myself being a card carrying member of a radical organization like PETA.

As I am now, I was then wholly opposed to any form of animal cruelty and neglect.  Though I am not a vegetarian, it pains me when I see animals destined for our dinner plates that are kept in unsanitary conditions, are beaten, abused, starved or kept crammed together in inadequate sized cages.

All this being said, I draw a distinct line between animals and humans.  All life that makes up the animal kingdom, from the birds that soar in the sky to the crabs that crawl across the ocean floors, are a creation of God; each are unique and special, demanding our respect, admiration and care.

But it was only to men and women that God said, “Let us make man in our image…” (Genesis 1:26).  Men and women—not animals—are the image bearers of the Divine.  Only upon people does the imprint of the Almighty Creator of the Universe lie, and no matter what type of valuable service animals provide to humans, they are, and will always be, inferior to us, separated from us by a vast and impassable chasm that can never be bridged.

Must I repeat the obvious?  Animals are animals and people are people, each occupying their own distinct place in life.  But that distinction is becoming increasingly blurred as people, particularly Westerners, have been elevating their pets to the same status as human beings.

This perversity has now found its maximum expression of vulgarity in this ridiculous and over the top “funeral” for this service dog, with all the pomp and ceremony reserved for individuals—humans—who have contributed something exemplary to the benefit of the human race.

By conducting this obscene affair for the sake of a dog, we have denigrated and cheapened what true valor and sacrifice is that  men and women suffer when they give the last full measure of their devotion in the line of duty.

The video presents to us a surreal basis for the unfolding of this story:  we have several solemn news reporters breaking a story in a somber and serious manner that one has come to expect is appropriate when someone of particular importance has died.  Perhaps the individual was the head of state of an important ally of the United States, or a high-ranking politician, or someone well known throughout the world for their contributions to the betterment of mankind.

But no, this is not a report on the death of someone famous who was universally loved and admired throughout the country or world, like Mother Theresa was, or Princess Diana when she was killed, or John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated.

No, the pomp and ceremony surrounding this funeral that had every single trapping of a funeral for some distinguished and beloved individual was for a…

…dog.  That’s correct…a dog.  Not the Pope, or the Queen of England, or the President of the United States, but a dog.  An animal that licks its butt, eats its own and other dog’s vomit, and sniffs people’s crotches, given honors that the vast majority of people never receive when they die.  A dog, elevated to the status of an individual created in the image and likeness of God.

And we wonder why people from around the world, and particularly the Muslim world, despise America so much and want nothing more than to see our culture go up in the clouds of an atomic blast, with all of our perversions and idol worshipping behaviors with it.

A “funeral” like this will no doubt only increase the hate and disgust that so many people all ready carry toward us as they blink unbelievably before their television screens and watch, open-mouthed and dumbfounded, at yet another level of lunacy and depravity that American culture has sunk to.