wrote in message
...
Jeanne Hedge wrote:

Federal congressman
Reinaldo Santos e Silva proposed the law after psychologists
suggested
that some children may get depressed when they learn they share
their
first name with someone's pet

Give me a break!!! What would be depressing about that? I would have
found it *funny* to meet a cat or dog named Joyce.

"Names have importance," said Alves. The congressman "wants to
challenge people's assumptions that it's acceptable to give
animals
human names," she said.

I'd like to challenge their assumptions that animals are inferior to
humans. (Maybe they don't realize that humans are also animals, and
therefore, all people would be illegally named? )

Alves admitted the law's chances of passage were slim but said
Silva
hoped the bill would call attention to his other efforts to
protect
animals.

His "other" efforts to protect animals? Implying that the ban-human-
names idea has something to do with protecting animals?
Joyce

I may have missed some of this thread, but if some politico has
proposed a law banning people from naming animals after humans, I'd be
in trouble if I lived in the U.S. and the law were enacted! When we
acquired one of our kitties we asked the little girl next door (and
her mom) if we could name our new arrival after her. The little girl
was delighted, and agreed immediately, as did her parent. Mind you,
the entire family are ailurophiles so we weren't surprised at their
reaction!