IT'S THE ANIMAL IN ME

There will be no "monkey men" in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma House has passed a bill banning human-animal hybrids.

Evidently this is not just a problem in Oklahoma. The Arizona legislature is working on a similar bill.

This is not a new issue. President Bush called for a human-animal hybrid ban in his state of the union speech in 2006, but Congress at the time did not take up the challenge.

Canada banned the hybrids years ago.

Animal-human combos are called chimeras, and until recently were considered mythical creatures. Centaurs would be one example.

These days, bad human heart valves are routinely replaced with ones from cows and pigs, creating, in effect, a chimera.

I don't know if any centaurs or monkey-men or goat-boys actually exist. But if they do, they better not come to Oklahoma. Or Canada.

Are you listening, Doctor Moreau?