Now the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) want our kids to stop drinking milk. Presumably, we are cruelly exploiting dairy cows who deserve a life of frolicking in meadows.
The problem with PETA’s publicity stunts is they inspire many well-meaning people to give them money. These kind folks probably don’t drink milk and feel that modern agriculture may have gone too far. So they give money to animal rights groups and humane societies. They ignore the fact that we already have laws on the books prohibiting cruelty to animals for any and all uses, and that the cows would never have seen daylight if we hadn’t bred them for milking.
Enough of these well-meaning people donate cash to animal rights activist groups to provide them with million-dollar budgets. Throw in the odd movie star and they become a force to be reckoned with.
“Big deal,” you may say. “So what if trapping, hunting and large-scale animal agriculture are eliminated.” Do you think that PETA and their ilk will not affect you?
You’d be wrong. Animal rights groups share a dirty little secret. They want to eliminate ALL use of animals by people and return us to some primitive, mythical Garden of Eden where the lion sits down with the lamb.
Think about it for a moment. No animal use means no pets, no burgers, no seeing-eye dogs, no Christmas turkey, no horseback riding, no leather and almost no medical research. When it was just seal hunters and trappers who were being destroyed by the animal rights extremists, you may not have cared. But when your life may be at stake, you’d better start to worry.
Animal-based medical research is responsible for most of the medical progress that we take for granted. We have longer life-spans, better drugs and miracle cures, most of which have been the result of research on animals. Chances are you are alive today because of testing in labs on non-human animals. I know I am.
The phrase “animal rights” means exactly what it says, the extension of human rights to animals and the ultimate equality of humans and animals. An animal rights activist once said, “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.” Anyone who could say something that deplorable must have seen too many Disney cartoons.
Two culture signs should give us pause for reflection. One is the trend of rank-and-file humane societies to move away from dog shelters into the realm of animal rights. Secondly, the federal government is proposing Bill C-15 B, an amendment to the Criminal Code. According to legal opinion, this bill will open the door for test cases to be launched against farmers and medical researchers, among others, by animal rights groups. Groups opposed to any use of animals for any purpose have openly stated that this will be their strategy.
Our reliance on animals for all sorts of beneficial purposes will ultimately be in their sights. Even those wonderful fishing trips with your kids are not safe. I’m reminded of that Pastor in Nazi-occupied Europe who said, “When they came for the Jews, since I was not a Jew I said nothing. When they came for the Poles, since I was not a Pole, I said nothing. When they came for the Ukrainians, since I was not Ukrainian, I said nothing. But when they came for me, there was nobody left to say anything, so they took me.”
Your use of animals is next on PETA’s list. Try wearing wooden shoes this winter, and you’ll see what I mean.
