The latest on Pedro and Buddy, the gay penguins

CNN's Global Public Square:

Penguin photo via Shutterstock

It has been called unfair and heart-breaking. Others still are accusing the zoo of attempting to force the penguins into the “patriarchal sex-trade industry”.

The story has been covered in the British and US press, with the Guardian wondering if it was homophobic to separate the penguins, while the website Gawker sarcastically called Canada “evil and homophobic."

Okay enough. I thought the story was interesting and touching, and the obvious "ex-gay" angle downright funny. But enough already. A) They're animals, not people. B) They're on the verge of extinction and need to mate for the survival of their species. C) The zoo says they'll reunite them when the mating attempt is over. Yes, I worry that they're going to send the animals into a depression, but, again, we're talking the survival of their species. Risking a bout of depression is a small price to pay to save a species. If you really care about animals, then you should care about their extinction as much as their love life.