Posted on 04/14/2010 8:40:53 AM PDT by Still Thinking
The New York Daily News reported yesterday that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), always on the lookout for a media stunt, delivered a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture demanding the government refuse to renew the exhibitor license of the Ringling Bros. circus. Looks like the media whiz-kids at PETA screwed this one up, though. The same newspaper reports today in a follow up article that the USDA already renewed Ringling’s permit—last week. Oops.
This attempted offensive strategy is just the latest from animal rights groups like PETA and the so-called “Humane Society” of the United States (HSUS) against the circus. Like most groups pursuing an animals-first, people-last ideology, they want to shut the circus down entirely and “liberate” the elephants. But do their campaigns deserve to be taken seriously?
Ringling notes that the USDA has already inspected its circus five times this year. So much for PETA’s accusation of animal “abuse.” And a cadre of animal rights groups including the Fund for Animals (now part of HSUS) pursued a federal lawsuit against the circus operator for almost a decade. How’d that turn out?
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in December, writing that the animal-rights plaintiffs had a collective pay-to-play arrangement with a key witness in the case. That witness’s testimony was so full of holes that the judge actually used the word “demolished” to describe his credibility. Now these circus-haters are facing a federal lawsuit for their scheme. And it was filed under the mobster-oriented Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law.
Today, PETA is left calling for the USDA to revoke Ringling’s permit and wiping the egg-substitute off its face. Our guess is the USDA isn’t going to throw PETA a bone (or a peanut, for that matter). Maybe they—and the organized racket going after the circus—should just hang it up. Before they get trampled in the court of public opinion, that is.
Probably had to head over to the drugstore for a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers.
PETA's position is actually internally contradictory. Ingrid Newkirk was famous for saying “A pig is a rat is a dog is a boy”, thus equating us morally with animals. Then they say that we shouldn’t eat or use animals because we are the same as them. This is actually backwards.
If we are just another animal, why shouldn’t we do as the others all do and strive to be the baddest animal on the block? They eat each other, why shouldn’t we do the same? She says we’re all the same, then scolds humans for nothing more than being better at it!
In effect, their plea to consider in advance the moral implications of what we’re going to do against some kind of framework of right and wrong proves that we are in fact different from those animals. PETA people are just too stupid to see the contradiction.
There is no need to renew the Ringling Bros. license. Obama has taken over Ringling Bros. and made it part of the gov.t The clowns are in the White House.
I’m just amazed how many conservatives (and FReepers) are willing to fall into lockstep with PETA when it comes to breed specific legislation....
The clowns have taken over DC, but WE’RE all sad.
PETA-People Eating Tasty Animals
I love animals. Potatoes too. And gravy — yum!!
PETA people are a bit crazy, but we should be mindful of animal cruelty and prevent it when possible.
Sure, but not really germane to the thread topic, because PETA never does anything to actually assist animals. They "euthanize" actual animals entrusted to the their care by those duped by their PR at a far greater rate than any reputable shelter.
I heard something about that, but isn’t that just an issue of timing? people need to spay and neuter their animals
Well, their kill rate seems to be consistently higher than others, over a period of YEARS, so I don’t see how it could be a transient timing issue. Plus, they were caught dumping the animals in a dumpster behind a grocery store, after killing them IN THE VAN THEY USED TO PICK THEM UP FROM THE OWNERS.
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