More like "one worthy of my ire". For starters, let's take a look at some statistics about PETA's "animal shelters": here we see the kill rates of animals accepted to a PETA-run shelter in Virginia. For an organization that wants to put off a hippy-dippy, good feelin' drum circle vibe, they sure do like killing their "friends". I guess their plan to "phase out" companion animals is to literally phase them out of life by the thousands. How 'bout that. Just think about where your money's going next time you buy one of their "I'm Not A Nugget" necklace charms: is it going to buy body paint for sidewalk protesters? Will it be used to purchase euthanasia drugs for pets that wind up in their shelters? Perhaps fake blood to lob at runway models? Or will it go towards their decades-old campaign to pull hapless celebrities into an arguably-misogynistic image campaign of posters and magazines usually reserved for garages and covert bathroom cupboards? The world may never know, because even though PETA releases annual financial statements, I'm no accountant and therefore have no clue what most of the numbers and labels on this thing even mean, much less what it tells me about their funds allocation strategies.
Now I see where some of you could get me wrong. "What?" I can hear you saying. "A liberal who hates PETA?! The nerve! He must be a closeted gun nut!" Actually, you couldn't be farther from the truth. I have no problem with vegetarians and vegans (more bacon for me!) and especially take no issue with religious people who abstain from meat for doctrinal reasons. I just hate PETA for being a scummy organization that uses scummy tactics to openly manipulate the public. They want to regulate away my bacon and I will fight them tooth and nail (hurr durr it's an animal pun) to preserve my bacon-consumption rights. I'm fairly certain that pre-publication drafts of Thomas Paine's Two Treatises of Government listed the natural rights of man as "life, liberty, property and bacon", though I have yet to prove this conclusively.
Additionally, I agree with them to an extent on the ethics of sport hunting. While I'd never begrudge a hunter his or her ability to hunt for food, mostly because bison and elk are delicious animals, I have yet to come across an argument for sport hunting that doesn't sound like "ME MAN, ME BIG AND STRONG, ME KILL PUNY ANEEMAL WITH STICK DAT GO BOOM". Are you a sport hunter? If so, prove me wrong in the comments section. Until you do, I will continue to look at you the way I do.
I will also keep eating burgers. Lots and lots of burgers.
Once PETA successfully brought awareness to vivisection and other horrible testing practices, bringing about a near stoppage worldwide, they lost themselves. I watched it happen as PETA moved into the 21st century. In the 80s they (well, we) thought that the struggle would continue forever. Lo and behold, 20 years on and we had done everything including demonizing animal fur as clothing. They've lost their way as most groups do once the initial focus is realized in public opinion. Sad to see what they've become. I often liken them to the NRA minus the fear-mongering and lobbying for sales.
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from someone on the inside. Well, someone that used to be on the inside... I'd even argue that PETA engages in fear-mongering of its own, but they're nowhere near as nuts as guys like the Earth Liberation Front. I mean, c'mon: burning a whole dealership full of cars to protest pollution? That would be like an animal-rights organization running a shelter that kills over 85% of the animals it takes in.
DeleteI'm sure rank-and-file PETA members aren't all bad, but the guys at the top are scum of the lowest order if they think their tactics fool the rest of us.