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• Vagante •
Issue 2
PETA and Animal Cruelty
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In a recent bulletin on myspace there was a link to a PETA website, on it a video of animal cruelty. MySpace people went to the page, watched the video, and if they were against it they'd put their name on a list along with any comments they had to say. And needless to say they (rightfully) had a lot to say.

I also reposted the bulletin with my comments:

"I didn't get to watch the video because my computer is... how you say... zee crap?... but judging by the comments from other people I think I'm totally against anything that happened in said video.... so... the hell with those guys right?? and I don't think I'd wanna watch this video anyway.... I know animal cruelty happens, I know I'm a batrillion percent against it... so I don't really need to watch a video of an animal getting slaughtered... not a valid form of entertainment... nor do I need to see an animal getting slaughtered just to know I'm against it... g'day"

I waited about 10 minutes for the video to even start downloading, but nothing happened. so I read other people's comments about it. Long story short, from what I gathered from other comments, they abused an animal and skinned it alive. That’s all I needed to know to be angered by the incident. I didn't need to actually see it happening.

I just don't understand why nearly 155 people (from the myspace bulletin) needed to go to that site and watch the entire video just to be angry. I wonder how many people would be mad about it if they just read or heard of what happened.

Another thing is, I don't know why a PETA website would post something like that. They have a video of an animal being beaten on an anti-animal cruelty website. That’s like a Christian website having a video of Satan torturing people. They are basically promoting what they are against. And any animal rights activist who goes to that website and watches the video should be ashamed of themselves if they even watched three seconds of the video.

They know animal cruelty is just as commonplace as the sun rising everyday. They know it happens all the time. Why do they need to watch a video of a animal getting slaughtered just to be angry about it? And if they didn't see it, would they still be angry about it? Most would I'm sure, but in the same respect, a lot wouldn't have cared nor reposted the bulletin. But I'm sure the same people believe in God without ever seeing him.

"But I did see God, he came to me in a dream."

Well I dream about giant crazy ass gorillas chasing me with a knife but I don't believe in that. But that’s a whole other Vagante for a different time.

Before I get too off track I'll talk about good ole PETA for a bit.

The first thing I don't like about PETA is their advertising (which, granted I haven't seen much of lately). More specifically their advertising where they'd get a model, or some woman from Hollywood and would have them pose naked and it'd say something like "Fur is out" or "Here I am naked for some company that I can't remember but they paid me a lot so I decided to do a nude billboard shoot for them" or "Um... animal cruelty is bad... and... ummm... oh.... here's a naked chick..."

What does nudity have to do with a howler monkey getting its teeth kicked in? I mean I'm a strong believer in any animal can be made into a coat. I mean how many times have you walked into a store and saw a rhino skin parka? Am I right? Or how about those porcupine boots? I heard they are 'in' this summer. Oh, and I can't forget about the baboon butt boots. Everyone needs a pair of those.

By the way, that’s a little chunk of something I call sarcasm.

Those kind of advertisements make me believe that PETA's only against cruelty to animals made into clothing like minks, snakes, alligators, squirrels, and so on. If that were only true.

But the over zealous PETA kids seem to be against any kind of human-animal interaction. They'll spray paint your snake PATTERN not skin boots because they remind them of a snake they saw on TV, but wouldn't go near because being within a 100 mile radius of any sort of mammal, bird, fish, insect, bacteria is completely animal cruelty in its evilest form.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of the PETA moms dumped a gallon of paint on a picture of a fluffy white rabbit that their kid drew in kindergarten.

Like I said a million times I am against animal cruelty in any form. But I don't consider owning a pet to be animal cruelty. And yes, I've been told that by a pro-PETA activist before. He told me owning and keeping a dog on a leash, in a kennel, or 'confined' in a house is just as cruel as beating an animal with a baseball bat.

Well I am so sorry that giving a dog shelter, feeding it, giving it plenty of fresh water, playing with it, being its friend, petting it, and making sure that it stays safe and healthy is so damn blasphemous. I'll left both of my dogs loose right now. Where they can find their own food, get dehydrated if they can't find the one river in this town and eventually get eaten by a larger more dominant animal.

There’s a good reason why animals come back to their owners houses after getting lose.

I know that people keep wild animals in cages for sale or just to get their twisted jollies. But there are plenty of animals that need to be kept in close quarters. By that I don't mean you should put a great dane in a tiny little kennel. But some animals are domesticated. That’s a big word. Say it with me kids: domesticated. And they are for a good reason. How long do you think a chihuahua would last on its own, with no human contact, no food handouts, and no dishes of fresh tasty water. How many animals can chihuahuas hunt down and kill for food?

And shouldn't a lion pouncing on a zebra be cause for a PETA outrage? I mean yea, sure, a lion's gotta eat. But c'mon, seriously, that lion could have made a nice salad or a veggie burger instead. Couldn't he? No? Its called natural selection? Animals have to kill for food? Really?

But most PETAheads are against exactly that. Most can't stand an animal killing another animal just to eat and survive. Its true. They just don't understand it. They don't know why humans eat beef, chicken, shrimp, or any other animal.

Humans are animals too. We have a scientific name just like every other animal. We all depend on food, air, and reproduction for the survival of our species. All animals have addictions, just like the lab rats with a tube sticking in their heads pulling a lever in its cage to release cocaine into its system. They'll pull the lever once, like the sensation, wait for it to wear off, pull it again, wait for the sensation to wear off, pull it again, lather rinse repeat. It will continue until the lab rat's tolerance, and addiction, is so high that it'll pull the lever uncontrollably until it over doses and dies. Just like humans.

So why does PETA think its ok for one animal, lets say a tiger, killing and devouring another animal, lets say a lemur?

But if you switch the names around, its the most terrible thing in the world. So if you switch a tiger with another animal, perhaps a human, and switch lemur with, I don't know, a cow, its animal cruelty.

So in closing, I'd like to (re)point out a few more facts.

I am totally against animal cruelty.

I'm also half against PETA.

I believe PETA is a somewhat of a hypocritical clubhouse.

I don't believe an animal should be skinned for clothing. Whether it be dead or alive.

I think if humans get criticized for eating meat, so should the hundreds of thousands of carnivorous animals out there.

I think PETA is wrong for wasting time for collecting and posting a video of animal cruelty to post on a website. What? People aren't gonna believe you if you don't show them proof?

I also think they are wasting time Advertising themselves. If people want to know more about ways to stop animal cruelty, they'll find you.

I think a lot of people who watched that entire video clip just to be angry at animal cruelty need to open their minds a bit and realize that there are a lot of things happening that mainstream media, their religion, and our president(s) don't openly let us know.

I think that anyone who is pro-George Bush is also pro-animal cruelty in a way.

I believe people who rely on "How would you like it?" as an argument need to do more research on the subject instead of just taking an easy way out.

I'm not against vegetarians or vegans unless they are against people eating meat. What about all the other animals you need to make an example of besides just humans?

I do believe that there should be just as many vegetarian restaurants as there are places that serve meat. Or at least have a large vegetarian/vegan section in the menu.

I believe that’s all I have to say about it.

Arrivederci.