PETA can kiss my omnivoric ass. Don't get me wrong. I love animals. Adore them. I try to kill them as little as possible...even bugs. (Except for ants...ants I have no pity for.) I cry during sad moments in animal shows, and I would not hesitate to risk my life if my dog was in danger. I love animals. Few things make me as sad as coming across a suffering stray. But I still dislike PETA. I wondered why I heard so many negative reactions to them, but now I have my own negative reactions. I was looking through a PETA catalog this morning there were few products/messages I agreed with. Here is what I mean, and what I would say to anyone who supported these messages:
1. On at least 18 of its 24 pages, PETA's catalog promotes vegetarianim and veganism. One shirt says, "Respect your fellow earthlings." Sure, we can respect them, but it doesn't mean we cannot eat them. As far as my knowledge discerns few cultures were are respectful to animals as some Native American tribes, but they sure as hell weren't vegan! They ate meat, they wore animal products but they still had an incredible respect for the land and its animals. Why? Because they needed it. Face it people: we evolved over millenia to be omnivores! Look in a mirror and open your mouth. You see those two sharp teeth? Those are two damn good arguments against vegetarianism, and a third would be the fact that our digestive system is made to process meat. Another shirt in the catalog reads, "BEEF It's what rotting in your colon." Bullshit. Scientific evidence tells me my body needs meat. I need protein and I need some amount of fat in my diet. Now, I understand that animals are not killed in the most humane methods, but death is death. It's never going to be pretty. However, I do at least agree that our meat processing plants are probably not as clean and sanitary as they should be. But this is not an issue of being cruel to animals. It's being cruel to humans in not making sure that the food they eat is as safe as can be.
PETA's catalog even tries to push vegetarianism for pets! Are you kidding me? You want my dog to eat nothing but plant products? Okay, fine, but what about plants? They're alive, too! And furthermore, my dog was made by God or whatever force drives life to be a CARNIVORE! Take a good look at the wild people! It doesn't get any more pure and legit than that! Should we try to get big cats and bears to be vegetarian as well? Hell, no! They need meat to survive! SURVIVAL! It's what this whole life thing is about when it comes down to the nitty gritty. Survival of the fittest and contination of the species. I don't know why it's important to the cosmic forces, but without those basic elements, there's no reason for there to be life anywhere.
And then there's the "got pus? Milk does." Okay, fine. We shouldn't drink milk. It's evil to cows. Fine. That I can deal with a little more. Why? Because we don't need milk from other animals. Many of our bodies can't even process dairy after a certain age. But I'm not going to stop consuming dairy. Why? Because I like it. And I simply don't believe that the cows are suffering THAT much in order to get me milk. However, I do believe the dairy industry is under heavy pressure to meet high demand causing farmers to have to look for artificial ways to boost production. This in turn probably results in more stress for the animals and more dangerous product, BUT I believe the key here is awareness and moderation, not complete abandonment of a form of sustenance that humans have used for thousands of years.
And of course, there's the whole no leather no fur thing. Fine. I can deal with that, too. It is simply not necessary to exploit animals in that manner now that we live in a society where manufactured fibers and textiles are readily available. But don't tell me, "Animals are not ours to wear." If I had no cotton I sure as hell would wear an animal skin, so don't deny that sometimes necessity drives us to have to use animals for our survival. It's the circle of life. Deal with it. Survival and harmony in nature demand certain methods that may seems gory, visceral and bloody. But that is the world. Wake up. It's not as pretty as you'd like to think.
2. Scientific testing on animals. Yes it's cruel. Yes they suffer. Yes it should be done as little and humanely as possible. But what is the other option? Distribute products to humans that we're not sure are safe to use? Did you know in ancient Egypt wealthy people used kohl as eye make-up and consequently had an insanely high incidence of eye cancer and tumors? Imagine if they had first used it on other animals to make sure if it was safe! But hey I'm not saying we should sacrifice anything for beauty and vanity. Again, moderation is key. But lets consider another issue: testing for medical research. I am terribly sorry that scientists have to cut little animals brains to find out how medicines affect them and how to heal sick people. I don't really know how to justify that other than to say that if we didn't test on animals, we would be standing idly by while people died of things we might be able to prevent. And that's just not right. That's as good as murder in my book.
So what else was there?
3. Direct attacks on companies such as IAMS, PetCo, and Kentucky Fried Chicken through T-shirts and bumper stickers. Tacky if you ask me. There are better ways to go about handling that than possibly libeling a company. Give me solid evidence, take the company to court, expose them in the media, but don't show me some idiot with a complacent smile on his face wearing an "IAMS tortures animals in cruel experiments" shirt. Nobody's perfect and nobody should pretend that stupid T-shirt makes them a saint. I know damn well they're not.
4. The Frog Saver Lily Pad and the Humane "Smart" Mousetrap. Two fine products. But I'd buy them less for compassion of the animal and more for saving myself the grossness of seeing a dead frog in my pool or a squished mouse in a trap! Yuck!
5. The "RATS HAVE RIGHTS" bumper sticker. No, they don't. Humans barely have rights, why should rats? They're disgusting little animals at the bottom of the food chain that carry disease. They exist to be a bane and food for animals that can stand to eat them. Do you think the rats cared that the humans had rights when they spread the bubonic plague?
6. The "Animal Liberation" line of fashion products. Why don't you go liberate some humans? I'm quite sure they have more sensibility to suffering and pain than most animals do.
7. The "Neuter is cuter." bumper sticker. The one thing I whole hearted-ly agree with. Neuter and spay people! Please! The animals we keep as pets were not meant to have to fend for themselves in a human dominated world. Abandoning an animal that was bred to be a pet is just plain cruel. They will starve and fester with disease and come to a sad end.
So, what's the conclusion? Moderation is key. We need the animals and the animals need us, and it's all a delicate harmony that shoud be carefully guarded. But don't be like PETA and walk around pretending that we live in a perfect world where all animals from cows to rats can run around and be cute and free and never eat each other or die. Don't smile coyly while touting the cruelty of the world on your shirt or bumper sticker. We are not nature's rulers. We are part of nature, and as such we have to play by nature's rules. Oftentimes those rules are stark and deadly. There is no such thing as cruelty-free living.
1. On at least 18 of its 24 pages, PETA's catalog promotes vegetarianim and veganism. One shirt says, "Respect your fellow earthlings." Sure, we can respect them, but it doesn't mean we cannot eat them. As far as my knowledge discerns few cultures were are respectful to animals as some Native American tribes, but they sure as hell weren't vegan! They ate meat, they wore animal products but they still had an incredible respect for the land and its animals. Why? Because they needed it. Face it people: we evolved over millenia to be omnivores! Look in a mirror and open your mouth. You see those two sharp teeth? Those are two damn good arguments against vegetarianism, and a third would be the fact that our digestive system is made to process meat. Another shirt in the catalog reads, "BEEF It's what rotting in your colon." Bullshit. Scientific evidence tells me my body needs meat. I need protein and I need some amount of fat in my diet. Now, I understand that animals are not killed in the most humane methods, but death is death. It's never going to be pretty. However, I do at least agree that our meat processing plants are probably not as clean and sanitary as they should be. But this is not an issue of being cruel to animals. It's being cruel to humans in not making sure that the food they eat is as safe as can be.
PETA's catalog even tries to push vegetarianism for pets! Are you kidding me? You want my dog to eat nothing but plant products? Okay, fine, but what about plants? They're alive, too! And furthermore, my dog was made by God or whatever force drives life to be a CARNIVORE! Take a good look at the wild people! It doesn't get any more pure and legit than that! Should we try to get big cats and bears to be vegetarian as well? Hell, no! They need meat to survive! SURVIVAL! It's what this whole life thing is about when it comes down to the nitty gritty. Survival of the fittest and contination of the species. I don't know why it's important to the cosmic forces, but without those basic elements, there's no reason for there to be life anywhere.
And then there's the "got pus? Milk does." Okay, fine. We shouldn't drink milk. It's evil to cows. Fine. That I can deal with a little more. Why? Because we don't need milk from other animals. Many of our bodies can't even process dairy after a certain age. But I'm not going to stop consuming dairy. Why? Because I like it. And I simply don't believe that the cows are suffering THAT much in order to get me milk. However, I do believe the dairy industry is under heavy pressure to meet high demand causing farmers to have to look for artificial ways to boost production. This in turn probably results in more stress for the animals and more dangerous product, BUT I believe the key here is awareness and moderation, not complete abandonment of a form of sustenance that humans have used for thousands of years.
And of course, there's the whole no leather no fur thing. Fine. I can deal with that, too. It is simply not necessary to exploit animals in that manner now that we live in a society where manufactured fibers and textiles are readily available. But don't tell me, "Animals are not ours to wear." If I had no cotton I sure as hell would wear an animal skin, so don't deny that sometimes necessity drives us to have to use animals for our survival. It's the circle of life. Deal with it. Survival and harmony in nature demand certain methods that may seems gory, visceral and bloody. But that is the world. Wake up. It's not as pretty as you'd like to think.
2. Scientific testing on animals. Yes it's cruel. Yes they suffer. Yes it should be done as little and humanely as possible. But what is the other option? Distribute products to humans that we're not sure are safe to use? Did you know in ancient Egypt wealthy people used kohl as eye make-up and consequently had an insanely high incidence of eye cancer and tumors? Imagine if they had first used it on other animals to make sure if it was safe! But hey I'm not saying we should sacrifice anything for beauty and vanity. Again, moderation is key. But lets consider another issue: testing for medical research. I am terribly sorry that scientists have to cut little animals brains to find out how medicines affect them and how to heal sick people. I don't really know how to justify that other than to say that if we didn't test on animals, we would be standing idly by while people died of things we might be able to prevent. And that's just not right. That's as good as murder in my book.
So what else was there?
3. Direct attacks on companies such as IAMS, PetCo, and Kentucky Fried Chicken through T-shirts and bumper stickers. Tacky if you ask me. There are better ways to go about handling that than possibly libeling a company. Give me solid evidence, take the company to court, expose them in the media, but don't show me some idiot with a complacent smile on his face wearing an "IAMS tortures animals in cruel experiments" shirt. Nobody's perfect and nobody should pretend that stupid T-shirt makes them a saint. I know damn well they're not.
4. The Frog Saver Lily Pad and the Humane "Smart" Mousetrap. Two fine products. But I'd buy them less for compassion of the animal and more for saving myself the grossness of seeing a dead frog in my pool or a squished mouse in a trap! Yuck!
5. The "RATS HAVE RIGHTS" bumper sticker. No, they don't. Humans barely have rights, why should rats? They're disgusting little animals at the bottom of the food chain that carry disease. They exist to be a bane and food for animals that can stand to eat them. Do you think the rats cared that the humans had rights when they spread the bubonic plague?
6. The "Animal Liberation" line of fashion products. Why don't you go liberate some humans? I'm quite sure they have more sensibility to suffering and pain than most animals do.
7. The "Neuter is cuter." bumper sticker. The one thing I whole hearted-ly agree with. Neuter and spay people! Please! The animals we keep as pets were not meant to have to fend for themselves in a human dominated world. Abandoning an animal that was bred to be a pet is just plain cruel. They will starve and fester with disease and come to a sad end.
So, what's the conclusion? Moderation is key. We need the animals and the animals need us, and it's all a delicate harmony that shoud be carefully guarded. But don't be like PETA and walk around pretending that we live in a perfect world where all animals from cows to rats can run around and be cute and free and never eat each other or die. Don't smile coyly while touting the cruelty of the world on your shirt or bumper sticker. We are not nature's rulers. We are part of nature, and as such we have to play by nature's rules. Oftentimes those rules are stark and deadly. There is no such thing as cruelty-free living.