Claire Thinks: PETA

Okay, so lately I've gotten into the whole PETA issue. I'm here once again to give my opinion on things.

So let's get things straight: I USED to be a PETA supporter. I was all crazed and everything, but then I sorta fell out of it. I only realized until now how completely and utterly moronic the nice ole' folks down at PETA are. I'll just say a few little things you probably didn't know about PETA.

Firstly, according to government documents, since 1998 PETA has killed 21,000 dogs and cats. This has actually continued to go on, despite PETA condemning farmers, scientists, restaurant owners, circuses, hunters, fishermen, zoos, and pretty much every omnivorous American. In its "shelter" they use euthanasia like it's the first and absolute only option. Instead of giving a dog with a behavior problem to a gentle, loving owner that could help it's disposition, they put it down because they see pet ownership as being "slavery". Instead of giving the "rescued" animals loving homes, it spends part of its $32 million budget on cremations to get rid of the animal bodies from their large, walk-in freezer.

Secondly, their campaigns at children. They target kids as young as six with awful anti-meat ads (I'll post a few links in the description). Not only can these be extremely traumatizing for children, it also tries to force them into the vegan lifestyle and intercept them near schools ALONE. Let's not forget the many children that've been hospitalized for rickets caused by calcium deficiency, because PETA's magical vegan diet solves EVERYTHING.

President of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, describes the organization's goal as being "total animal liberation": this means banning meat, eggs, milk, cheese, honey, zoos, aquariums, circuses, fur, silk, wool, leather, hunting, fishing and pet ownership. Yes, by pet ownership, even seeing-eye dogs for blind people, which PETA has assisted in taking away at least one. It is also against all animal medical testing, including testing that can produce life-saving cures for diseases such as AIDS and cancer.

If this isn't enough, PETA also condones vandalism (on their website for adolescents called "Peta2" they encourage kids to "get busy with a stencil and some spray paint"), arson, burglary and other violent crimes. A criminal named Rodney Coronado was given $70,000 in grants from PETA, and is shown in one picture showing college students how to make a "crude incendiary device" (for those of you who don't know what that is he's basically showing them how to make a homemade bomb). PETA's campaign coordinator Bruce Friedrich says that "blowing stuff up and smashing windows" is "a great way to bring about animal liberation".

PETA also has a religious campaign that insists that, despite a pretty good amount of contradicting evidence, that Jesus was a vegetarian. PETA has held protests at churches, one time even suing a church for trying to protect it's member's from harassment. It's billboards mock Christians by saying that PIGS "died for their sins". It also says that the Jewish ritual of kosher slaughter shouldn't be allowed, despite years and years of rabbinical teaching. But to me, the worst thing of all is when they compared pigs to Holocaust victims, which is not only incredibly offensive but just crass and idiotic and plain RUDE.

The last little point I'm going to give is that PETA frequently turns a blind eye when their celebrity endorsers don't practice what they preach. Pamela Anderson auctioned off a Dodge Viper for the benefit of PETA with a "luxurious leather interior". Jenna Jameson was seen fishing, eating oysters and wearing leather weeks after doing an anti-leather campaign for PETA. Steve-O built a career out of abusing small animals on film. Dianna Agron (now don't get me wrong I absolutely love Dianna Agron) was photographed in Nylon magazine wearing a fur coat, and also owns a dog.

Now as this comes to a close, I'm going to say a few things.

Speaking from a Christian point of view, God put animals on this Earth FOR A REASON, and we were given free reign over all animals. Honestly, if God didn't want us to eat animals, He wouldn't have made them taste so awesome.

Now from a non-Christian point of view, I don't believe in the unnecessary abusing of animals, or puppy mills, etc. But I don't believe in animal rights; America's constitution was made to protect the rights of humans, not animals. About meat, the people at PETA are bitchin' and moaning about "9 billion animal deaths per year"; sweetheart, there are probably that many animal deaths happening PER DAY. Banning animal products and the such won't stop your "preshus animuls" from being killed. Somewhere in the world, an innocent little bunny is having its head ripped off and it's innards torn out as I type this and there's nothing anybody can do about it. You know why? Because that is the fucking CIRCLE OF LIFE, haven't you seen the Lion King? In order for one thing to live, another has to die, that's how it's always been, and it'll continue to be that way.

Seriously honey, you can show me what goes in a slaughterhouse all you like, at the end of the day, I am going to eat that hamburger and it is going to taste AWESOME. I am going to wear that leather jacket and those leather boots. I am going to eat that ice cream. And there is not one damn thing you can do about it.