PeTA: A Hit and a Miss

Though it's been years since I gave PeTA any money, I'm still on their mailing list and when I saw the Sea Kittens http://www.peta2.com:80/sea_Kittens/ ) campaign my initial reaction was: Well done! They found a way to quickly, easily make the connection between the sentience of fish, whom I think we can all admit are a bit difficult to relate to, and the sentience of kitten. And everyone loves a kitten and surely doesn't want any harm to come to their adorable, puffy little selves.

Now, the right to not suffer shouldn't be contingent upon cuteness. However, many people, as long as they live, aren't going to grasp that sentience, regardless of species or cuddliness, is what should matter. Especially kids.

I call this a hit because I think we (meaning, not you) lie to our children about the animals we slaughter unnecessarily for food. It's safe to say that most of us over 40 were lied to by our parents and teachers about the animals we pay to have killed for us. From Old McDonald who had a farm, to the half-truths and no-truths about humane farming (the most important no-truth being that it can be humane), we're lucky that we were ever able to associate bacon with pigs by the time we were 10, despite Charlotte and her web.

The Sea Kitten campaign says: In every way that matters, fish = kittens. That's honest.

It wasn't long, of course, before, the media got hold of this story, and my favorite colossal failure to understand the facts comes from Tallahassee.com's Jerry Gerardi, of the "Outdoors" column. "Outdoors," of course, is a euphemism for the stalking and slaughter of unsuspecting sentient nonhumans. The article is called "PETA and the Sea Kittens: A story about an organization that's lost its way." Clearly, Gerardi doesn't know much about PETA's original mission and message (and there's plenty room to comment about that or anything else).

"PETA appears to have been hijacked by members with an agenda that differs from the rank and file. Radicals, if you will.

PETA’s latest campaign is aimed at eating fish, balanced diets and children. I asked Ashley Byrne at PETA’s national headquarters if in fact there wasn’t an ulterior motive behind their campaign to rebrand fish as “sea kittens.” Her answer didn’t surprise me.

“We absolutely encourage people to (follow) a vegan diet,” she said. “The diet we (Americans) eat has too much protein.”

But that’s not what worries me. What concerns me is that PETA is taking this program to the schools to influence small children."

Radicals, if you will? Hijacked? What Mr. Gerardi doesn't know is that PETA's original animal rights message was "hijacked" by the reality that you can raise more funds if you aren't "radical," and if you water down or change your message to one that includes using animals for no good reason.

Furthermore, small children are surrounded by lies fed to them by corporate America with the intention of cultivating good little consumers who eat and shop and entertain themselves in a very specific way. Small children get a steady stream of misinformation about why the nonhuman world exists (i.e., for their benefit). It's not PeTA's message about fish that's dishonest and inappropriate.

Inevitably, we get to the real objection:

"The scary part is they are using questionable persuasion techniques on the children, targeting them while they are very young and impressionable. There’s a reason we don’t let little kids make lifestyle decisions. That’s the parent’s job. If the parents want the family to follow a vegan diet, fine. But it’s mom’s and dad’s decision.

This is serious stuff for sport fishermen. Our recreation is at stake, not to mention lasting relationships with our children. "

I don't have any children, but I'd like to think that if my child came to me with a well-thought-out reason for doing or not doing something, and no harm would come to anyone because of what they want to do or not do, I would allow it. Lots of kids become vegan before their parents, due to something they learned outside the home. But of course the real threat is to "sport fishermen," who perhaps should rethink whether or not taking your kid out for the day to torture and slaughter beings as sentient as the family dog, has all the ingredients of a healthy parent-child bonding experience.

Finally, the "miss" is regarding PeTA's policy to kill healthy cats and dogs just because they're homeless. You can read David Irving's response to PeTA in "We must decrease animal populations" at Thomas Paine's Corner. http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=1473