I don’t believe that PETA, formally known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, truly understands how to get their message across in a manner that will get the general public to care about said message. No doubt they know how to shock you and put you in awe of some of the genuine atrocities against animals that happen across the world, but for some reason they turn their attention to some very odd targets in some truly bizarre manners.
The latest example: Using Ilaanaq, the inukshuk logo being used for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic games, in their material against the annual seal hunt. Really PETA? You want to go there? Okay, let’s.
First off, you will never get any Olympic organizing committee, especially one based in the same country as the “atrocity” you’re protesting, to agree to help you stop such atrocity. In case you haven’t noticed, the entire “Olympic movement” is really based on 2 things: sports and money. If the International Olympic Committee (IOC) really cared about human and animal rights in any potential host country… well, let’s just say the Olympics would have a really hard time finding a suitable host city.
Every country, every state/province, every city has it’s problems, Canada, B.C. and Vancouver included. Last I checked the games have also been hosted by Beijing, China (human rights issues abound), the United States (basic civil rights still not afforded to all people on an equal basis) and Greece (very well known for it’s ancient philosophers and wars, though seemingly no large problems since the military junta ended in 1974 – so good for them).
And so it is in Canada that we still allow the native people of the north to continue in an ancient tradition with their annual seal hunt. Perhaps PETA doesn’t quite understand how sensitive aboriginal issues are in this country, or perhaps they simply don’t care? It’s not as if all Canadians participate in the seal hunt – I don’t know a single person who does, then again I’m part of the majority of Canadians who live in urban areas.
Now don’t get me wrong – I’m all about animals being treated, well, nicely. Ultimately any animal on a farm is going to pass away and, likely, get eaten by something or someone. Does that mean they can’t live a harmonious live in the meantime? Of course not. I do believe, however, that we have larger issues at hand to deal with first… more on that in a minute though, because I still need to address PETA’s marketing tactics.
Like Sea Kittens. What was PETA thinking when they came up with Sea Kittens? I have news for you PETA – I would hurt a sea kitten. Why? Because it still tastes like fish. Dressing up a fish as a cat doesn’t instantly make it adorable and, therefore, non-edible. In fact, rabbits are quite tasty when roasted in the oven with potatoes and Portuguese sausage. Seriously.
Or their ever-famous push for people to go vegetarian. Sorry, not happening. We have been eating animals since the dawn of time, and eating different things in the proper amounts has never led any human to live an unhealthy life. I’m not going to rely on vitamin supplements to make sure I got the right amount of protein in my diet.
Overall I would like to thank PETA for bringing attention to issues like animal clinics using gas chambers to put down unwanted animals or abuse in circuses, but when that message gets mixed with calls to shutdown operations like Superdogs (see “Animals Are Not Ours to Use for Entertainment“) or for people never to get animals from a breeder, and I mean any breeder, well then the message gets lost. When you start sounding off-the-wall, people begin to feel that everything you stand for is dumb or weird. Focus on just a few core issues and you will get more good work done.
And while PETA certainly has a right to exist and to promote it’s message of anti-cruelty toward animals, there are still bigger fish to fry. We still see ridiculous human rights abuses happening everyday across the world in places like Sudan and China. We have global climate change to deal with because, if there isn’t a habitable planet for us and the animals to live on, what’s the point in treating animals well? We may all be headed for hell in a hand basket.
More and more, people need to realize that your world doesn’t end as far as you can reach, nor can you only let the issues that you feel most strongly about be the only ones you pay attention to. We’re all in this together.