First, I’d just like to mention that I have not seen PETA make a single comment about the wildfires, the animals that are being displaced by it nor offering any support to help with the ethical treatment of any of these displaced animals. I just read a news article about the Wildlife Waystation needing to be evacuated, though I have not heard PETA offer any kind of support for anything regarding these types of situations. I thought they were animal lovers? Is it ethical treatment to let these animals burn or die of smoke inhalation due to a lack of financial resources or manpower to move the animals? Maybe they only care about animals when there is a big corporate entity with deep pockets to harass, because I haven’t heard a peep from them about the animals in danger right now. I guess you can’t insult a fire into submission, can you? And that seems to be all they know how to do.
Now, on to the more absurd. PETA now has a campaign where they want to declare September 26th “Sea Kitten Amnesty Day.” I’ve heard of Sea Horses, Sea Weed and even “Chicken of the Sea” Tuna…but what the hell is a “Sea Kitten,” you ask? Well, what the rest of the English speaking world calls “fish,” PETA now calls “Sea Kittens.” If I start calling my penis a “Viper Kitten” do you think all these naked PETA chicks would come by in groups and pet and kiss it, quibble about who gets to cuddle with it next and maybe lick it clean like a mother cat would do? For the most part, I’d probably say no…because a penis is still a penis, just like a fish is a fish…it’s NOT a kitten. How pathetic and desperate do you have to be in your cause, to try to relabel something so erroneously for no other reason than to tug at someone’s heart strings in a totally illogical manner? The hypothetical “turn the tables” scenario they describe is: if a dog (not a kitten at all, by the way) were drinking water at the edge of a pool, who is then caught with a hook and dragged under water (while they describe in detail all the dogs emotional thoughts and vanishing dreams of the future as his life is taken from him)…then how would you feel? Maybe they should have been taking better care of their dog instead of letting him drink out of a pond with advanced and hungry sea creatures to begin with? I’d give my dog some damn water. I’d keep him away from dangerous places. PETA tries to spin things so far out of context, they no longer have any basis in reality or even a hint of the slightest correlations left in their attempted analogies.
Here’s the thing. Fish eat more fish than humans eat fish!!! Most likely, exponentially more. I don’t even need to do any research to know that is a fact. So what about all the “Sea Kittens” who eat nothing but other “Sea Kittens?” Are we supposed to spare them and be hypocrites of sorts? Do we say “Sea Kittens” will be “Sea Kittens” and accept that it is okay for them to eat each other, but humans not to eat them for survival? How about all the land animals that eat “Sea Kittens” for their sole source of survival? Are we to alienate those animals because they pull “Sea Kittens” from their natural habitat to survive or do we give those animals a “pass” on our judgment as well. But wait, if we are giving land animals that eat fish for survival a pass, that would have to include humans who are also biologically classified as animals, right? I just don’t think that PETA has the slightest comprehension that the biggest group of those whose actions are contrary to the beliefs of PETA are the actual animals (et al.) they claim to be protecting? So which is it PETA, do you favor the Bear or the Salmon, the Hyena or the Lion, the Shark or the Penguin…it has to be one or the other! All these things are at the same time, both predator and prey…so whose side are you on? PETA doesn’t appear to have a single working brain among them! They don’t appear to think anything through before opening their mouths and announcing new campaigns.
I figure I might as well rename a few things myself. Eggplants: now called “Purple Penguins” ; Potatoes: now called “Shar Pei Puppies”; Cauliflower: now called “Albino Bullfrogs”; Carrots: now called “Sun Snakes”; Corn Cobs: now called “Golden Porcupines”; Onions; now called “Kathy Guillermos” (as she obviously likes to make kids cry with bloody happy meals.) I can come up with crazy animal names for all the vegetables and fruits we know of…so now what will you eat, PETA? Plants are living things too, you know. Okay, maybe you idiots didn’t know that, but you do now.
Once again I am left with a feeling of embarassment for the human race, as PETA is an example that there is a large portion of the human population that are either too stupid, ignorant or psychologically imbalanced to see the idiocy in their campaigns and/or too apathetic to educate themselves on the principles of making sound logical arguments which could potentially benefit their cause. Which to me, by the way, doesn’t seem to clearly indicate a specific desire to protect the ethical treatment of animals like their name suggests. I love animals, and I will defend the ethical treatment of animals regarding any abusive actions that fall outside the scope of survival of a species. I will always oppose a Michael Vick, but I can’t fault the hunter who kills for the sole necessity of clothing and feeding his family any more than I can fault the Lion who kills the Gazelle to feed it’s family for survival.
The things on this planet were born into a world infused with some odd irony. One of which is having an emotion of compassion for living things while being dependent on killing and eating living things to survive. Having respect for this conundrum and approaching it with the least amount of wasted life and the most use of each life’s available resources is about the best we can hope to achieve. Since having nearly wiped out the Native Americans, this philosophy seems to have gone by the wayside. If a cow needs to give his life for meat that is used for the survival of the human race, then I’m going to honor that cow’s gift by wearing my leather jacket and italian shoes…otherwise some part of that cow’s contribution of life will have gone to waste. If he was slaughtered for his hide to let the meat rot, that is a different thing entirely. Everything dies at some point. Some things earlier than others, some by natural causes and some not, some humans even take their own lives early, which seems to be a disregard for life that only humans possess. Are car crashes inhumane? Maybe we should ban driving. Are shower related accidents inhumane? Maybe we should ban bathing. Is lung cancer inhumane? Maybe we should ban smoking. Are maternal childbirth deaths inhumane? Maybe we should stop breeding. Are religious wars inhumane? Maybe we should ban religion. YOU are going to die! Maybe not today or tomorrow, but when you do would you prefer to donate your organs to save a life or two, or do you want to be buried with all your dead parts intact so that others may continue to suffer? A life given so that other living things may survive is not always a bad thing. From the eyes of a survivor, a loved ones life will almost always be deemed to have been taken too soon…but again, nothing we know of lives forever.
Shouldn’t we focus first on those lives we love and when we’ve protected those, maybe focus on those lives that will preserve a species for our offspring to appreciate for generations to come (like trees that produce Oxygen, bees that pollenate plants and Bears that shit in the woods- the latter mostly so we can have colorful colloquialisms) and then once those protections are securely in place start to focus on the method we use to raise and slaughter the lives we take for sustenance of the human race, both animal and plant? Wouldn’t it make sense to focus on what would benefit animals the most, first, then go down the list of lesser and lesser benefits as the major issues are resolved? How chickens get treated prior to being killed is not one of the larger threats to the animal kingdom and is a very poor use of resources. PETA, your idiotic campaigns show a great disrespect for the animals you claim to love, since you are not using the resources intended for their ethical treatment and protection in the most efficient manner!
I have heard that PETA’s next campaign revolves around the complaint that the Nestle Quick Bunny and the Trix Rabbit are severely underpaid for their commercial appearances.