PETA'S NEWKIRK HOPES FOOT-AND-MOUTH COMES TO UNITED STATES
While authorities take precautions to prevent foot-and-mouth
disease from entering the United States, the president of
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) hopes
that the disease crosses the Atlantic.
"If that hideousness came here, it wouldn't be any more
hideous for the animals--they are all bound for a ghastly
death anyway. But it would wake up consumers," said PeTA
co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk. "I hope that it
comes here. It will bring economic harm to those who profit
from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a
concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for
animals, good for human health and good for the
environment. "
Border officials, zoos and theme parks have been taking
precautions to prevent the disease, which is raging in
Britain and has spread to several other European countries,
from entering the United States, which has not seen an
outbreak since 1929. Last week, pigs suspected of carrying
the disease on a North Carolina hog farm tested negative.
In other PeTA news, the group recently sent a letter to Boy
Scouts of America President Milton Ward, demanding that the
Scouts eliminate its "Fishing" and "Fish and Wildlife
Management" merit badges since they "require Scouts to
engage in violent acts that are training young men to enjoy
violence. "
PeTA's gripe is that both badges involve fishing, which the
group calls "hunting in the water. "
According to PeTA's letter, "Fishing is no longer considered
a benign activity. It is hunting in the water, and the idea
of a Scout armed with a gun or rod, setting out to attack
animals who were minding their own business, is not keeping
with the image of Scouting, now or in the past. "
PeTA's Dawn Carr went on to say in a news release that, "The
Boy Scouts are supposed to be role models, not bloodthirsty
fish killers. "
While authorities take precautions to prevent foot-and-mouth
disease from entering the United States, the president of
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) hopes
that the disease crosses the Atlantic.
"If that hideousness came here, it wouldn't be any more
hideous for the animals--they are all bound for a ghastly
death anyway. But it would wake up consumers," said PeTA
co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk. "I hope that it
comes here. It will bring economic harm to those who profit
from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a
concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for
animals, good for human health and good for the
environment. "
Border officials, zoos and theme parks have been taking
precautions to prevent the disease, which is raging in
Britain and has spread to several other European countries,
from entering the United States, which has not seen an
outbreak since 1929. Last week, pigs suspected of carrying
the disease on a North Carolina hog farm tested negative.
In other PeTA news, the group recently sent a letter to Boy
Scouts of America President Milton Ward, demanding that the
Scouts eliminate its "Fishing" and "Fish and Wildlife
Management" merit badges since they "require Scouts to
engage in violent acts that are training young men to enjoy
violence. "
PeTA's gripe is that both badges involve fishing, which the
group calls "hunting in the water. "
According to PeTA's letter, "Fishing is no longer considered
a benign activity. It is hunting in the water, and the idea
of a Scout armed with a gun or rod, setting out to attack
animals who were minding their own business, is not keeping
with the image of Scouting, now or in the past. "
PeTA's Dawn Carr went on to say in a news release that, "The
Boy Scouts are supposed to be role models, not bloodthirsty
fish killers. "