PETA and injured animals

1-22-2002

PETA's Dual Standard

send us your comments, arguments, and opinions
Past Editorials

PETA, or "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" is an animal-rights activist group. Lately they've been getting a great deal of press in the West, due to their threats of Olympic terrorism, stating that they 'will not obey the protest zones' and that they 'will carry picket signs' at the Olympics. (Olympic rules state that protesters must carry paper or plastic signs without sticks or poles to hold them in the air) They've also threatened to attack the Olympics by forming a block at the mouth of one of the canyons, turning what will normally be an Olympic commute of 4 hours, into a closed process, effectively shutting down the Games in the eastern corridors. Athletes-only, may be flown by helicopters, but not officials, spectators, and dignitaries.
What I find really interesting, is a piece of video I was shown of PETA protesters in Seattle at the World Trade talks.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, throwing large glass marbles at the feet of mounted horsemen, and two of the horses fell, breaking a leg on one horse, severely injuring the rider of the second horse. Ethical treatment?
Or perhaps the video of PETA people releasing monkeys from a lab in Boston, or mink from a mink farm in Utah. As though monkeys or mink were bred to handle the outdoor environment. I don't know about Boston, but in Utah, over 300 animals were later found, starved and frozen to death. Wearing fur may not be politically or culturally acceptable, but being responsible for an animal's death by starvation and freezing seems to be even more cruel than to be put to death with a stunner or other quick-death mechanism. Moreover, what about the risk to human lives in the general area? Being attacked by a monkey that is starved in the suburban Massachusetts area is a frightening thing. Being attacked by a hungry and angry mink in the hills of Utah isn't any more pleasant a thought.
I wonder if any of the people from PETA have ever responsibly trained or owned an animal from birth? Watching their videos of "cruelty" towards animals being trained makes me wonder. I've trained horses most of my adult life, and consider myself anything BUT cruel. Like with a child, a firm voice, reprimands, and an occasional spank are necessary to get the animal to either pay attention, or to accept the training when it does not want to. Allowing children to raise themselves is one thing; training animals to safely interact with another specie is quite another. However, this swerves from point.
Harming animals to make a point in the "ethical treatment" of animals political venture is counterpoint, except that it gains headlines, which is what this is all about. I understand some of their concerns about rodeo, having been around rodeo since the day I could breathe. All of my family as far back as I know, have been involved in livestock, horses, and rodeo for either pleasure or sport. Swanney Kirby, well-known rodeo stock provider, has been someone I've known and called 'friend' for 15 years. He takes care of his animals better than some people care for their children. Why? Because those animals are his income, his paycheck, his living. And his love. Most stock providers see it this way. True, there are some jackasses out there, just like there are in any business, that provide stupid, profit-oriented scenes for people like PETA to film and sensationalize. Animals occasionally get hurt at rodeo, no doubt. As do people. Animals get hurt in the circus, on our streets, in our stockyards, and on our highways. Even in our own backyards, accidents happen, and are tragic. A rodeo stockman can't easily absorb the loss of a calf or horse that's been mortally injured at a rodeo event, these animals are worth thousands of dollars either in a stockyard or backyard, let alone in a sporting event where they've been bred for this work.
But PETA wants you to see these folks as "bad guys." They are not. I live with them, work with them, socialize with them. They'd no more think of throwing marbles in front of a mounted policeman than they'd think of shooting their horses. Because it amounts to the same thing.
There are ethical, non-terroristic animal rights groups out there. And there need to be, because as long as there is profit in livestock and domestic animal production, there will always be the illegal whalers, the veal houses that sneak around federal laws, chicken ranches that don't obey regulations, and dog-breeders that are nothing more than puppy farms for profit. These people need to be responsibly policed. Responsibly. Not policed by terrorists that would release domesticated or wild animals into the general populations so they can be "borne free" and either die due to lack of survival skill, or threaten the safety of our society, but policed by thoughtful, educated, and objective people with both social and animal interests in mind. Not by what is predominantly a group of knee-jerk, political headline grabbing people who really don't grasp what animals do in our society. But I don't need to convince anyone. Watch PETA's own videos on their website. Some of it is sensationalized, and some of it is silly. And some of it is accurate. But not much.: I call on PETA and their disciples to humanly treat both animals and humans at the Olympics, to obey the rules in what already will be an atmosphere of chaos, and to make their point in the same manner as any other protest groups at the Olympic venues without harming anyone financially, physically, or otherwise. These athletes and their families have worked for their entire lives to attend this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Allow them to enjoy their dream. In spite of politics and ethics.

To my nieces and nephew that are serving in our armed forces as we fight this war, I'm proud of you, I love you, pray you will return to us safely. I thank God for your safety, bravery, and dignity.

dse