2 Votes
PETA
I’ve always thought it was odd PETA is such a supporter of "de-sexing" (as you put it) animals. (I saw a PETA bumper sticker the other day stating, "Neuter is Cuter." I don’t get it.) As you state, I understand the logical reasoning behind it – but since when was PETA about logic?
I took a look around the PETA website, though, and found some very sound arguments. The article and video on chicken slaughter, for example, presented an argument clearly aimed at slaughterhouse owners – not in a "chickens have feelings, too!" way, but a "this could make your company money" way. Seems logical to me.
There is one PETA protest of which I know that doesn’t make complete sense, though: the "March of Crimes; or the protest of the funding of animal testing by the March of Dimes. Consider, for example, one of the entries on the FAQ page:
Could the March of Dimes’ animal experiments actually save human babies?
Birth defects are prevented and babies are saved when research dollars go to effective and relevant research, which comes from studying human problems and human babies, not from sewing kittens’ eyes shut or addicting rats to cocaine. In fact, virtually all known developmental hazards have been identified through studies of human populations. The dangers of thalidomide, alcohol, methyl mercury, and lead, just to name a few, were all discovered by observing people, not animals.
This reply seems to appeal to emotions and makes only vague references to "hard" arguments. It also doesn’t respond to March of Dimes’ argument the animal testing is required to accomplish their purposed. An excerpt:
>Many advances that have improved the health of children have come from March of Dimes-funded research involving animals, including:
>* The vaccines for polio, which would otherwise disable or kill thousands of American children each year
>* Drug treatments to replace surgery for babies with a common heart defect
>* Fetal surgery for desperately ill babies still in the womb
>* Drug treatment to help prevent severe newborn jaundice and resulting brain damage
>* Surfactant therapy to help premature babies breathe properly
>* Establishing the effectiveness of drug treatment for prevention of transmission of the AIDS virus from mothers to babies
>* Establishing nitric oxide as a treatment for critically ill preterm newborns with dangerously high blood pressure in their lungs
RE: PETA by scottb
PETA is a domestic terrorist organization.
They’re major financial supporters of the so-called Animal Liberation Front, a group that claims to engage in "direct action on behalf of animals". Their luminaries include arsonist Rod Coronado, for whom PETA paid substantial legal defense fees.
While PETA is quick to tell us not to eat animals, or even to have them as pets, their vice president, Marybeth Sweetland sees no hypocrisy in saying:
These are evil people collecting money under false pretenses.