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PETA proves its absurdity-again
Cheryl Heitzman
Following the
tragic turn of events during Siegfried and Roy's Oct. 3 show,
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) showed just
how uncouth they are once again.
A tiger that was a part of their
act mauled Roy Horn, one half of the famous duo. Horn sustained
horrific injuries and was in critical care when PETA faxed a
letter to his bedside.
PETA vice president Dan Mathews
chastised Horn for taking the animals from their natural habitat.
He urged them to retire the tigers and build a sanctuary for
them.
He has a valid point. Taking wild
animals out of their habitat is dangerous, and unnatural for
the animals. But PETA should have waited to share their opinions
with Horn. Only a get-well wish would have been appropriate
at that time.
PETA is an organization with a
long history of radical protesting that routinely gets them
into trouble. There is absolutely nothing wrong with animal
lovers banding together, but PETA members just don't know how
to stay under control.
Fashion designers that incorporate
fur in their designs have had their shows interrupted time after
time by protesters with signs claiming "Fur is Dead"
and "Fur Kills." Security guards lying in wait have
followed the protesters to the stage and wrapped them in fur
coats as they drug them off the stage.
There are countless accounts of
PETA members tossing red paint on people wearing fur coats,
even one account of a young boy being splashed with blood as
he exited a Burger King.
PETA has a right to believe what
they want to, but they cross the line from civil disobedience
into tactless and even illegal action too often to be taken
seriously.
Plus, their ideas are just plain
dumb.
Humans developed the technology
to become the dominant species on earth and we should not have
to apologize for that. Should we go out and randomly kill and
torture animals? No, but humans are naturally omnivores; we
get nutrition from plant and animal sources.
To think that species without
the capability to think and comprehend are our equals is ludicrous.
Yes, they do feel pain, and when
we have to kill them to produce food, it should be as humane
as possible; they are creatures of God as well.
But let's be honest, if it comes
down to risking the lives of United States servicemen to clear
mines from the Persian Gulf or risking the lives of some dolphins,
I say send in the dolphins.
PETA has many Web sites dedicated
to the evils of the food industry, but finding an opinion from
a true expert on one of these Web sites is difficult. Finding
celebrities who support PETA is not. Intellectual titans such
as Alec Baldwin, Alicia Silverstone, Bjork and many others are
plastered all over their Web sites, begging us to go vegetarian.
The ad verecundiam fallacy comes to mind when these "experts"
speak.
Radical claims of rampant animal
torture are also easy to find on Web sites such as http://www.meatstinks.com.
It is hard to believe that if these horrible evils were so prevalent
the FDA would not do something about them.
An extreme example of typical
PETA conspiracy theory is the Web site http://www.milksucks.com.
This site blames milk for breast
cancer, prostate cancer, osteoporosis and almost every childhood
affliction imaginable. But valid scientific evidence proving
that milk or animal fat leads to cancer or any of these illnesses
is nowhere to be found. That's because it isn't true.
Until a controlled experiment
involving a petri dish filled with actual human cells that become
cancerous upon exposure to animal fat, the correlationary "evidence"
PETA presents should be read with scrutiny, and then laughed
at.
PETA also condemns all animal
research. What they don't say is whether or not they personally
use any medicines. All medicines that are FDA-approved have
been tested on animals at some point in development. Yet I could
find no articles describing the refusal of a PETA activist to
undergo medical treatment because a certain drug had been tested
on animals.
Hypocrisy, radicalism and tactlessness
punctuate the existence of this ridiculous organization. Until
they clean up their act and quit pretending that humans and
animals are equal, PETA will never be taken seriously by mainstream
America.
Maybe it's just as well.
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