Michelle Malking posted a link to the Peta Kills Animals site. I didn't see anything there that I hadn't heard or read before but I did wonder who the non-profit organization (Center for Consumer Freedom) that runs the site is.
It turns out that "CCF is a non-profit coalition of restaurants, food companies and individuals working to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices." Pretty much what I had assumed...someone with a motivation to try to counter PETA's claims, but I would have been more impressed with them if they had mentioned their relationship to the food industry on their About Us page. Knowing that it's business people who are knowledgable about the food industry, even if they have a vested interest in the debate, makes the site more credible to me than if I'm left wondering if it was created by someone who just dislikes PETA.
Not that I hold PETA in high regard.
One of their latest plans is to follow Queen Elizabeth around Canada protesting the use of bearskin hats by her guards. Canada issues 20,000 licenses for the killing of bears each year. The British use fewer than 100 each year for the hats. The small percentage doesn't matter, they go where they get the most publicity. Besides, where the Queen may have the good grace to ignore their obnoxious behavior the hunters may get annoyed with PETA's intrusion into their business.
PETA is also protesting the Shrine Circus in Sault Sainte Marie, Red Deer, Iron Mountain, Oswego, and other cities. (The PETA press releases are basically the same, only the locations are changed.) Tthey complain about injuries to people but don't be fooled, that's only to point out how the animals are reacting to "abuse". Their claim "Shrine Circuses raise funds for the temples’ administrative costs, not for the Shriners children’s hospitals" is misleading. The "administrative costs" includes getting children who need their services to the hospitals.
I just wonder why they left out a Shriner/Mason/Illumiati reference.
* Penn And Teller page for their PETA show.
Montréal — Wearing sexy rubber miniskirts, latex-trimmed tops, and stiletto heels—designer outfits courtesy of New York duo Gaelyn & Cianfarani—and holding signs that read, "Fur Is a Fashion Felony," a pair of sexy "fashion police"—PETA’s own top-cop Lisa Franzetta and a French-speaking Montréal beauty—will hand out violation notices in French resembling citation tickets to fur-wearers among the throngs of shoppers for "violating the code of common decency"
The high temperature in Montreal today is supposed to be -5 F with a low of -15 (-20/-26 C.) I don't think this will help convince anyone that the rubber and latex outfits are more "decent".
If you are in New York today don't miss the PETA protest against Columbia University. (Scheduled for noon to 1:00 p.m.) How many other chances do you think you will get to see people dressed as giant tampons?
The complaint about mistreatment of animals was brought to PETA's attention by Dr. Catherine Dell’Orto. The alleged mistreatment happened in 2001 and 2002. For background on the experiments and the investigations read this.
PETA is mad at Siegfried and Roy. Or at NBC. Or something.
On September 15, NBC featured a fluff interview with Siegfried & Roy. PETA provided NBC with information on cruelty to animals used for entertainment and the facts about the tiger attack on Roy Horn at Las Vegas’ Mirage Hotel in October 2003, but NBC failed to include any such information in the interview. By omitting facts on the stressful and lonely lives led by animals used in “entertainment” acts, NBC did the public, as well as the captive big cats who are currently suffering in hot, loud, unnatural, and confusing conditions, a grave disservice.
NBC was busy promoting Father of the Pride and PETA thought they should talk about tiger abuse?
The tigers in the videos do a good job of hiding their misery. Of course, they are in show business.
The natural habitat of white tigers is southeast Asia and parts of India. They are a species at risk (IUCN—Endangered) due to poaching, loss of habitat, and decline in available prey.
As tempting as starvation, illness, and being shot at is, I'm just thankful PETA isn't trying to protect me...not that I have noticed any of them rushing off to live in their natural habitats.
PETA Protests Butterfly Release
The first annual Flight of the Butterfly Festival was held last week at the Lake Elsinore Outlets. They had planned on releasing several hundred butterflies at the end of the festival.
Upon their dramatic release, many of the butterflies will mingle through the crowds as they are drawn to the spring florals specifically selected for their capabilities to attract butterflies, in hopes that they continue to make their home at the Outlet Center....The first 100 children to arrive at 12:00 p.m. will receive butterfly nets and a unique* opportunity to try and catch a butterfly after the release.
The release was cancelled after they received a letter from PETA. "PETA says such releases are used mostly for wedding celebrations and memorials. But a spokeswoman says butterflies have to struggle to get out of envelopes and boxes." The news article doesn't mention whether or not PETA objected to the little darlin's with nets.
Instead of releasing butterflies, the festival organizers decided to "float butterfly-shaped balloons." Let's see, using balloons which are a potential environmental pollutant and could be a health hazard to animals or children instead of releasing butterflies because the butterflies might have to struggle to get out. I fail to see the logic in this decision.
*At one time I would have mocked them for calling the ordinary childhood activity of catching butterflies "unique". With organizations such as PETA, it won't just be unique, it will be unheard of.
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.
The other night my kids wanted Kentcky Fried Chicken for dinner. Being the manipulative little monsters clever children that they are, all they had to do was mention PETA's opposition to KFC to convice me to go there.
Today I read that PETA is protesting Mercedes-Benz leather interiors. It seems that several of the company's cars are only available with leather interior.
A company official claimed that she was "not aware of a single customer who has requested … a leather-free car" and not been accommodated. PETA, however, is aware of many—including a Texas businesswoman who tore the leather upholstery out of her brand-new Mercedes CL-500 and returned it to DaimlerChrysler headquarters and B-52’s frontwoman, Kate Pierson, who was told that she would have to wait nearly a year for a Mercedes ML320 SUV with nonleather seats. PETA has also heard from people who opted not to buy a Mercedes after the automaker refused their requests for nonleather upholstery.
I don't understand why the woman in Texas bought a car and then tore out the seats. If you're spending close to $100,000 for a car, wouldn't you check these things out before you bought it? Buying it, tearing it up, and then returning it sounds like the actions of an unstable person. This begs for more information about this unnamed woman.
A company that produces a luxury item is ignoring its customers wants? Let's do some fact checking...
The ML320 is available in two trim levels, Classic and Elegance. The Elegance has heated, electrically adjustable leather seats (versus cloth), sunroof and premium audio. There is no mechanical difference between the two....As evidence of the M-Class’ acceptance in the market, there is a waiting list of almost two years for it in some parts of the country....
Well, then, compared to a two-year wait for the SUV, one year doesn't sound that bad.
I can afford KFC. I can't afford a Mercedes. If anyone wants to help me defy PETA's protest by buying one for me just let me know when to pick it up from my local dealer.
I'm only asking this out of self-centered greed the desire to slap back at PETA. I'm even willing to take the less expensive (only about $40,000) SUV instead of the CL500. You get the good feelings from helping my protest for less than half the price of the other car! I'll even treat you to a dinner at KFC to celebrate.
PECA, the People Encouraging Carnivorous Appetites, rolled out a new campaign aimed at informing our nation's carnivorous creatures that members of PETA (People for the Ethical treatment of Animals), are a tasty and nourishing dietary alternative to other forms of wildlife. The new organization, comprised primarily of livestock producers, meat processors, fur ranchers, and hunters, has been passing out informational literature and posting billboards encouraging bears, cougars, wolves, coyotes, and birds of prey to stop eating their fellow creatures and to give animal rights activists a try.
Read the rest at Broken Newz. Just because it's humor doesn't mean it's not a good idea....
The PETA Principle: Lab Rats Over Sick Children
PETA's habit of placing lab animals above human life is so extreme that the group's president and co-founder, Ingrid Newkirk, is on record stating: "Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it." And Newkirk's group has supported the violent destruction of scientific research facilities. In its IRS filings, PETA has admitted funneling over $70,000 to Rodney Coronado, a convicted arsonist who burned down a Michigan State University research lab.
My niece has pet rats. I've had pet mice along with a variety of other rodents (along with dogs, cats, fish, birds, a snake, and turtles). Rats are cute and can be both affectionate and intelligent. I would come down with both feet on anyone who mistreats or abuses a pet of any type but putting the value of an animal's life over that of a human's is extreme.
We are responsible for the welfare of animals but not at the expense of human lives. How much do you have to hate humanity, and by extension yourself, to think that the life of a rat is worth more than that of a child?
PETA wants schools in Hall County, Georgia to do away away with disection in biology classes.
PETA spokesperson Sangeeta Kumar says there are other means of teaching the classes.
"CD Roms, virtual dissection, videos, models - not dead animals on a slab," Kumar says.
The request comes after two teens were accused of shooting two horses earlier this month.
Rodger Dale Pitts III, 18, Clermont and Jared Blake Dillin, 18, Gainesville were arrested December 13 for the shooting at a farm in North Hall.
PETA claims there is a correlation between dissection of animals in biology classes and abuse of animals by young people.
I would bet that there's a greater correlation between under-educated ignorance and animal abuse. I'll also hazard a guess that lethal abuse is less likely to be done by people who have experience with the life and death of animals whether it be on a farm where they have seen or helped in slaughter, have owned a pet, or just learning about the amazing ingenuity of the construction of an animal body by dissecting it in Biology class than by those who haven't come any closer to it than through "CD Roms, virtual dissection, videos, models...."