|
Animal Rights and You
|
PETA's Death Wish: When fried chicken becomes Auschwitz
Guest Column | By Rachel K. Ayerst | July 29, 2004 www.aim.com
According to the organization, humans eating animals is the moral
equivalent of Nazis murdering Jews in concentration camps.
If People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is correct, then
millions of American families are sitting down for dinner each night to a
"Holocaust" on their plates. According to the organization, humans eating
animals is the moral equivalent of Nazis murdering Jews in concentration
camps. This advertising campaign, which is just one of many tasteless
stunts staged by PETA in the last few years, proves that the animal
rights group can no longer be taken seriously
by reasonable Americans.
Founded in 1980, PETA has as its operating principle "that animals are
not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment. " But
they have moved far beyond educating responsible citizens about animal
cruelty. By adopting a policy of fear mongering in order to gain some
easy attention, PETA has finally succeeded in discrediting itself.
The "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign, which began in February 2003,
brought large-scale posters to cities and college campuses across the
nation. The posters compare the slaughter of animals to the slaughter of
Jews by Hitler's Nazi thugs. The disturbing billboards juxtapose
graphic images of the lifeless bodies of concentration camp victims with the
corpses of various farm animals. According to PETA, the United States'
invention of the slaughterhouse has provoked as much, if not more,
horror in the world as the gas chamber did under the Nazis. By
equating
human life with the lives of animals, PETA has not only trivialized the
suffering of Holocaust victims, but offended the moral sensibilities of
millions of Americans who realize that the life of a rat is not equal to
the life of a human being.
If PETA's perverse moral equivalence isn't enough to completely
marginalize it, decent Americans should be outraged at its deliberate attempts
to indoctrinate children with frightening propaganda. In recent
months, PETA has begun targeting KFC restaurants for cruelty to chickens. In
order to raise awareness for their cause, members of PETA have begun
distributing "buckets of blood" to children outside KFC restaurants. By
specifically targeting children with these buckets, which include fake
bones, bloodied feathers and a rubber chicken, PETA has sunk to an
all-time low. In a special section of a PETA-sponsored Web site aimed at
elementary school-aged children, the
most basic fears of children are
exploited with propaganda like "chickens on Colonel Sanders' farms never
get to be loved by their moms. These birds' lives are awful and scary
even before they are killed and cut up for food."
Contrary to popular belief, PETA does not use the bulk of its operating
budget to fight animal cruelty. Rather, it puts the money toward
offensive ideological campaigns designed to remake American society.
According to the Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington-based coalition of
consumers, food companies and restaurants, less than one percent of
PETA's total budget is dedicated to actually "helping animals." They
report that in 1999 alone PETA "euthanized more than 1,300 cats and
dogs.preferring to spend its money on cheap publicity stunts and criminal
defense rather than finding the animals suitable homes."
Unfortunately, indecent advertising campaigns and misspent funds are
not the
only serious problems facing PETA. In 2001, PETA made donations
to the Earth Liberation Front. ELF has been responsible for a number of
arsons and other incidents of eco-terrorism around the country,
provoking the FBI to add it to its list of domestic terrorist organizations.
As a charitable organization that receives millions of dollars in annual
donations from Americans, PETA's tax-exempt status depends on its
ability to abide by the law.
The Center for Consumer Freedom has undertaken a massive campaign to
expose PETA's radicalism. It has begun a petition against PETA that
highlights the group's involvement with criminal organizations and calls on
the government to revoke PETA's tax-exempt status immediately. With
more than 35,000 signatures, it appears that the Center for Consumer
Freedom is having a noticeable impact on Americans.
In addition to the petition, the Center for Consumer Freedom has also
begun an
awareness campaign designed to educate Americans about PETA's
twisted morality. PETA opposes any organization that uses animals for
medical testing, and has recently directed its membership to boycott such
organizations as the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the Susan G. Komen
Breast Cancer Foundation. Some of the Center for Consumer Freedom's
advertisements, which have been strategically placed in the Capital
District's Metro system for maximum exposure, quote PETA's President Ingrid
Newkirk as saying "even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS
we'd be against it." This type of statement reveals just how out of
touch PETA has become.
PETA's radicalism, however, appears to be catching up with it. With
groups like the Center for Consumer Freedom mounting a sweeping
counter-offensive, it seems only a matter of time before Americans become fully
aware of PETA's activities, and as a result, cease making donations
to
the organization. In the most ironic of endings, perhaps it's now PETA's
goose that may be cooked.
animal rights and you
Create a free website at Webs.com