They actually do quite a lot to educate people on the meat industry, but they release ads like this one that net one of two reactions; either people love it and see it for it's artistic beauty, or people make fun of it.
So all of their research and infiltrations go to waste because their ad campaign tries to get people talking about the ad they're pushing at the moment.
Really, all this ad is doing, and it's doing it amazingly well, is humanize the fish. Sure, I recognize that fish are not like cows/pigs/chickens in that their emotions are INFINITELY simpler, but that's actually totally irrelevant. The common thread tying us to fish, and what they are trying to show people, is that the fish has the desire to live. It's gasping for air because it does not want to die.
To me, that is enough. That fish and I do have something in common. We both want to live our lives and be happy. That's enough for me to say that, despite it not being a mammal (and I do have more care for fellow mammals and even birds than other groups of animals), I view it as a sentient being.
Ok, see... Yeah, I get the purpose of this ad now. All that really stuck out to me in the beginning was the fact that it's a PETA ad showing us a guy who's getting ready to prepare a meal. But, I'm conscious of everything you've said.
If y'all think PETA is going too far, look up the Animal Liberation Front organization. They're crazy.
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Originally posted by Red
Unlike certain other groups that just want to hate and spread hate without any substantial message to back it up, at least PETA has a message that many of us can get behind. Animal abuse is one of the few things that actually disgusts me. It's cruel and inhumane. The problem is that PETA goes about spreading their message the wrong way. All they have to do is say "We hate animal abuse, and you should, too", and many people would support their cause. Instead, they take things WAY too far way too often and beat you over the head with its message. Instead of subtly reinforcing that message, they go for the jugular. Instead of quietly getting that message across, they CONSTANTLY overbear you with shocking imagery.
If PETA even remotely settled down and showed restraint, they would be so much more popular amongst the masses. It's a shame that they can't see that.
Look into the SPCA, I'd guess it's close to what it sounds like you're looking for, though it is much more focused on protecting domesticated animals. They're more animal welfare than animals rights, which tends to go over better with people.
I completely get what you're saying, and there is something to be said about that, being that humans are in fact omnivores by nature, and we are still subject to animalistic instincts and all that, but we are also the only species with a choice over what we eat, which makes us very fortunate, and creates debates like this one
Haha theeeeeere you go! That's exactly what I meant lol.
Look into the SPCA, I'd guess they're close to what it sounds like you're looking for, though it is much more focused on protecting domesticated animals.
Yeah, the SPCA (and the American equivalent, ASPCA) is an organization that I'm MUCH higher on than PETA. They tend to be smart and not as unbearable with their message. Of course, as you mentioned, the main problem is that it primarily focuses on domesticated animals, whereas PETA focuses on all animals, but the SPCA, in their limited focus, are so much more precise and effective in their more subtle message than PETA has ever been with their scare tactics.
Yeah, the SPCA (and the American equivalent, ASPCA) is an organization that I'm MUCH higher on than PETA. They tend to be smart and not as unbearable with their message. Of course, as you mentioned, the main problem is that it primarily focuses on domesticated animals, whereas PETA focuses on all animals, but the SPCA, in their limited focus, are so much more precise and effective in their more subtle message than PETA has ever been with their scare tactics.
I think, too, it's more important to fix the overpopulation problem with dogs and cats before focusing on other species. These are animals that most people can identify with and feel attatchment to, and still we completely screw them as a society. The ASPCA is extremely effective at getting people to understand and pay attention (though this is largely because people care about what happens to dogs/cats and not cows/pigs/chickens.)
If we can get dogs and cats elevated to a status of being recognized by all as sentient beings (insane that some people can have a cat or dog and just think they're some mindless drone...) then fixing the meat industry will be much easier and will go much smoother.
I suppose I agree with PETA's roots, and what they're eventually trying to accomplish. The way they go about it is absolutely horrid, however.
I've been a vegetarian for a few years, and I plan on going vegan.
It's sad that it seems the only animal rights organization that ever gets attention is the one that takes the extreme route. Then again, sometimes, I can't help but wonder if what PETA is doing is better than nothing...if the extreme route is the only route that'll accomplish anything...
No, i don't follow PETA and i'm not a vegetarian. I do like animals, but i ain't gonna stop eating them. Animals eat other animals all the time, there's nothin wrong with humans eating meat.
No, i don't follow PETA and i'm not a vegetarian. I do like animals, but i ain't gonna stop eating them. Animals eat other animals all the time, there's nothin wrong with humans eating meat.
I suppose the "it's natural" argument makes sense in it's roots. However, it isn't natural to eat animals that come from massive factory farms, where the creatures have been so genetically altered that they can get by being fed only once a week, with food that consists of antibiotics and leftover tendons of slaughtered animals. And still they get so fat that they can't walk. Chickens have a space less than half of an average computer screen, forced to stand in wire cages with wire bottoms where the metal cuts into their feet, stacked side by side and on top of each other.
And that's all before they're sent off to slaughter, where they're systematically cut open and ripped apart while they're still conscious. Then they're injected with antibiotic fluid because the slaughterhouses and factory farms are so poorly regulated by the government.
Did I mention that 9 billion land animals are killed for consumption each year? And that an area of forest half the size of the UK is cut down to build space for factory farming, each year?
I'm sorry, but at this point in time, the way humans eat animals is anything but natural.
Did I say anywhere in my post that I agree with battery farms? I'm all for free range farmin and fair treatment of animals.
And sure the meat we eat now be unnatural compared to what our ancestors ate, but on that page its also unnatural for humans to have a non-meat diet
No, I guess not.
But I think it's necessary to point out that factory farming didn't exist 100 years ago, and that meat has only recently become a central part of the human (more like American) diet. In actuality, humans are most adapted for eating plants, not meat. This is a rather interesting article if you have the time: http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.html
And if we go by the "unnatural compared to what our ancestors ate" argument, we could also say that in the modern day, there are meat substitutes that contain the nutrients we'd otherwise be missing (which, despite myth, are not very significant at all).
PETA is such a mess, they are promoting amimal cruelity in a wrong way, it used to be alright but now it turned into such a shipwreck. The reasons why it turned into such a mess because they throw flour to people who wear fur, start campaigns such as "McCruelity: "I'm hatin it." "Kentucky Fried Cruelity" also in this video it tells about PETA:
No animals was put here by God for us to eat. I agree we should not abuse and torture them but there's nothing wrong with eating meat. There nothing but nazis.