PETA’s exaggerated claims
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Organization unjustly equates human suffering to animal suffering
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A few weeks ago, a really nice girl approached me outside the library and asked me to sign a petition. She explained that their organization was petitioning McDonalds to slaughter their chickens in a more humane way.
I ended up signing the petition, not because I care about how you kill my food, but simply because I like to support people who are active about what they believe in.
I came to find out a couple minutes later as I picked up a stray pamphlet flying down the walkway that she was a part of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Personally, I have always had issues with PETA. In my opinion, they go very extreme on issues that are not that important — I am sure you’ve heard about them throwing red paint on people’s fur jackets, symbolizing animal blood.
Not only do actions like this make them look crazy, all this energy used to sabotage celebrities’ clothes could be put to use for much better causes.
This brings me to my biggest problem with PETA overall: They stand by the belief that animal life is equal to human life and I find this disgusting.
But I found something on their young adult website that was much more disturbing and offensive than anything I had read before — something about “Liberation.”
I encourage everyone to visit their website (peta2.com) and take a look at this campaign, where they literally compare slavery and child labor to animal cruelty.
In their own words “this exhibit looks back at history to show how we justified the abuse of humans in the past and continue to justify the abuse of animals.”
Don’t get me wrong — I don’t condone being unnecessarily cruel to animals. But I have never been able to understand how PETA holds the life of food in such high regard.
In this gallery, they make the furthest jumps in comparison they can.
They compare slavery to branding cattle. They compare the long hours and unsafe conditions for children and women in factories to hen houses and veil crates.
They even compare people being placed in concentration camps to a monkey being put in a zoo.
Are you joking? I wonder how people who think like that would feel about you comparing them to a monkey in a zoo.
But wait — there’s more. They also compare how African-Americans were beaten during the civil rights struggle to seal hunting.
In the beginning of the “Liberation Tour,” they actually use a quote by Martin Luther King Jr.: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
I read that and asked myself — would King be offended at the usage of his quote if he were alive? After everything he fought for, and died for, would he let them compare the suffering of African-Americans trying to gain freedom to seals and cows?
The worst of all these comparisons is a slide in which they placed a picture of dead human bodies next to one of dead pigs. In the slide they discuss how in Cambodia between 1975-1979 more than 1.7 million people were killed under the Khmer Rouge regime.
They discuss how these people were put into prison camps and transported to “killing fields” where they were killed with pickaxes and dumped into mass graves. They state that one prison camp “processed” 17,000 individuals in the four-year span.
Then the slide compares the scenario in Cambodia to the U.S, where we kill 118 million pigs every year, which translates into the murder of 1,100 pigs every hour by a typical slaughterhouse.
They showed this information next to each other, like I am really supposed to think that the suffering of the pigs is comparable to the horrible slaughter of human life they described in the first slide. To me, even making that comparison is offensive.
But they never compared anything we do to animals to Nazi concentration camps and I am left wondering why. I believe that they understand, somewhere in their minds, that comparing Auschwitz to a pig slaughterhouse is ridiculous.
I believe that PETA purposely used examples of human suffering that were either mild or not well known so that they could make a point without making people really think deeply about it.
So I’m here to urge you to think: How would you feel if they placed a picture of your ancestors or your friends being tortured next to a picture of a pig being slaughtered and claimed that they were equals?
There are still people in the world who are forced into political concentration camps. People are still being tortured and killed. PETA acts like human suffering is a thing of the past and that we should move on.
While human suffering continues, hundreds of people are wasting time and energy trying to get me to believe that I should be as concerned with the suffering of my Christmas ham as I am with the suffering of humans everywhere.
There are a lot of strange comments on here. stange indeed
I’ve said that least 453353 times. The problem this like that is they are just too compilcated for the average bird, if you know what I mean
I am disappointed with most people’s reaction. I agree with the author. Animals should not have rights or be treated equal as human beings. Don’t get me wrong I am totally against cruelty and deliberate harm for jokes and fun. I do hunt and I kill and I eat. That is what we are supposed to do. Industries and Farms have made this barbaric act more civil so when can purchase it in the grocery store…Thank you all who do this for me and my family to eat…..
Also for your information if a building flooded and there was children inside and animals you people are going to safe the animals and not the children? WTF.
Get a life. People who support this action of PETA are not going to get into heaven any faster then myself (the bambi killer)…lol I will sit next to you and break bread with you and the lord with a big fat roasted pig in the center of the table…hell yeah!!!!!
I highly disagree with what you are stating. Everything about killing animals in slaughterhouses are very, very, very inhumane. If you haven’t watched the videos on PETA then I understand your unconcern for how they kill animals for the “amazing” fur coats that celebrities wear. Go watch one of the videos on China’s Fur Factories. I don’t care who you are, you should cry. Unless you’re a heartless monster. They beat the animals off the ground and everything. I agree that PETA does go kind of overboard with the things that they do, but there are better ways to kill your “food”.
& the animals can feel every single bit of what they do to them. They aren’t completely dead. Imagine being bashed off a floor and strangled, slitting your throat and bleeding out while you feel every bit of it. Just imagine. That’s why I care so much. I’m 14 years old and care more about living creatures than you do, you obviously are a prick.
When animals have rights, humans will have none. A right is a moral principle defining and sanction an individual;s freedom of expression in a social context. As such, it acts as a bridge from ethics to politics, the ehtical standard being human life.
So the diff–as one on herer asks–between my Xmas ham and my pet is that I choose to eat my ham and pet my pet. As is my right.
PETA and those like them are not concerned with the welfare of animals; they are concerned with their hatred of human beings. They are nihilists. The best defense against them is indifference when they act lawfully and prosecution when they don’t.
Animal suffering is never a good thing (which is why things like dog fighting is illegal) but if you eat meat then an animal had to die and thus suffer somewhat. There is no way around that. I am all for corn fed beef and free range cattle (especially Iown or Nebraska beef….yum) but when does throwing blood on people help? Or comparing animal deaths to the holocaust?
I think PETA’s real goal is the end all use of animals by humans but no matter what they will have to be killed as over population kills animals by starvation which I would aruge is worse than the factories. So maybe PETA is for animal abortion or sterilization? I don’t know. They seem messed up to me and besides some of them being pretty, I don’t see much value to the group.
I think equating human suffering as being equal to animal suffering is wrong. By the way, PETA did compare the plight of animals to the holocaust. Something which deeply offended many in the community at large.
That being said, animals suffer terribly at the hands of humans on factory farms, in laboratories, in the circus, etc. It is certainly worthy for us to speak out against their suffering. Your dismissal Sarah of animal suffering, as not being a legitimate cause to fight for could not be further from the truth. Your “Christmas Ham” as you put it, was a pig who probably spent his or her entire pathetic life on a factory farm. Animal suffering may not be equal in your mind to human suffering, but it is a very real and noble cause to take up. Perhaps it is not your calling, so be it. There are more and more people raising their voices on behalf of animals, and one voice will not be missed.
I am glad someone is pointing out the fact that PETA is going too far in their comparisons. I am an animal advocate, as a kid I always wanted to work at the zoo, etc. The cruelty such as the Canada Seal Hunt and things of that nature I am in full support of stopping. However, PETA really wastes their time and mine, especially in the recent past in regards to the U of Georgia mascot (the bulldog) and another mascot I can’t think of right now. The idea was to remove the living animal mascots and replace them with some kind of robotic mascot! Come on can’t they at least be a little more realistic, aren’t they for the “ethical treatment” of animals, I mean some of these mascots are living it up better than people, so I can’t see where they are being treated poorly. Why don’t they just say that no one should have pets, we should all go back to hunting our own food and using every part of the animal like the native americans, etc. Oh wait that might be considered cruel too!
Dang, Roo, you just pwned Sarah and her intellectually-devoid article. I, on the other hand, 100% agree with you.
You even alluded to it: Not all of PETA’s goal focus on stopping the killing of all animals-an unrealistic goal. PETA just want animals to be treated more humanely. The petition you signed wasn’t to boycott McDonald’s for slaughtering animals. It was to aid in the more humane killing of an animal.
You cannot deem a whole organization extreme just because few members engage in exaggerated acts (e.g., throwing paint on fur coats).
Did the woman who approached you to sign the petition belittle you? make you feel unworthy? or, did she try and educate you and then give you a choice on how to act?
It was the latter. This is how nearly all of PETA member’s function.
I respect your decision to not agree with all of PETA’s messages and how they portray them, but for you to say that PETA preaches things that “are not that important” leaves me dumbfounded. The negative economic and environmental consequences of the way we treat and slaughter animals is more prevalent now than it was 50 years ago. E. Coli deaths are on the rise. Animal runoffs are infecting nearly all of our produce. Hormones and antibiotics that are being pumped into our animals are causing birth abnormalities. Humans are the ones suffering because of the way we treat animals. And that is not important? Educate yourself. Maybe then, you will understand why animals need to be treated with more respect.
Maybe you would check out some of the cruelty, and the alternatives before you condemn some tactics that are no longer used, and weren’t condoned by PETA in the first place.
It is a simple thing to watch the videos, and do the investigation yourself. I did. I have only been writing on line for 3 months and I have already written three articles on hub pages about animal cruelty. Maybe you missed the video by Paul McCartney called Glass Walls, where they show what really goes on to provide your chicken nuggets.
so animal rights isn’t a cause? seeing how humans are causing the suffering of billions of animals annually, I think it is.
please get your republican head out of your ass.
Silly Sarah, you should know it’s okay for kids to shoot things as long as it’s not animals!
Lupe- That’s not the definition of slavery. Maybe you should be the one checking the books.
Chris- If suffering is suffering no mater what the species, then unless you grow your own food, make your own clothes, and don’t live in a house, you should kill yourself. Things die so that other things may live, get over it.
Bea- You have to be the most deluded out of all of them. First off, not eating dogs is not a horribly uncommon thing outside of Western society. I know your view of the world doesn’t really extend past your state line but try a little. To assume that eating an animal is to show it disrespect is a foolish notion, as is the thought that something deserves to live simply because it “wishes” to. If it did, we wouldn’t need health care. Life is judged every day that life is life. A lion does not find himself any more equal to a zebra as he does a mouse or a cheetah. But when you find that utopical farce, hook me up
OP: Research your articles a little more thoroughly if you would. If would help a lot in your argument
Wow, I adore the comments of obviously offended “vegans” who religiously believe that all animals suffer at the hands of humans.
Do you, as a vegan, avoid driving down a road? Cars contribute to mass pollution and the deaths of thousands of ‘sentient beings’ (insects). If a dog is no more valuable then a pig, than why should an insects life be less valuable to you?
Do you care for the small animals who die for the plants you consume? (Mice, lizards, moles, ect)?
There’s no avoidance for suffering. Speaking for an animal and claiming that it would want nature is hypocritical. Worrying about what people consume and not worrying about people is disgusting. You do not contribute to a better place and you unintentionally cause suffering and distruction to smaller animals.
So, let me get this straight. You didn’t think to ask the name of the organization before you signed a legal document? Better yet, you’re in college?
Lube, Chris, Tom, Bea and Jake please grow up and learn about the world.
peta (and H$U$) have no interest in the welfare of animals no matter what they say.
They are interested in POWER ,CONTROL AND MONEY.
Oh and Bea, if you don’t understand the difference between a pig and a dog you are a bigger fool than I thought.
I love dogs and I also love pigs, but I wouldn’t want to see a 600+lb sow sitting on my settee any more than I would want to see 10,000 dogs in a barn.
Sarah, please do us all a favor and never write another article again. Spare my brain the nonsensical junk you spew out of your mind.
This is awesome. People who equate animal life with human life disgust me. This made my day. Thanks!
What a rubbish article. Do you seriously justify the heinous and egregious abuse of animals just because they’re not humans? Suffering is suffering, no matter what the species. Maybe it’s about time you realize that?
Why do you press enter after 2 times after each sentence you type..? More importantly, why are the sentences you type devoid of anything intellectually or otherwise interesting.
I completely agree with you! PETA is just a bunch of self-rightious media whores that thinks animals are practically sacred and immoral to eat meat or dairy. If you have’nt noticed but there have been a rise in animal attacks on humans both wild and domistic. This is because animals are losing their fear of humans. People need to re-establish that fear again and show animals their is a price to pay for harming human life and show their real place in the food chain, BELOW HUMANS. Humans did’nt get all the way to the top just to eat a carrot! This is the goal of all sentient beings, to not just survive, but thrive. PETA is just denying that the food chain exists and just thinks all animals should be not killing each other. Welcome to the real world PETA, where all living things are’nt vegans.
I seriously can’t believe you’re in college. Your inability to think critically about a situation and look at the fundamental concepts involved (slavery = imprisoning a sentient being against his will) speaks poorly of you. Maybe you should read something.