The animal rights organization known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a perfect example of Poe’s Law — that without a clear indicator of intent, it becomes impossible to distinguish many extreme views from parody.
As if they didn’t make enough of a joke out of their organization when they wanted people to start calling fish “sea kittens,” the group has now done something even weirder. They’re paying good money for billboards to memorialize cows killed in auto accidents.
Yes. Really.
While roadside memorials aren’t uncommon at the site of deadly crashes, according to the Bend Bulletin, PETA “is going a step further to recognize livestock killed in a truck crash outside Madras. The animal rights group is paying for billboard space along U.S. Highway 26 to memorialize 14 calves that died when the truck they were riding in rolled onto its side March 12 near milepost 6.”
PETA spokeswoman Amber Canavan said she hopes this gets people to consider going vegan. How she thinks that will be accomplished by this is beyond me. After all, it’s not like people intentionally killed cows in auto accidents. But we already do intentionally kill cows, as everyone who eats meat knows.
“Even if it just gets people talking about it,” Canavan said. “Because a lot of people don’t know about what’s going on.”
Yes, cows get killed in car accidents. But so do people, and we’re not hoisting up billboards for all of them now, are we?
But that’s PETA in a nutshell. You see, they don’t actually care about people.
Of course we should not be cruel to animals. And, of course, animals are a resource we need. A vegan lifestyle isn’t healthy, as many vegans claim. Animals are the primary source of protein and fat in most diets for a reason. PETA would rather see us sick and dying ourselves, rather than the animals.
Luckily, they do things like erect billboards for cows killed in car accidents, so PETA won’t be winning many converts anytime soon.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member