Tag Archives: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Kansas State Students to Stop Throwing Chickens During Basketball Games (Seriously)

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Apparently it is common for students at Kansas State to sneak live chickens into the auditorium when their team plays rival Kansas, whose mascot is the Jayhawk. The student(s) then throw the chicken out onto the floor as a way of mocking the Jayhaw mascot.

Yeah, it didn’t make any sense to me either.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals got wind of the practice, however, and sent a letter to Kansas State objecting to this mistreatment of animals.

The athletic department followed up with a statement asking fans to discontinue the tradition, saying,

These actions severely tarnish the image of our University, its athletics teams and the majority of our outstanding fans and supporters and while viewed by many as harmless pranks, these acts are likely illegal.

PETA’s Debbie Leahy told the Associated Press, “Any student who throws live birds on a basketball court should be thrown out of school.”

A bigger question might be how the chicken throwers managed to get in to Kansas State in the first place.

Sources:

N.C. vs. Duke: blood feud. Reggie Hayes, The News-Sentinel (Indiana), March 6, 2007.

Kansas State Athletic Department Condemns Chicken Toss. Associated Press, February 28, 2007.

Berosini Loses Final Appeal In Long-running Fight Against PETA

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The Associated Press reported today that Bobby Berosini lost his final appeal in this long-running battle with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

According to the Associated Press, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling requiring Berosini to pay $250,000 in legal fees that PETA incurred in lawsuits related to a defamation lawsuit that Berosini filed against PETA in the late 1980s.

Berosini initially won the first round after a jury awarded him a $3.1 million judgment against PETA. That award, however, was overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court and Berosini was ordered to pay PETA’s legal fees.

According to PETA, Berosini actually paid the $250,000 amount in question in the latest round of lawsuits several years ago.

Source:

Former Las Vegas showman loses PETA legal fights fee. Associated Press, March 5, 2007.

Newkirk: We Oppose All Violence Against Civilians, But Fashion Designers Are Fair Game

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Ingrid Newkirk, of all people, gave a speech at a conference addressing violent conflict in the Middle East at which she said,

. . . we call all attacks on civilians, whether against Palestinians in Jenin or Israelis in Tel Aviv, what they are: War crimes.

If we want an end to violence, it means that we must first reject the slaughterhouse, the animal circus, and animal skins and remember that kindness to animals has been a cornerstone of every great religion in the history of the world.

Mohandas Gandhi, one of the icons of the nonviolence movement, taught that how we treat animals shows our ability to empathize with those who are ‘different’ from us, which is the first step toward living in peace with our human neighbors.

Leaving aside the accuracy of her claim about religion and animals, it is interesting that Newkirk declares violence against civilians “war crimes”, but as far as I know neither Newkirk or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has ever apologized for Dan Mathews remarks in admiration of serial killer Andrew Cunanan. Cunanan murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace, and in 1999 PETA’s Mathews, asked to name a 20th century man he loves, replied,

Andrew Cunanan, because he got Versace to stop doing fur.

Source:

Animal rights group addresses Mideast conflict. Ynetnews.Com, January 4, 2005.

Another PETA Staffer With a Name Change Gimmick

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Nineteen-year old People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals staffer Chris Garnett garnered a bit of press at the end of 2005 by legally changing his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.Com.

This is, of course, simply a copy of an earlier stunt when Karin Robinson supposedly changed her name to GoVegan.Com. Of course, she only used it for about 15 minutes — when she sends letters or gives interviews to newspapers, she goes by Karin Robinson.

Presumably, Garnett will abandon his moniker the minute after media outlets stop writing about it.

Source:

Teen’s New Name: KentuckyFriedCruelty.Com. Associated Press, December 30, 2005.

Activists Complain about Mitt Romney's Canned Hunt

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Animal rights activists are up in arms after Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney bagged some quail on a hunting trip while on a trip to Georgia.

According to the Boston Herald,

. . . the political outing backfired when it was revealed the birds had been fenced in.

Humane Society of the United States’ Michael Markarian complained about Romney hunting at the Cabin Bluff animal preserve, telling the Boston Herald,

Many of these private hunting preserves are basically providing drive-through killing animal opportunities. These animals are often tamed and bred on the property, fed by people and accustomed to people. They have no chance of escape. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokeswoman Jennifer McClure told the Boston Herald,

Stalking and shooting animals is a cowardly, violent form of recreation, and if Romney wants to keep his political career alive, then he should stop supporting this dying blood sport.

Right, because hunting really killed the careers of politicians such as George W. Bush and John F. Kerry.

Anyway, opponents of such animal preserves like to call them canned hunts or refer, as the Boston Herald does, to the fact that the animals are fenced in. But this sort of criticism is silly in the case of preserves like Cabin Bluffs which sits on no less than 45,000 acres.

That’s one incredibly large can.

Source:

Mitt under fire for hunt: Romney catches flak after quail kill. Dave Wedge, Boston Herald, January 5, 2006.

PETA Files Complaint Over Ad Featuring Parakeets

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a complaint against Samsung in India over an advertisement for Samsung’s X200 mobile phone.

The advertisement shows two children releasing a couple parakeets from their cage. But according to PETA coordinator N G Jayashimha,

The parakeets used in the advertisement are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA) 1972. Trading, trafficking, caging or displaying the birds is banned.

Source:

Animal activists go cuckoo over bird ad. Prashant Shankarnarayan, Mid-Day.Com, January 4, 2006.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road . . . In a Wheelchair?

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals seems to be running out of ideas. Consider this rather lame protest planned against KFC,

A giant wheelchair-bound “chicken” will repeatedly cross the road in front of a local KFC to lead a protest against the companyÂ’s abusive treatment of chickens. Other PETA members will distribute leaflets to passersby, and one activist will wear a body screen TV showing shocking video footage of factory-farming abuse . . .

. . . Chickens are excluded from the only federal law that protects farmed animals—the Humane Slaughter Act. KFC drugs and breeds chickens to grow so large that many become crippled from the weight of their massive upper bodies.

Get it? Chickens are crippled by their weight, so the chicken has to cross the road in a wheelchair. Yeah, Ingrid, whatever.

Bruce Friedrich provides the obligatory quote,

KFC stands for cruelty in our book. If KFC employees abused cats or dogs the way they abuse chickens, they could be thrown in prison for felony charges of cruelty to animals.

Yeah, and if the average undergraduate abused logic half as often as PETA, he or she could flunk out of college in just a couple semester.

BTW, since PETA is so insistent these days that it has nothing to do with violence or terrorism, it is worth pointing out that the press release notes that PETA has received support from a number of celebrities including Chrissie Hynde. You remember Chrissie — she’s the one who a few years ago provided a justification for murdering those involved in animal industries,

The last resort is for someone to go in and actually take these guys out. Maybe it will have to be an out-and-out assassination. When no one will listen anymore, then individuals have to take the law into their own hands and it can get very ugly.

Can’t imagine where people get the idea that PETA advocates for and approves of violence.

Sources:

Giant ‘chicken’ in crosses the road to protest KFC in Reading. Press Release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, January 3, 2006.

PETA Award to Person Who Perfected Mouse Killing Technology

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently named Dr. Nigel Binns as its Person of the Year. Binns’ major accomplishment? He developed an extremely effective way to kill mice.

According to a PETA press release,

Unlike cruel poisons, snaps, and glue traps — which can cause mice and rats to suffer in agony for hours or days — the RADAR trap painlessly gasses trapped rodents with carbon dioxide.

Binns is chief biologist for UK pest control company Rentokil. According to a New Scientist story on his trap,

Nigel Binns, Rentokil’s chief biologist, wanted a trap that would kill only target animals, and do so humanely. It would then alert a pest controller that the trap needed attention. Inside its white plastic enclosure, a pressure pad senses the weight of an animal’s paw, and closes the door if the footfall matches the weight of a rat or mouse. Squirrels or small rabbits are spared, he says. Gas released from a carbon dioxide capsule then kills the vermin humanely.

Binns tells New Scientist that computer data centers might be one big customer of his trap, since its constant monitoring and instant notification would help reduce rat problems that some data centers have experienced.

Sources:

Builder of more humane mousetrap recognized as PETA’s ‘Person of the Year’. Press Release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 2005.

UR r@ is in the trap. New Scientist, November 17, 2005.

Heather Mills McCartney vs. Naomi Campbell

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Heather Mills McCartney, Paul’s latest wife, ripped model Naomi Campbell for wearing fur. But in trying to highlight Campbell’s alleged depravity, McCartney simply revealed her own.

On an ITV television program, McCartney said of Campbell,

It would be a bit like me saying no more landmines, no more landmines, adn then doing a contract with a landmine company to promote a new landmine, that’s how superficial, shallow and hypocritical it is, as well as harming millions of animals.

But, of course, that is precisely what McCartney has done with her new association with PETA. She’s gone from saying “no more landmines, no more landmines” to hooking up with an organization whose members openly admire serial killers and support arson and other violent actions as legitimate tactics for their movement.

Then again, Linda McCartney supported PETA’s campaign against medical research while benefiting from the fruits of said research, so apparently an overarching hypocrisy is simply a prerequisite for wives of the former Beatle.

McCartney also claimed that Campbell has refused to meet with her, but a spokesman for Campbell issued a written statement saying,

Ms. Campbell has not been contacted by Heather Mills McCartney, is surprised by her remarks and declines to comment further.

Source:

McCartney’s wife flays model fur fan. Agence France-Presse, October 9, 2005.

Activists Hit Anna Wintour With Tofu Pie

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Animal rights activists hit Vogue editor Anna Wintour with a tofu cream pie after she left a fashion show in Paris, France.

This is the second time this year that activists have hit Wintour with a pie, also hitting Wintour before a Chanel show in Paris.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was quick to condemn Wintour, with PETA’s Yvonne Taylor saying,

Wintour is fur-bearing animals’ worst enemy because her magazine continues to feature dozens of pages of pro-fur editorials and advertising every year. She takes big glossy advertisements for fur and she refuses to run any anti-fur ads, even paid ones, so she’s a big fur supporter.

Hmmm…I guess then it would be okay to throw things at Ingrid Newkirk because PETA does not accept pro-fur advertisements in any of its publications.

Source:

Anti-fur group cream pies American Vogue’s Wintour. Reuters, October 8, 2005.

Editor faces tofu fur fury. The Weekend Australian, October 10, 2005.