Random Thoughts From Marybeth

Just One More

I wasn't planning on making this PETA day, but it's like potato chips...I can't just have one.

Following an attack "on approximately 35 pigs used in a Future Farmers of America (FFA)-sponsored course at White Swan High School, in which five adolescents allegedly beat and sodomized the animals with canes, axes, knives, and hammers, PETA has fired off a letter to Mount Adams School District Superintendent Dr. Mary Hall".

Okay, I'm with them so far. Animal abuse of any kind is bad and this example sounds like an especially sick act.

"FFA programs send a confusing and dangerous message to children," says PETA Education Manager Jackie Domac. "Students are taught to nurture and care for animals and then forced to betray them. In this age of increasing violence, teaching children to disregard the wellbeing of animals is the last thing that schools should be doing."

I looked for news articles about this. None mention whether or not the teenagers who are responsible for this were not FFA members so I'm assuming that they were not. I looked for information about FFA and animal care and found that from the national organization on down to the local divisions, ethical animal care and welfare is part of what the students learn.

It's misleading to take this one incident and say that what a few sick people did was caused by FFA programs. What's more of a concern is that people who abuse animals often will move on to abusing people. Organizations that try to erase the division between animals and people may just make that move easier.

My final penultimate comment on PETA (for today...probably) isn't directly related to this or the previous post but more of a general PETA observation. Their protests range from misguided (protesting a pet store for selling IAMs pet food even though the store didn't carry it for the same reasons PETA was protesting) to odd (a naked woman protesting a circus' treatment of exotic animals) to intrusive and scary ("Holocaust on Your Plate" and its methods of targeting propaganda towards children).

If they want me to take them seriously they need to stop the theatrics and campaign for more support for no-kill shelters. You know, something useful that would actually make a difference.

I take that back, before they do that I would like to see one more theatical protest. If they do this one thing, I may begin to take them seriously. You're probably read or heard about protests they have done where they throw fake blood on people wearing furs or leather. Throwing red paint on women in furs doesn't prove anything. If they really mean what they say, let's see them at a bikers rally tossing their paint on everyone with a leather jacket.

Final comment - is it just me or does PETA's group of celebrities that act as spokespeople for them resemble the cast of an old Love Boat episode? For anyone who is unfamiliar with the show, it had a regular cast along with different guest stars on each episode. The guest stars were usually of the B-list, trying to resurrect a flagging career type. There are a few big names, but most appear to be of the "didn't you used to be" type.