Animal rights terrorists

I received another one of those mailers from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) the other day.

I have received a half dozen of these in the last couple of years, which ask for donations and support for their cause. I have learned that these people are not really concerned about animal welfare as we understand it, which is surely a good cause. Nobody likes to see animals abused.

However, PETA is really about animal rights, not animal welfare, and this has become one of the more bizarre extremist causes of the modern world. It is about man’s relationship with nature, and the moral stand of PETA and other similar groups (such as the IFAW, the group better known for sensationalist anti-sealing campaigns that have hurt Inuit) is against any use of animals by humans, whether it be for medical research, dog-teams or companion pets, or for fur and leather.

Some of these groups believe they have won the fur battle and are now moving on to leather. The animal rights advocate quoted in the Montreal Gazette article (March 18) saying “I care more for rats than kids” sums up that mind-set.

So your donations fund their quite adept legal battles, including lawsuits on behalf of animals for alleged torture (for example, having a dog team) and captivity (having a pet). Donations also fund extraordinarily high salaries for officers of these organizations.

From a stragegy perspective, if the legal assault fails, naive supporters of animal rights causes can turn very easily to terrorism. And this kind of terrorism is the spectre of the twentieth century.

Other terrorist causes are wresting rights from other people, usually guided by a perception that they have been wronged. Animal rights terrorism targets any and all people, period. The principle that drives their thoughts and actions is that people are intruders in the natural scheme of things, and, in fact, do not properly belong on this planet.

What I do when I get these mailers is accept their handy little personalized address stickers (snipping off the logo) and send back their correspondence with the word “SICK!” written across it.

Larry Simpson
Iqaluit