Oh Peta, My Peta

Oh PETA, My PETA…..

I still love you, but I’m dealing with some issues I can’t ignore right now. You make me love you and hate you at the same time, and I just can’t sort it all out. Maybe we can make this work, but who knows. I think we need to have a talk before we go any further.

Most of your vegetarian arguments are true, however, you’re so pushy and overbearing about them. People won't necessarily lose weight by becoming vegetarian. It's a difficult transition for someone who has limited knowledge of nutrition. A person who consumes lean fish and poultry who converts to eating cheese fries is not going to lose weight. But, I do agree that it's a cruel practice, and it should be avoided when possible. You think it should be avoided at all times, and we differ here. Is your ruling universal? I do think that I would eat meat if it were the only thing available for my survival, so I can't hold the people of underdeveloped regions to this idea until better means of cultivation are available to them. How do you handle this? What about those little kids, whose only meal is meat-based? I just can’t tell that little boy that his only source of food is unethical, and so he should go hungry. You’re right-it’s a cruel industry. We both know not everyone will quit eating meat, so why can’t we spread some awareness and push for industry regulation instead of abolition? What about developing a safe euthanization method?

I do like your awareness videos and ads about meat and the fur industry. I never thought about how bad the fur industry was until I was looking up a video about meat production of yours to send to a friend and stumbled upon one of your fur videos. It was appalling, and I will never wear or buy fur again. I was so sad; my husband was mortified. We passed the video on to others, and were thankful that you had it available to us. I also try to let my friends know about it, without pressure. Most people will accept an emailed video after a friendly conversation more than they would accept someone calling them an animal killer. It seems like you still have mixed emotions about that one. Your sexy vegetarian ads seem to be making a statement- who wouldn’t pay attention to fully exposed Alicia Silverstone, other than TX? But what about painting people red, and disrupting fashion shows? You looked ridiculous, and the whole world laughed at you. It was like you didn’t even know how humiliated you should have been.

One thing I just can’t seem to shake is your portrayal of research. Research is helping all species to lead happier, healthier lives. I agree that cosmetic research is unnecessary, but we shouldnt end all animal testing. You’re right- why put shampoo in a dog’s eyes just to see how much will cause blindness? It’s pointless, inhumane, and unnecessary, and you’re right on that note. But what about the lab animals that are treated with respect and dignity? Many of them lead happy lives, and are given care better than many humans will ever receive. Sure, some assholes could use more training and supervision so that labs who torment animals will be forbidden from doing such research. I just can’t see ending all research, though. Developments such as anti-cancer drugs, tissue and organ implants, and other medications must be tested in order to determine their physiological repsonse. I know you say that computer programs can represent this, but this is untrue. In order for scientists to develop a computer program to simulate a drug reaction in the body, we must first know a general mechanism for reaction as well as how the mechanism is affected by various conditions. We would be unable to design a computer simulation without first knowing the reaction. This can only be determined in vivo for certain (but not all) developments. Computer simulations also cannot account for the varying physiological conditions from one person to the next, and animal testing provides a good means of determining whether or not certain interactions will occur due to such variation. Have you donated any money or time into developing more accurate simulations?

Your protests seem hypocritical at times, but your messages of awareness are good. Yes, others should be aware that pigs’ tails are frequently cut off without anesthesia, fur sources are skinned alive and left to die, and rats are subjected to electrocution in order to see whether or not lack of sleep has a bad effect. The public should know, and should take action to change. But how far should you take these protests- Sure, you don’t eat meat and you don’t wear fur, but are your children vaccinated? Do any of your nieces or nephews have leukemia? Have you ever lost a parent or grandparent to Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease? Is your husband on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, with a 3 month death sentence? Is your baby boy, whom you’ve waited for years to conceive, alive in his crib-or did he die of a nervous system defect? I’m sure you’re not taking all of these loved ones to the doctor, because their treatment involves animal research. I’ll explain to these patients the reasons against eating meat or wearing fur, but I’ll let you look them in the eyes and tell them that you’re trying to stop the people working for a cure because research is cruel and inhumane. I’ll let you explain to them how even though scientists, doctors, and physicists don’t fully understand their disease, they should be able to design computer software based on existing knowledge of how a healthy body works to test its treatment. This, my dearest PETA, is where our relationship ends.

With love,

LQ

http://progressiveu.org/blog/leslieq
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