Has PETA gone too far?

There's a bit of a controversy brewing in Canada over some new PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) ads that appeared on their blog (which I can't find) comparing the brutal murder, beheading and cannibalism of a 22 year old man to the slaughter of cows. Here's some links and snippets from some articles.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.wbus-victim0...

Without warning, witnesses said, a man stood up and stabbed Mr. McLean several times in the throat and torso, sending passengers scrambling off the bus. Afterward, the killer severed his victim's head, hacked at his body with a large knife and a pair of scissors, and, according to reports from the scene, ate some of the body parts.

http://www.scoopthis.org/tag/tim-mclean/

PETA wants to run the ad in Manitoba’s Portage la Prairie Daily Graphic newspaper. The ad reads:

“His struggles and cries are ignored … the man with the knife shows no emotion … the victim is slaughtered and his head cut off … his flesh is eaten.”

If this ad leaves a bad taste in your mouth, please give a thought to what sensitive animals think and feel when they come to the end of their frightening journey and see, hear and smell the slaughterhouse."

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Loome_Jeremy/2008/08/16/64720...

"Dear PETA,

I read with some surprise your reassurance that "PETA's ad comparing Tim McLean Jr.'s murder with the fate of animals who are killed for their flesh is certainly not meant to upset anyone."

Surely, the purpose of comparing a man who was brutally beheaded to the plight of farm animals is to shock people. People who are shocked are invariably upset as well. So your position seems dishonest at best, and cold-hearted and cynical. I'd suggest that, regardless of what you think of barbaric meat-eaters, you had to know his family would be rather upset by any billboards comparing their son to a dead cow.

Most of us eat meat. We do it because our bodies are designed to do it; just like those creatures you 'protect', human beings are part of the animal food chain. And while you may see that chain as barbaric, I haven't seen any PETA officials traipsing into the forest to dress down a bear for eating meat. I'd like to, but I haven't.

Human societies dictate the course of justice in large part on what is "natural" behaviour. It does not suggest that, simply because we have a greater exercise of free will, we should stop being true to that nature. Rather, we have adapted societies to accept -- albeit with occasional revulsion -- many natural things we do.

When it come to meat, that may sound nasty and cold-blooded to a vegan. But it is human reality; we are the master of our domain precisely because we have the ability to shepherd it. We are not driven to kill animals by a frenzied urge to obtain protein. That implies a lack of conscious choice. We do it because we feel it is normal -- a rationalized choice, but a choice.

The beheading of Mr. McLean, on the other hand, was an act that no human could see as anything other than sheer lunacy. No one makes a rational choice to behead a fellow human. So there is absolutely no "apt" parallel, as you so callously stated in your letter.

The family of the steak I ate last night may, you are right, have been traumatized by his sudden disappearance ... for the four seconds it took to flit through their underdeveloped brains. But they do not sit up at night, waiting in vain. They do not look back at years of fond memories and emotional bonds and wonder what might have been. They not grieve for years.

So it is not even slightly "apt" to compare Tim McLean Jr. to a dead cow. As such, the emotional damage you unleashed on parents to whom "your hearts go out" demonstrates the essence of inhumanity: the ability to disconnect yourself emotionally from society.

PETA hates cruelty, and yet when it feels the need, it can justify behaving in a cruel way. What a strange and savage hypocrisy."

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1156036

"PETA's ad comparing Tim McLean's horrifying murder in Manitoba with the fate of animals who are killed for their flesh was certainly not meant to upset anyone (Standard-Freeholder editorial Aug. 12). Our hearts go out to the victim's family and everyone who has been affected by this tragic act.

As an animal rights organization, PETA sees parallels between cruelty to animals and acts of violence against humans, and while we understand that some people may find such comparisons uncomfortable, they are apt.

All murder is wrong -regardless of whom the victim is. Like us, animals are made of flesh, blood, and bone. They fight for their lives and struggle to avoid pain. When animals die, their families grieve, just as we are all mourning for Mr. McLean. We want people to use their outrage at this violent crime in a constructive way; we hope to inspire them to examine their own lives and the choices they make that support violence, and to choose nonviolence and vegetarianism."

So! Did PETA go to far? Not far enough? What do you think!