Scott Tibbs
blog post
July 4th, 2005
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Tidbits on the latest inanity from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:
The Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, City Council has approved a 30-day "test run" to see if horse-drawn carriages should be allowed to operate in the city. This cruel and ill-conceived plan must be stopped immediately.
Operators of horse-drawn carriages promote their rides as a romantic reminiscence of times past. But it's a life of misery for the horses who have to pull oversized loads in heavy traffic and in arduous weather conditions.
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An animal rights group wants the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to gut its cafeteria menu of fish and seafood, arguing that "serving fish at an aquarium is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show."
Like Lilo in the animated "Lilo and Stitch," who refused to make a tuna sandwich for her friend, Pudge, a fish, because it would be "an abomination," the head of the Fish Empathy Project for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said serving fish at an aquarium just isn't right. "An institution with a mission that includes teaching people to respect and appreciate marine animals certainly shouldn't serve fish in its cafeteria," Karin Robertson wrote last week in a letter to Jerry Schabel, the aquarium's chairman and chief executive.
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Nashville, Tenn. — Wearing nothing but tattooed markings that mimic a butcher’s diagram of body parts, a PETA member will protest the meat industry under a banner that reads, “All Animals Have the Same Parts—Have a Heart, Go Vegetarian.” The protest is a live re-enactment of a PETA ad featuring former Baywatch star Traci Bingham that ran in magazines and newspapers around the country:
PETA’s point? Factory-farmed animals are made of flesh and blood and bone, just as humans are. They have the same bodily organs, the same five senses, and the same range of emotions. And, of course, we all feel fear and pain, and none of us wants to die violently.
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PETA is the nation's most prominent "animal rights" organization, yet continues to marginalize itself. Does anyone actually take PETA seriously? How can anyone take PETA seriously when PETA does not take itself seriously? PETA could be much more effective if they focused more energy on winnable causes and less on the idea that pet ownership is slavery or that "meat is murder". Expressing support for eco-terrorists makes PETA even less credible.
For example, take the fur industry. Is it really necessary to kill animals for a luxury item, especially when fake fur is available? I think PETA could get widespread support on this issue. Even people who are vehemently opposed to PETA's more radical goals would think twice about "blood for vanity" (as PETA calls it), especially if PETA can show the animals are not put down in a humane way.
There is a reason pro-life groups focus their energies on things like banning "Partial Birth Abortion" or passing parental notification laws. Such things have wide support even among many people who consider themselves to be "pro-choice".
If PETA expects to make a serious dent for the cause of "animal rights", they are going to have to change their tactics, tone down their rhetoric, and set achievable goals. If PETA wants to be a laughingstock, they can keep doing what they have been doing.