Could cat be next target of animal activist bombings? Times columnist asks

Our cat Ernie killed a mouse the other night and I was terrified.It is not the first time he has done in mice that have invaded our home, and now I fear he may be targeted by animal rights activists.I buried the mouse in the dark of night in an unmarked grave and hope that the masked terrorists who attack homes with firebombs in the name of animal welfare realize that the rodent’s death was simply the result of the age-old game of cat and mouse.But just to make sure, Ernie has been entered into a Federal Feline Protection Program and works as a gardener in the Valley. They call him Gus.Activists have proven over the years that they are not averse to threatening the lives of other animals, namely humans, to make a point. Their latest attack involved the firebombing of a home belonging to a biomedical researcher at UC Santa Cruz. The house was occupied by a scientist, his wife and two young children when the attackers hit, forcing them to flee out of a second-story window.Ironically, the man’s research involved mice, fruit flies and other non-primates. If terrorists can threaten the lives of those who experiment on fruit flies to benefit the human condition, you had better be careful the next time you step on a spider or squash an ant.