Animal Rights Organizations

As difficult as it is for me to accept it, I am forced to acknowledge that there are other people like my mother out there – those who cannot walk past a pet shop without sticking their faces onto the windows and cooing over the little puppies and kittens for hours without end; those who envy dog walkers for making money out of frolicking around with dogs; those who weep at the sight of a wounded animal in a film while not squeezing out a single obligatory tear during Titanic. If this is you, then you were born with a concern for the rights of animals.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is possibly the best-known animal rights organization out there, so I’ll deal with this one.

One thing that surprised me when I read up more on PETA was the amount of criticism it has received for its controversial actions. And I have to say, PETA doesn’t do anything by halves. Its philosophy is that animals do not belong to us, and it is striving for a time when all animals are completely free from dependency on humans for survival. But that also means they are against things like seeing eye dogs for the blind, a fact that got me a bit unsure. It has also been attacked for their campaigning methods, for example comparing factory farming to the horrors of the Holocaust, which incensed many Holocaust survivors and some Jewish societies. PETA also takes the no-animal products rule very seriously, as it suggested that Ben & Jerry’s use human milk to make their ice-cream.

I don’t want to say that PETA takes things too far, but it is certainly quite a radical group. The issue of animal rights can be a real slippery slope – I mean, I’m against animal cruelty, but for one I really like meat, and unlike Ingrid Newkirk (founder of PETA) who opposes ALL experimenting on animals and have said that she would protest an experiment on animals even if it led to a cure for AIDS, I can’t really say the same. The main issues really boil down to animal versus human interests. It’s certainly something to think about.

On a lighter note, PETA does make it incredibly easy for teens to lead a lifestyle that protects animal rights. PETA offers vegetarian starter kits, as well as tips for vegetarian & vegan diets and tell you to watch out for companies and products that use inhumane methods with animals (KFC was an example).

Some animal rights groups can be really out there, like the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) that has actually been labeled a DOMESTIC THREAT, due to the controversial tactics it employs, which apparently – get this – border on terrorism. PETA has also been known to get a bit overboard with its methods, but it’s out there and it’s doing something, and I also find the organization quite helpful and supportive. Visit their website at www.peta.org and you can sign up for their e-newsletters, or follow them on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.