PETA's Public Manipulation and Propaganda

For anyone who missed it, or who doesn't read the Telegram regularly, there is an editorial in the paper this week that I just couldn't resist bringing to your attention.

Normally I'm not one to promote a newspaper that I personally find too federalist in its direction for my tastes, but this is an exception worth making.

For decades the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as others who participate in the Atlantic seal harvest, have been demonized and hounded by animal rights groups like the Sea Shepherd Society, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and others.

For just as long the people in this region, unlike the group's supporters, have recognized these organizations for what they are, self serving, opportunistic, business interests.

While PETA may claim to defend the "Ethical" treatment of animals, ethics are the furthest thing from their minds when it comes to finding ways to bloat their bank accounts.

Their latest attempt at public manipulation calls into question their definition of ethical and makes it abundantly clear that whatever their definition of ethics may be it surely doesn't align with the one held by a vast majority of the population.

This of course leads us back to the Telegram editorial and it's humorous, though insightful, look at PETA's latest propaganda campaign.

I've always said, when you can get your point across through humor it's always a good thing.

Here are some excerpts from that editorial entitled, "PETA's Latest Ploy".

Enjoy.

You know they're only looking for news coverage, but it's so goofy, we just had to write about it.

...PETA has come up with a new marketing campaign to try and make fish cute, cuddly, and a little harder to sell.Their idea? Label the finned and scaled denizens of the deep "sea kittens."

...PETA campaign co-ordinator Ashley Byrne told Canwest News Service."Knowing that the fishsticks in the school cafeteria are really made out of tortured sea kittens makes most kids want to lose their lunch."

...Rebranding is the order of the day.

...PETA's efforts might even work to our advantage. After all, comedian Mark Critch argued ages ago that there would be much less protest over the seal hunt if seals were renamed "ice rats." (We'd better take some decisive action to stop those evil ice rats from eating up all those helpless sea kittens, don't you think?)

Why not go whole hog? Web-building spiders could be "nature weavers."

Rats? How about "dump puppies"?

Wait a minute - dump is just too gross. "Landfill puppies," then.

The new tuberculosis could be "slimfaster.

"Malaria? How about "the huggy shivers"?

Don't lose your job - accept an "employment freedom reassignment."

...But how about the animal rights groups? Shouldn't we rename them, too?How about "animal exploiters" or "pity abusers"?After all, they are multimillion-dollar businesses built on exploiting animal abuse for financial gain.

Heck, they're even willing to cash in on the longrunning ills of poor helpless sea kittens.How could they?...

All I can say is well said.

It is exactly this sort of public manipulation that has kept groups like PETA in business for so long and make no mistake about it, they are indeed a business and a very financially successful one.

Fortunately, at least around these parts there are people who understand the difference between utilizing the environment responsibility, including wild game, and abusing animals.

A good example of this kind of level headed thinking came from "Neil in St. John's" who commented on the editorial which is available on the Telegram web site.

Neil wrote, "I'm having fresh sea kittens for supper. Proably some piglet scrunchions (I think that's how it's spelled)....mmmmmmmm