PETA promotes sensitivity but ignores human
suffering
By Kristen Hoverman
The Collegian
I was driving to school Thursday
morning, following an old station wagon. When I reached a stoplight I
looked at its license plate and read the cover. In bold italicized letters
it read, “I love animals, they are tasty.”
As a vegetarian and avid animal lover I was disturbed by the message I
read, although at that particular moment it was amusing.
Humor aside, there is cruelty in this world that simply cannot be made
fun of, especially when the victims, like animals, cannot defend themselves.
On the other hand many people are turned off to the idea of better treatment
of animals. Because of this, animal rights organizations have made educating
the public a goal and priority. But when activists, like People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, militantly force its views on people, that
goal backfires.
Don’t get me wrong, PETA is dedicated to establishing and protecting
the rights of all animals and believes animals are not ours to eat, wear,
experiment on or use for entertainment.
PETA has held successful rallies protesting the enslavement of animals
in four environments where they are repeatedly forced to live in for long
periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade
and the entertainment industry.
Despite all the good it has done, PETA has gained a reputation of being
a judgmental organization that pushes animal lovers away by the strong-arm
tactics it uses. PETA gives other animal rights organizations a bad name.
“Being an animal lover myself,” said human physiology senior
Vanessa Tucker, “I believe PETA’s tactics and its message
alienate people.”
PETA activists have demonstrated in the past by dressing up as cows and
standing in front of schools telling children milk is rape.
“They are too militant and violent,” Tucker said. “One
of the biggest things PETA messed up on is in comparing animals living
on farms to Holocaust survivors.
“That’s not a parallel that can be drawn,” she said.
“It was totally wrong of them to bring that up and it bothered me
a lot.”
PETA has taken its offensive tactics even farther with its latest exhibit,
“Animal Liberation,” which compares animals with African-American
slaves, lynching victims and turn-of-the-century sweatshop workers.
“That’s kind of harsh,” said Cheri Mitchem, Humane Education
director of the SPCA. “[In that exhibit] they show some really rough
things.
“Any of the PETA stuff that I read really breaks my heart,”
Mitchem said. “We get animals coming in to the shelter with embedded
collars, with fleas and ticks so bad you just want to choke somebody.
Animals give unconditional
love, humans don’t. It’s really hard to see the things that
we see people doing to animals.”
Although PETA activists spend a lot of time showing videos and passing
out pamphlets asking people to become more sensitive to the innocence
of thousands of enslaved animals, their abrasive demonstrations prove
they lack sensitivity for human rights.
The Internet has numerous anti-PETA Web sites, showing public disapproval
of PETA’s approach.
By forcing the issue down people’s throats with offensive billboards
and literature, PETA continues to alienate people from its cause.
Watching its discriminatory practices, in the name of animal kindness,
is enough to make any animal lover frustrated.
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